Getting to First Base

Not that anyone asked, but…baseball autographs!

I just ran across this precious video (via Big League Stew) from the Detroit Free Press about autographs at Spring Training. I liked where they had the players describe their autographs – that was a nice angle! I’ve never thought about how I’d describe my own signature, but it’s pretty boring…I have been asked for a few autographs before, but not enough that it has evolved into an ‘M’ and then a squiggle. Someday, though!

Anyway, on with the video.

Many of you already know this, but I have a summer job with a Minor League Baseball team. The job itself is a ton of fun, and one great added perk is that I get to spend a lot of time right next to the dugouts. So I get to watch all kinds of fans, from cute tiny kids to obsessive long-time collecters, ask for autographs from both the Royals and the visitors every day.

Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about what works (for most players, anyway), and what doesn’t. It should be obvious that the most important thing when trying to get a signature is to be polite, but some people haven’t learned that skill yet. Every week, I see someone – usually boys around age 12 – demanding autographs, balls, bats, gloves, gum, seeds, or whatever else they can think of from players.  It’s disgusting.

I’ve written at least a half a dozen essays on that annoying sense of entitlement, but have never shared any of them. That’s probably because none of the essays quite capture how stupid it is that these people expect the prize of free stuff in return for merely showing up at the stadium. Oh, and these people don’t just do their squawking at players before or after games – I hear it happen during games all the time. Sick.

One other thing that astounds me is how often “fans” don’t know players’ names. Not just obscure players, either – that’s forgivable. But some people can’t even get the big-name guys right. To me, that’s just dumb. There’s this thing called the Internet, folks. It has pictures of people and words that tell who they are. You can do this thing called “Google” to find those names and pictures together. Heck, the latest professional photos from Reuters and the AP are aggregated for free, in real time, at Daylife.com. There is no reason to not recognize a professional athlete in this day and age, especially if you’re expecting him to sign a hat or ball for you.

Whew, what the heck prompted THAT little rant, in the middle of March? I don’t know…but there it is, and now it’s over. You can go back to watching the World Baseball Classic now! Got any autograph stories of your own? Good or bad – I’ve had both, but I’d love to hear from you!