Bernie Nicholls (The Optometry Practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu) (7-12-14)

Former NHL player and 3x All-Star, Bernie Nicholls was scheduled to sign at an optometrist office in Rowland Heights so I decided to check it out for this rare opportunity to get a chance to meet him. He was scheduled to start at 2:30 and finish at 3:30 and they announced he would do 1 per for the 1st 50 fans, but if you bought a photo or puck from the office you would get a ticket to get the item signed plus an additional item. I arrived around 11:15 and bought an 8x10 and then I left to eat and go to a nearby store while I tried to kill some time. I got in line around 12:30 and there was about 30-40 people in line. Bernie arrived at about 2:00 but did not begin to sign until 3:00. I finally got inside and got to meet him at about 3:25 and I had him sign my 8x10 with the "3 Allstars" inscription and a card I brought as well: 

Bernie was very nice with fans and even took his 2012 Stanley Cup Championship ring and let everyone take pictures with it. Overall about 75 people showed up and it was a great signing, so thanks to Dr. Liu for hosting the signing and thanks to Bernie for being such a great guy and signing and taking pictures with everyone. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.

TOR @ LAA (7-8-14)

The Blue Jays were in town for a 3-game set against the Angels so I decided to go to one of the games in hopes of finally meeting Jose Bautista. I chose the second game since they were giving away a cowboy rally monkey and because R.A. Dickey was scheduled to pitch. I got to the stadium about 15 minutes after the stadium opened and I ran straight to the Blue Jays side in hopes of seeing Jose pregame. No one signed for either team until after BP, but during BP I was able to get a ball that went foul and bounced straight to me: 

After BP I made my way to the Blue Jays dugout and luckily Jose had just finished an interview and he began to sign. He started off signing balls and then went to cards and photos. After about 5 minutes I was able to get my card signed by him:

That was it for BP so after getting Jose I went to the bullpens to try and get some of the Blue Jays pitchers. When I got to the bullpen I noticed Jim Hill was there just finishing up an interview so I got to meet him and he was very friendly and talked to everyone: 

After that I waited for the pitchers to arrive. I had no luck with Dickey, and all of the relievers walked through a different entrance so I wasn't able to get either of them but I was able to get Josh Thole as he was leaving the bullpen for warm ups:

That was it for the day but overall it was pretty good since I finally got to meet Jose Bautista. Thanks to Jose and Josh for signing. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come soon.

Howie Kendrick (Stadium Nissan at Orange) (5-24-14)

Howie Kendrick was at Stadium Nissan in Orange and was scheduled to be there from 11-1 pm. It was a late decision but I decided to go and ended up getting there around 11:45. Howie had to leave early so they cut the line at a certain point before I got there but luckily they extended the line a bit and I made it through. I got up to the front of the line pretty quickly and they said it wa 1 per so I had him sign an ROMLB on the sweetspot for me:

I asked him if he could inscribe "2011 All-Star" but he said no. Although I couldn't get an inscription, it's still a really nice auto to add to the collection. I'd like to thank Stadium Nissan for hosting the signing, and Howie for showing up. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.

Toyota Sports Center (4-12-14 and 4-19-14)

Day 1 (4-12-14)

I heard that the Lakers were going to be practicing so I decided to head down to their practice facility in El Segundo. It was only about 20 minutes from where I live so it wasn't too bad. I showed up around 9 am and left at 2 pm, the D-Fenders (Lakers D-League Affiliate) were practicing along with the Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors D-League Affiliate) that day in preparation for their playoff series. I was also able to see the Los Angeles Kings practice but since I did not go prepared I had nothing to get signed but I was able to take pictures with Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Dwight King, Willie Mitchell, Daryl Evans and Daryl Sutter. I waited for the Lakers on there way out of the parking lot and I was able to get most of them: 

Top Left: Gary Vitti 

Top Middle: Luke Walton

Top Right: Shawnee Williams

Middle Left: Kendall Marshall

Middle: Nick Young

Middle Right: Jordan Hill

Bottom Left: Jodie Meeks

Bottom Middle: Ryan Kelly

Bottom Right: Robert Sacre

Day 2 (4-19-14)

I decided to go back to Toyota Sports Center the following week to see the Kings practice and to try to graph them and it turned out pretty well. I took some cards and a 2012 Stanley Cup Champs 8x10 Photo to get signed by the people I didn't have cards for. I also took an 8x10 picture of Justin Williams with the Stanley Cup and I was lucky enough to get it signed:

As for my Stanley Cup Champs photo, I was able to get a few people to sign it:

Top Left: Jake Muzzin

Top Right: Alec Martinez

Middle Left: Jarret Stoll

Middle Right: Dwight King

Bottom Left: Daryl Evans

Bottom Right: Rob Blake

Along with the 2 photos, I was also able to get 4 cards signed.

Jonathan Quick:

Jordan Nolan:

Anze Kopitar:

Matt Greene:

To cap the day off, I had bought 2 blank pucks to get signed and I got them signed by a few upcoming stars.

Tanner Pearson:

Martin Jones: 

Tyler Toffoli:

Overall, I had a great time graphing at Toyota Sports Center and I had a great time meeting a lot of the players, coaches and alumni. Thanks to all of the guys who stopped to sign and take pictures and thanks to you for reading. Stay tuned for more.

Michael Cooper (WSS) (3-8-14)

Earlier this week I heard about a Michael Cooper signing that was going to be at a WSS in Anaheim. Michael was scheduled to sign from 6 pm-7 pm so I decided to go check it out and see how it was since I haven't been to a signing for a while now. I got there at 5 and there were about 10 people in line. At 5:45, 15 minutes before his scheduled time, Michael walks in through the front of the store, waves to everyone, walks through the front entrance and begins to sign right away. I made it to the front of the line by 6:05 and Michael was by far the nicest person I have met. He shook everyone's hand as they walked up to the table he was signing at and asked each and every person how they were donig. I had my Lakers 2012-13 Yearbook with me with pictures of all their Championship Rings and he was nice enough to sign all 5 pages for me of all 5 rings he won. He also inscribed something on each page without me asking as well: 

He also took photos with everyone who asked. Michael Cooper was an awesome guy and he was very nice and I'm glad I got to meet him. Overall there was about 30 people and everyone got to meet him. So I'd like to thank WSS for hosting the event and Michael Cooper for showing up and being such a great guy. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come.

Matt Barnes (Sports Authority) (10-26-13)

Matt Barnes was scheduled to have his 1st signing of the year yesterday from 3-4 pm at Sports Authority in Hawthorne. I decided to check it out in hopes of a low turnout. I arrived about 10 minutes before 3 and was surprised to see only about 100 people there. I got in line and then Matt arrived a couple minutes before 3 and started taking pictures with staff before starting to sign for fans. He was also taking photos with fans so it took a while to finally get to him, but finally at about 3:50 I was next in line. When I got up to the table I handed Matt my basketball and had him sign it:

It didn't come out exactly how I wanted it too but I was still happy to get it. I then got a photo with Matt and left. Overall it was a great event and I thank Matt Barnes for coming out to sign. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come.

Paul Lo Duca & Shawn Green (EDCO Recycling and Transfer Collection Center) (10-12-13)

I heard about this signing a couple days ago and I knew there wouldn't be a big turn out since it wasn't highly advertised. I decided to check it out since it was from 11-1 and only like 20 minutes from my house. I ended up leaving late and got there at 11:45. There was about 20 people in front of me when I got there but the line went slow because they were taking pictures too. I finally got to the front of the line 15 minutes later and got Shawn Green to sweetspot my ROMLB and inscribe "4 HR's 5-23-02" and Paul Lo Duca to sweetspot another ROMLB for me and inscribe "4x All-Star":

Overall it was a great event and I'm glad I was able to add 2 more awesome autographs to my collection. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come.

TEX @ LAA (9-6-13)

I decided to go to the Angels game this Friday because it was the 1st game of the series between the Angels and Rangers. I got to the stadium around 5 o'clock so I waited a few minutes until the gates opened and I was in right away. I headed straight to the Rangers side and during the Rangers portion of BP Joseph Ortiz, Tanner Scheppers, and Martin Perez signed right near me but I passed on them because I only had 2 ROMLB's on me and I was hoping on getting Joakim Soria during BP and Tim Salmon post game. Joakim didn't sign but I did manage to get a toss-up from a guy who I didn't recognize:

I later got Andy Hawkins the Rangers bullpen coach to throw me a ball pre-game while Matt Garza was warming up: 

That was it for pre-game but later on in the middle of the 8th when Tanner Scheppers was finishing his bullpen warm up I asked him for the ball and he threw it to me:

That was it for the game but I was able to get Tim Salmon to sign my ROMLB: 

Even though he side paneled it I still think it is pretty cool. So thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.

Steve Yeager (Sports Authority) (8-17-13)

After the C.J. Wilson signing I decided to go to the Steve Yeager signing. I left the C.J. signing at 12:00 and the Steve Yeager signing was going to start at 1:00. The C.J. Wilson signing was in Santa Ana and the Steve Yeager signing was in Hawthorne which were 40 minutes apart so I would arrive to the signing right on time. I got there a few minutes after 1:00 and Steve was already there signing and the line wasn't too long so we were in and out within 10 minutes. I ended up getting him to sign my ROMLB on the sweet spot and asked him to inscribe "'81 WS MVP":

I also got a photo that they had their signed with the same inscription:

Thank you Sports Authority for hosting the signing, Steve Yeager for being so friendly with the fans and thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more to come. 

C.J. Wilson (Metro PCS) (8-17-13)

I expected a very big turnout since he is a 2x All-Star and is 2nd in the Angels rotation so I wanted to get there a little early. I didn't want to go too early so I decided to go 2 hours early and if it was too packed I would go back home and try the Steve Yeager signing that was going to be later that day. C.J. was scheduled to be signing from 11:30 to 1:00 so I got there at 9:30. I arrived and to my surprise I was about 80th in line. It wasn't too crowded and overall I would say there was about 150 people. C.J. ended up getting there about 15 minutes late but the line went fast so I got out within 30 minutes after he started signing. He was doing 1 per so I got him to sign my ROMLB on the sweet spot:

I asked him to inscribe 2x All-Star so he inscribed the 2 years he was an All-Star. I'd like to thank Metro PCS for hosting the signing, C.J. Wilson for signing for all the fans and thank you for reading. Stay tuned for my next post on the Steve Yeager signing later that day.