When I was around six or seven I believe I attended a Lakers game at the forum. I brought with me a few cards, the most notable being James Worthy's. After the game my mom stood with me as we waited for some of the players to come out. This was a common thing...not considered a big deal. Anyway, my mom and I walked around a bend and found James Worthy's limo in a small alleyway. He was just climbing in and his bodyguard (though in retrospect it may have been his driver) came up to us and pushed us away. "Mr. Worthy!" I shouted. "May I have your autograph?" The bodyguard pushed us away and said Worthy wasn't doing autographs. But Big Game got out of the limo and said, "Come on over here, kid, sure." And he signed my basketball card and I thanked him.

Anybody keeping you up at night? :)

Jon's thoughtful piece is in marked contrast to the purposely contentious trash printed by Simers. The man has made a career of making much ado about nothing and outrageously slanting his arguments by any means necessary, up to and including partial quotes, misquotes and his favorite--quoting out of context. Simers as a journalist is a piece of slime. If that sounds harsh, it also has the benefit of being true.

If this issue is to be resolved for the best of all parties involved, you can bet TJ Simers isn't interested in the slightest. He's interested in banging a drum and any drum will do.

Let The Masters begin!

Jon, I share your puzzlement with autograph-seeking. Nothing about it concerns me in the slightest.

-D4P, no flamebait, but I feel exactly the same way about golf.

Brockian Ultra-Cricket, now there's a game....

After Bobby Valentine mangled his leg, I wrote him a letter, and he sent me an autographed photo. I still have it. But then I never again tried to get another sports autograph. I think I was too shy as well.

At the first Dodger game I ever attended, in 1964, my dad bought me a souvenir ball with the whole team's autographs on it. Even though it obviously wasn't real, I still considered it special and had it on my bookshelf.

Until we ran out of baseballs for over the line.

7
My uncle gave me an authentic ball signed by some Dodger team from the late 50s, I believe. Most of the big names (e.g. Koufax, Drysdale, etc.) are on it.

After a 1-hour fog delay, The Masters has begun!

I think there are three main reasons for the popularity of autographs: how easy they are to do, how easy they are to transfer and their unique quirkiness. It's obviously easier to sign a piece of paper than take a picture, especially in large numbers, but even just in airports and restaurants, and it's a relatively non-intrusive process in public places. As you mentioned, you can give an autograph to someone else, whereas you can't give someone else a picture of themselves with the person in question. And pictures just seem sort of obvious and common, something everyone does all the time with family, friends and strangers. From a young age, people are taught that "signatures" are more important other types of writing, so it elevates autographs a little (although I don't think any court has ever found an autographed baseball to be a legally binding contract of anything).

I used to collect baseball cards until one day at a show I heard one dealer tell another, "you don't have to know anything about baseball to make money on baseball cards." It had become just another business with the fun sucked out. My problem with autographs is the same. It was great for kids and even older guys until it became just another business at both ends. E-Bay has only made it worse. In my field, we're dealing increasingly with E-Bay inspired grave robbing as ghouls look for Civil War era buttons and the like to sell.

I got Jose Canseco's autograph at a card show prior to the 1988 season. I used to have a card signed by Eric Davis, which I traded to a friend. I also have a "Beckett Baseball Cardly Monthly" signed by Mark McGwire.

Kinda funny to think how big those names once were and how far they've fallen from grace.

I have a ball autographed by Tommy John, Jimmy Wynn, Steve Yeager, and other 70s stars. It means a lot to mean, but mainly because it is the only memorabilia I have of my early years as a Dodger fan. In a sense it proves I've been rooting for them a long time. But I'm like Jon -- I don't get the power of autographs. If I instead had a picture of myself when I was 8 years old, standing next to these Dodger stars, I would cherish that a lot more, since it would have something of me in it too.

In my field, we're dealing increasingly with E-Bay inspired grave robbing as ghouls look for Civil War era buttons and the like to sell.

That is truly sad.

Great stuff, Jon. It makes me realize I have a few autograph stories, if only a couple of autographs. It also makes me recall that many of these stories have wrapped up in them a weird sense of shame over accosting this person, who really is no better nor worse than me, for a little piece of themselves. But when I was a kid this element wasn't a part of it and it was only joy at touching that heightened world, so I certainly can't begrudge kids wanting to get autographs.

Ugh. I never read Plaschke's (stuff), but I made the mistake of clicking on his Tiger Woods-related article in this morning's LA Times. I stopped reading after roughly 8 sentagraphs, when I struck comedy gold:

Tiger Woods showed up here this week reiterating his understandable belief that he can win this summer's golf Grand Slam.

Then his opponents -- exasperated gasp -- agreed with him.

"He has already won four majors in a row, so it's not an impossible feat," Phil Mickelson said this week. "I think it's doable."

Doable? Lefty, are you that dork-able?

epic matchup of former dodgers tonight - Odalis Perez vs Mark Hendrickson.

Plaschke's an idiot at apparently all sports.

I dont find a problem with Mickelson's quote.

Plaschke's apparent uneasiness with golfers acknowledging the greatness of Tiger Woods though is a problem.

If players were talking trash about Tiger and acting like they could beat him, Plaschke'd be mocking their arrogance.

He tries too hard to be edgy and controversial, and fails miserably in the process.

In 1986, I was 9 and my brother was 6. We went with my mom to the Houston Intercontinental Airport to see my dad off on a business trip.

While there, my dad handed me a sheet of paper and told my brother and me to go over to that man sitting a few yards away and ask for an autograph.

I took my brother with me, approached the older man, and asked if we could have his autograph.

He took the sheet of paper, and asked me for my name. I said "Greg and Todd," but in a rumbled voice he said, "no only one at a time. What is yours." He began working on my autograph, and asked me to go get another sheet of paper for my brother. I did, came back, and he was still working on mine.

He spent what seemed to be about 10-15 minutes writing a phrase, picture, date, and signature for both my brother and I.

After he completed his work, he asked my brother and me for hugs, and gave us both big bear hugs at the same time.

That wonderfully calm, sensitive, beautiful man, who I came to love adore, admire, and respect more for this encounter than for anything he did athletically or politically?

Muhammad Ali.

"Service to others is the rent we pay for our place in Heaven" - Muhammad Ali 8/3/86.

"sentagraphs". I like it.

I have not yet read the Simers story (nor am I am not a Simers hater) but reduced access to autographs is just another sign that the Stadium experience is not what it used to be. As recently as four or five years ago it was a pleasure to take your kid down the third base line before the game and watch them hang over the rail with ball and pen in hand. It was that way when I was a kid. It was a game to see who you could get to sign and once you got that signiture that player held a special place for you. This was an important step in your development as a young fan. One more experience that tied you to your favorite team and player. More recently, as those third base seats have become extra-exclusive the usher shoos the kids away like pidgons.

I remember being blown away when I was a kid when my dad showed my some autographs he had collected when he was growing up in Queens: Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. It bothers me that I haven't been able to find those autographs since he passed away.

That said, I've never been much for seeking autographs myself. However, when I was in Vero Beach last month, I happened to show up on autograph day. So I got my program signed by LaRoche, Kent, Schmidt, Andruw, and Kemp. It's cool to have, but I honestly felt a little silly. I'm a grown man, and I shouldn't be asking other grown men for their signatures. But I figured, it's all part of the Dodgertown experience, so why not? Maybe some day I'll be able to impress my own kid with an authentic Matt Kemp autograph.

2 So I take it you're not interested in an original, autographed T. J. Simers' article?

Great piece, Jon. I too have often wondered what accounts for the zeal that many have for collecting autographs. Having said that, I've collected a few autographs in my time. Even as I type, I'm looking at an autographed picture of me with Tommy Lasorda. (I'm guessing more than a few of you immediately had that quote from Fletch immediately spring to mind.)

One thing I absolutely cannot understand, though, is how anyone would ever pay top dollar to obtain an autograph on eBay or from a sports memorabilia store. The FBI investigated the problem of forged memorabilia during the late 90's and early 00's and found that well over half of athletes' and celebrities' autographed memorabilia is forged (and the actual percentage is probably significantly above 50 percent). The only autographs I'll ever collect are those I personally obtain from the athlete or celebrity.

Baseball Prospectus gives the Dbacks a 55% probability of making the playoffs, and the Dodgers 21%.

That seems like a pretty big gap for this early in the season.

Really interesting topic. When I was a kid I collected autographs with great passion. It meant so much to me. Now I couldn't care less. I often wonder if it's that I grew out of it or if it was just my particular experience that wiped the desire away. I have no understanding of adults who want autographs. I truly don't judge it; I used to really want them myself. It's just that now I can't remember for the life of me why I did. Perhaps autographs are a proxy for cool memories and once you have cool enough memories, the autograph becomes obsolete.

26 The PECOTA version has it at 42-32.

28
The ELO version has it 52-19.

My Dad was a casino dealer here in Las Vegas and a couple of times brought home autographs from players. Each time he did, that player was traded soon afterward. If he were still working, maybe he could get me an autograph from Juan Pierre?

Anyway, the first game I went to in 1974 as a nine-year-old--always to be remembered as The Night I Met Vinnie--I went down to the box seats for autographs. It was well before game time, so none of the snobs who want the riff-raff kept out now were there. By the dugout, Davey Lopes was talking with a pair of blondes. I walked up, waited for a pause, and asked for his autograph. He said, "Sorry, but Alston has us going in for a meeting." I thought I understood. More than half an hour later, I looked. He was still taking with the same two blondes.

I wish him well in his treatment for prostate cancer. But pardon me if I think of him as a miserable excuse for a human being.

29 The PECOTA one works best because it acknowledges the Dodgers are a good team rather than assuming everyone will go .500 at this point in the season.

31
Woah, PECOTA is really different.

Autographs and baseball cards have become a little bit ruined by the money side of it all. Somtimes, the passion you see people have, is really just their passion for money. Now you have little kids getting autographs so they can sell them, or someone paying or using the kids to get autographs so they, in turn, can sell them. That is just human nature, the bad part.

On the other hand, autographs are fun, because they are a physical reminder, of an event, or conversation with a certain player or coach. It is an opportunity for kids to meet someone who does what they do, at a very high level, and often talk with the player, which at times, can be inspiring to young kids. For my son, going to Vero Beach and meeting players has helped instill a drive in him to work harder than other kids, and put in the time to become the best player he can be. To me, that is a life lesson, not a baseball lesson. It will stay with him long after he is done playing ball in college, or maybe even the pros. Baseball is generational, and a useful tool in raising young boys to become men. It has always been that way.

The only autograph I ever got was Betty Crocker's in her cookbook at a food show when I was 8. Imagine my surprise years when I went to the same food show and decided to pick up an autographed cookbook for my wife for mother's day and it was a different Betty Crocker, that was the day I realized I've always been a sucker and that I probably didn't meet the real Tony the Tiger either.

25 I usually request the ballplayer to sign it "To Bruce...". That way when I display my collection you know I didn't buy them. I don't care about the loss in value, that wasn't my reason for seeking the autograph in the first place.

30 What should I do with my Grady Little autographed ball?

What should I do with my Grady Little autographed ball?

Bench it for a proven veteran ball.

I never got into autographs either. I collected cards for awhile but I hardly ever went to games as a kid so I never saw athletes. I think personal autographs on cards or baseballs or bats or some actual item is worth the fuss. It enhances the value (I mean personal value, not monetary value) of the item. I don't really understand autographs on random pieces of paper.

When I was younger I was big on getting autographs both because it was another thing to collect and because they had perceived value. I even bought the book with all the players' addresses in it and send some SASE's away to certain players. The only ones I remember getting back are Cory Snyder, Shawon Dunston, and BJ Surhoff. In retrospect, getting those autographs was both impersonal and somewhat pathetic, but then again I was 10 years old.

Other early autograph memories come from waiting outside the ballpark after the game for the players to go to their cars. My success in that area was fairly limited - the ones I can remember are Dave Anderson, Brian Holton, Shawn Hillegas, and Tim Leary. It was nice to meet the players, but also very frustrating and time-consuming trying to get my favorite players to come over and sign my card out of all the other people trying for the same thing.

Since then my dad always asks if I want so-and-so's autograph when famous players are at his little league tournaments, but I always politely decline.

My most rewarding autograph experience was last spring when I went to Florida for a week. Getting the autographs of all the youngsters was cool and all, but it was more fun talking to the player for a few minutes, getting an idea of what kind of personality they have, asking them a question or two. Those are memories that will stay with me for a long time since they weren't just some guy writing on a ball.

don't recall if I've ever requested ones autograph, but I think I do have a couple. I have an autographed Joe Montanna from the Upper Deck heroes series done with Joe Namath and Joe Montanna. 2500 cards in the series had the actual autograph on them. I got #25/2500.

When I was going to Biola they always took the incomming students to a Dodger game. Well back then Todd Worrel was the closer for the Dodgers and he happens to be a Biola alum. Well some of us got to go to the game well before the gates opened and go on the field and dugout while the players were stretching. Got to shake hands with Todd and have our picture taken with him. While I really would have loved some autographs, I didn't ask. Piazza and Karros were just feet away.

Back in 1978 or so, when i was around 13, I wrote to Jack Youngblood. I sent him a card, asking him to autograph it, and also requested a photo of him.
I was in awe when the card and photo was mailed back to me, both autographed. I still have them. I understand the power of an autograph. When you're a kid, and a person you regard as a hero takes a minute of time to do something for you alone, that's an incredible feeling. Youngblood was arguably the best defensive end in the NFL when he took a couple minutes to answer a favor for a kid in north-central Pennsylvania, something he didn't have to do. That meant a lot.
With that said, I don't collect autographs anymore, at least not from a generation that is now half my age- doesn't seem appropriate for a 43 year old man to ask a 25 year old man for his signature. But if I had the opportunity to get a signature or picture with one of the heroes of my youth, I would still do it.

What did Pecota predict for Andruw Jones this year?

I have never asked for an autograph and I have never wanted one. Not only that, if I saw someone well known anywhere, at best, I might take a few galnces toward them to see how they handled themselves and then ignored them. I do this partly to give them space and freedom and mostly because I would rather do my thing than watch or interrupt someone else do their thing.

And, I assumed my kids would do the same especially if I shared my philosophy with them. But, they seemed to get distracted when near someone well known and recognizable and if they were to get a chance they would ask for an autograph much to my chagrin.

My kids are older now and I don't think they ever saved any of the autographs they obtained or ever looked at them again once they got them. With them it was the process, that and something else I still don't understand. Ah, something to explore with them....

7

My Dad got a ball autographed by Tommy at an Italian restaurant. It too sat on my shelf until I needed a ball to play catch with.

When Boston was in town for the Coliseum game, they were staying at the Westin in Pasadena. I know an acquaintance who took his sons to get some autographs. All the main players signed for the adults in line but walked right past the 6 year old and the 8 year old. The kids were pretty bummed after that.

OT: I picked up Rock Band, and it is awesome. I am amazed at how fun it is to sing in that game

I don't take a lot of pictures either. It feels like I miss the moment when I take a picture instead of just fully absorbing the feeling and vision before me without looking through a lens.

44 - I think it would be interesting for a kid to be in the hotel where a team were staying and watch and observe the players in the lobby. It could have been a good memory if it were not spoiled by wanting something they might not ever get.

So, who is the most well known person anyone has ever had a meaningful contact with, a handshake with?

42 .257/.342/.487

47
I brushed shoulders on the street with Bill Clinton

47 i met henry kissinger when i was 8. i had no idea who he was at the time, but my dad told he was important so i needed to be polite.

I covered Bill Clinton first when he was governor and then when he was a presidential candidate. Not surprisingly, my contact with him was more meaningful when he was governor.

46

I agree. They just happened to be walking by and had their gloves in the car. So, they grabbed them and ran over to the line where the players were signing things.

47

I am pretty sure I had dinner with Mickey Mantle at my Grandfather's country club in Pebble Beach. But, due to the warping of my mind with television, I don't trust a lot of my childhood memories :)

I'm like Frank from "Scrooged"

I also had lunch with Goose Gossage once, around the time his book came out. A mutual acquaintance thought I was this super baseball fan who would appreciate it more than most people. I guess I did. Mr. Gossage was pleasantly down to earth. I was impressed. His book was a good read, too.

I've met Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett a few times in the 70's. I also was at a party with a lot of the 1974 team. I know a local weatherman here, Fritz Coleman. I've had conversations with Todd Hundley. I was in a popcorn line with Sally Kellerman.

I have been in business meetings with a couple of Governors as well as Colombia Sportswear's Owner (Mom as they call her in the ads) but perhaps the best known person I have spent time with was Phil Donahue.

Oh, I've had beers with most of the members of X. Billy Zoom kept to himself.

I rode an elevator with Vin Scully at Dodger Stadium and had dinner with Wilt Chamberlain. OK, Wilt was at a table next to mine and our eyes never met.

47 I should hands with George Bush Sr and Barb hugged me during their campaign for the presidency (when he actually won. I'll never forget his "Thanks for your support"

should = shook

39
I had that same book with addresses. When I was 12 I sent Kirk Gibson some cards to sign with a note written on an index card. It said something like "Sign these two cards, and this too." It was a very curt note with nary a "please" to be found. When I found it about ten years after the fact I was ashamed that I was so rude. Also, since the 1989 cards had not yet come out yet, the cards I had Gibson sign were all Tigers cards.

My brother once saw Rod Carew in the Mall of Orange in 1986, and Carew signed a napkin for me (it was all my brother had for him to sign). The signature ends with "Rod Carew 3053", signifying his career hit total.

I'm not sure when I lost the craving for autographs. I was probably in high school or so. Ever since then, the experience of meeting a sports star is the rush rather than have their name signed on a ball or piece of paper.

I still however proudly display a baseball signed by Eddie Murray, my favorite player of all time. It was a gift for my 21st birthday, and he even signed it "Happy Birthday No. 21" before his name.

47
For me, probably the most meaningful handshake was with Cal Ripken. I met him this year when he spoke at our company's national conference. That was very cool.

I have two autographs I've ever cared about. While there was a small line for Pedro and Ramon Martinez signing autographs near where the player parking lot was, I was getting cuts on my arm climbing and leaning over a fence to hand Darryl Strawberry a ball to sign. A couple (or more?) years later I walked down near the field and Mondesi signed a ball. He later hit a HR to lead the Dodgers 1-0 over the Astros.

I couldn't care less about autographs now, but I remember being impressed when my friend told me he had Lasorda's.

9 games, 9 different lineups.
Myabe consistency doesn't matter, but why not try that if were going to try everything else?
Hitters just not clicking yet.

I have autographed balls from Rickey Henderson and Cal Ripken Jr. I also have a Mike Piazza on a piece of paper that I got at one of the classic MTV Rock and Jock softball games at Blair Field. I believe Carmen Electra may be on it, too. Since Blair was the home field of my Wilson Bruins, the frosh/soph team got to get the field ready and mingle a bit with the stars. I got the Henderson one at Angel Stadium, face to face. Doug DeCinces gave the Ripken Jr. one to me as a gift at a family wedding.

Although I was never really into the whole autograph thing, it hurt when my favorite player, Frank Thomas, shot me down. I had the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas misprint rookie card in hand ready to be signed, but no. Not too long after, a friend came and rubbed an autographed Bo Jackson (2nd favorite player) in my face. That was the end of me caring about autographs.

I once met Shirley MacLaine. Though I was actually working for a film she was doing for a few days so it's not like bumping into her on the street. (I fetched Thai food for her while she was fighting the flu. How exciting.) And Jason Alexander. Well, I worked in "Hollywood" for a few years so celebrity run-in stories aren't quite the same. I did run into James Woods once in Santa Barbara. Steve Martin once almost ran me over there, too.

I have a Sandy Koufax autographed card, the autograph coming because my mom had some sort of connection to his wife once a long time ago, and that card is still one of my prized possessions. My whole baseball card collection is, no matter what it's worth monetarily it's worth more sentimentally. I don't quite get the excitement about autographs either, but I know that meeting, even if briefly, a larger than life ballplayer when you're a little kid can be magical. Or, when it's Don Stanhouse on autograph night and you're a 10 yr old kid and he says "no," it can also be heartbreaking. Until you later realize he's a jerk and a crummy pitcher and who needs him anyway. (Yes, that happened to me.)

59 - By that standard, I had dinner with Ed Helms last night.

Which reminds me, I DID want Ron Popeil's autograph a fry bag when I saw him at LAX In 'n' Out. (He was with his family eating so I left him alone.)

Sandra Day O'Connor is probably mine. But we also have a Bob Hope story. My brother wrote about it after Hope died:

When I was a kid, my grandparents lived in Palm Springs. My brother and sister and I had been staying with them (without our parents), but it was time to head home to L.A.

We were flying. A short flight, a small plane. We got to preboard, because we were unaccompanied minors. One other guy got to pre-board. Bob Hope . Cuz, well... cuz he was Bob Hope .

My grandmother, Sue Weisman -- who is now a healthy 93 years old -- approached Mr. Hope and without hesitation asked him to watch over her three grandchildren during the flight. Keep in mind this was about three decades ago. Bob Hope was a HUGE star. I have no idea what he thought of the request, but he was very gracious and agreed.

The plane had two seats on either side of the aisle. So my younger siblings, Robyn and Jon, sat next to each other in the front row to the right of the aisle. I have no memory of who got the window seat and who got the aisle seat between them. But I know where I sat. I sat in the front row aisle seat across from them. (I was the oldest, so I was the one sitting alone.) Sitting next to me was Bob Hope . Now, this was a night time flight. And not crowded. I remember very clearly that I was kinda annoyed by the seating arrangements. I had flown before, but I had never flown at night and I was young enough to think I'd have a better look at the stars and the moon. So I had really, really wanted a window seat. I also can't imagine that Bob Hope 's first choice would have been to sit next to a bunch of kids.

But we both made the best of it. I told him that I had actually seen him on tv twice the previous day. (Again, remember, he was a huge star then, so this was not unusual.) His golf tournament was during the day, and he had been on a Dean Martin Roast the previous night. He explained to me that the Roast had been recorded weeks before.

That's about all I remember. And I'm sure in the next few days you'll see and read a bunch of much more efficacious and worthwhile tributes to the man. There are a couple movies of his, "The Lemon-Drop Kid" in particular, that I truly cherish. And his work with the USO is unparalleled.

But I just thought I'd add this: He was a man that my grandmother could trust with her grandkids. And I think that's saying something.

64
Batting order doesn't really matter; what matters is that the right players play. For the most part, the first 9 games have been remarkably consistent in that regard. 5 players have started all 9 games, and Martin and Jones have only not started once (they later appeared in their non starts). The only players to switch in and out have been Kemp (5 starts) and Pierre (4).