My Graphing Thread

[otis]

Thanks! Let's see how he'll do down the line.

Mike, the friend that helped me out last night is not into autos. He just got the autograph for me. Dom may be a Phillie, but I appreciate it haha.

 

[otis]

Ok guys today I went into the city, here's what was going on:

Rays vs Yankees
Macy Gray and Jim Parsons (Sheldon from Big Bang Theory) on Letterman
Michael Phelps on Fallon

Also a team I help coach had a game at 7:30 so I hoped everything went perfectly, timing was everything. So first off were the Rays. I got:

Cesar Ramos 1/1
Elliot Johnson 1/1
Coach Tom Foley 2/2
Joel Peralta 2/2
Fernando Rodney 1/2
Jeff Niemann 1/1
Wade Davis 1/1
Joe Maddon 1/1 photo paper
Jeff Keppinger 1/1
Carlos Pena 2/2, card and photo paper
Sean Rodriguez 1/1 Cuban flag 8x10
Broadcaster Brian Anderson 2/2
Ben Zobrist 1/1

This was the good. Now for the bad.

First off, there's this old grapher. He's one of the legends here. But everyone prefers for him not be there because he just gets in the way and ruins things. Luckily I don't see him for basketball. First off, Matt Moore is signing. Then he starts saying over and over things like, "Can you please sign for me?" This makes Moore rush into the cab. Later on we see Hellickson signing before boarding the bus, taking his time. Then Sheldon does his thing and poof, Hellickson is gone. No offense but thank God he wasn't there the whole time. Also, who I think is Moore is boarding the bus. I try to get him on a photo paper but he says I'm very sorry but I don't sign those. I try to say that I'm going to print a photo but I appreciate how he was expressing how he was sorry. I've never seen anyone that sincere. BUT turns out it was Matt Joyce :blink: I had 2 cards of him too. I had another photo paper fail, unfortunately with ace David Price. I should've had a card out with the paper too like I did with Pena later. He just said I don't sign those and walked on his way and ignored me when I tried calling him. I mean c'mon...

Players who didn't sign: Upton and Jose Molina. James Shields signed for one. We missed coach Dave Martinez by a second. Maybe half. No sign of Longoria. After getting Brian Anderson and Zobrist, I went off to Letterman. I was there for 2 hours...Normally guests should arrive around 3. Well Parsons arrived at around 4! He signed for everyone there but I wasn't able to get a pic with him. So for after I was hoping to get pics with Macy Gray and Parsons. I was expecting them to leave by 5:15 hopefully and then I'd be on my way for Michael Phelps. It was 6pm and still those 2 didn't come out. So at around 6:10 I decided to leave and check out Fallon. I was there for a minute because I had to goto my baseball game. I got one of my buddies to get Phelps on a blank for me if he signed. By the time I'm at Port Authority I find out my game was rained out! Also found out Phelps didn't sign.

Great day with the Rays. But unhappy with some of the things, like Price. That waste of time at Letterman slightly lowered how I felt about my day overall. But hey I got 17 autos, tying my baseball high for a day. I might go for the Mariners at the end of the week and maybe the Capitals if they can force a game 7. Thanks for reading. Also remember the Isringhausen blank I got signed a few weeks ago? I will also post a pic of it, I finally printed it out.

 

[Mike]

Wow! Looks like you had one of the more productive days since you started posting here. Congrats! Too bad about Price and Phelps though. Those both would have been good ones to get. Hopefully you'll get another chance at both sometime. Again, thanks for sharing.

 

[franklinguy52]

That was a great day overall. Sorry about the guys that wouldn't sign, But I have found that many will not sign a blank page are blank card because they say that it is too easy for people to make duplicates off of. I love your idea of the photo paper but mnay of the top guys will not sign. About the the "old grapher", I deal with some these same types and they are the reason that many players get discouraged from signing. One guy that I deal with has asked players to sign as many as 30 cards at one time. Most of the time it is at minor league games and the kids are so nice that they wil sit there and do it but you can tell by the look on their faces that they don't really want to. Good luck with the Mariners, they have a lot of hot young players such as Ackley and Montero, to go along with some great vets.

 

[otis]

Thanks guys. I would've liked to print 1 or 2 things but I didn't have the time to. I knew not to bother with Upton because he's a horrible signer, Longo too. I know for hockey, players are much more willing to sign blanks. As for basketball and baseball, well it depends. And franklin, I do goto some Minor League games, the Newark Bears. I haven't seen anyone try to get a crapload of cards at once there (maybe 8 at most) but I hear about those 30-per. Even hear about some of these guys having unthinkable days. I want to do the Mariners but am discouraged because they stay at that despised hotel. The only way I will go is if the Capitals force a game 7 for Saturday.

 

[otis]

Here's the Isringhausen:

 

[Mike]

Very nice! That's a great picture and the auto placement was as close to perfect as you could have got it!

 

[otis]

Thanks! When you do blanks, you have to look up images prior as well so you can keep in mind the right area for them to sign. In this case, I decided to get Jason spur of the moment and I just happened to find a great image like that. Signed it beautifully too.

 

[otis]

Here's that Joe Maddon from last week. I still need to take care of the Carlos Pena.

 

[franklinguy52]

That turned out great! Perfectly placed auto

 

[otis]

I get lucky, what can I say? Haha. I am glad I found this image!

 

[Mike]

I agree! Great job on that one otis. It looks like we were all right about that photo.

 

[otis]

I agree! Great job on that one otis. It looks like we were all right about that photo.

Hell yes.

Not much going on lately. I'm aiming to go after the Devils/Rangers game tomorrow night. Hopefully it doesn't freakin rain again...

This could be a perfect time for an entry in my "Signature Chronicles". But not yet. Right now I'm just gonna talk stats. I keep track of all the autos I get, right down to the first ones I got back in 95. This season for basketball I got 180 autos, which was pretty good for a strike-shortened season. Hard to believe that last season I got fewer (173). But this doesn't compare to 2 years ago, where I got 279 autos. Granted I went to half of the Nets home games that season, but those are some impressive numbers. I'll also have to see how I do with baseball. Last season I got 152, nearly tripling my previous high. I think this season I might come close to matching that number. So far I have 40 out of 3 attempts so looks like I'm off to a good start. Another question is could 2012 be my top year? Overall I had 310 autos in 2010 and 258 for 2011. So far this year I have 214 and another 10 maybe in hockey so looks like sky's the limit for 2012. If anyone wants to join in and throw out some guesses, be my guest. I don't know how many I will compile this year but there's one thing I know for sure. I need more wall space.

 

[Mike]

At your current pace I'd say 2012 should easily become your top year. Hard to say, though, because I guess it all depends on how many more games you'll be able to hit up.

As for the wall space, do you hang all these autos on a wall? If so, I'd actually like to see pictures!

 

[otis]

C'mon Mike I want a guess haha. I try to get photos up there. The others that I don't have a spot for or are just not worthy of being up are in a binder. I'll try to upload some pics soon.