Fernando DaSilva

I met Fernando DaSilva in the mid 1990's while playing for the West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League. Fernando signed a 1993 Classic Best Gold baseball card.

 

Tilson Brito

Tilson Brito signed this Dunedin Blue Jays 1993 Classic Best team set baseball card for me in 1993 while playing for the Dunedin Blue Jays. 

 

Brad Allen

I met Brad Allen on April 8, 2016 at Brighthouse Networks Field when the Dunedin Blue Jays came to play the Clearwater Threshers. Brad signed a 2015 team set card by Grandstand Trading Cards.

 

Johnny Podres

Johnny Podres signed this 1967 Topps baseball card for me in February, 1999 as he was arriving at Carpenter Complex. Mr. Podres was the pitching coach at the time for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was part of the World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, and was named World Series MVP. 

Jim Leyland

Jim Leyland signed a 1989 Topps baseball card for me in the mid 1990's at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium in Clearwater, Florida. Mr. Leyland was managing the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time. He signed the card from the visiting dugout prior to a Spring Training game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Mr. Leyland was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame's class of 2024 on December 3, 2023!

 

Joey Votto

We drove up to Cincinnati to visit my step daughter as she had just joined Cincinnati Ballet. While there, my son and I had plans to see a Reds game on Friday September 22, 2023. My son and I have always been serious about collecting autographs. Since we had plenty of time, we decided to try to get some autographs early by hanging out by the players parking lot as they arrived at the ballpark. We arrived around noon and saw one fan was already there with the same idea. He didn't recognize us and asked where we were from. We told him we drove up for the weekend from Tampa. He then asked, "Are you going to the Q&A"? I answered no, as we only have tickets to the game itself. He then asked for my e-mail address and sent Braden and I two tickets! He said the Q&A starts at 2:30, which is about 3 hours  before the gates open!

While inside, hours before the majority of the fans were allowed in, Braden and I had a unique opportunity to get some autographs. Joey Votto signed an 8x10 picture for each of us. Joey was one of the main guys we were trying to get. Big thanks to Tony for hooking us up with the Q&A tickets. Without those, this probably wouldn't have happened!!

 

 

Elly De La Cruz

We drove up to Cincinnati to visit my step daughter as she had just joined Cincinnati Ballet. While there, my son and I had plans to see a Reds game on Friday September 22, 2023. My son and I have always been serious about collecting autographs. Since we had plenty of time, we decided to try to get some autographs early by hanging out by the players parking lot as they arrived at the ballpark. We arrived around noon and saw one fan was already there with the same idea. He didn't recognize us and asked where we were from. We told him we drove up for the weekend from Tampa. He then asked, "Are you going to the Q&A"? I answered no, as we only have tickets to the game itself. He then asked for my e-mail address and sent Braden and I two tickets! He said the Q&A starts at 2:30, which is about 3 hours  before the gates open!

While inside, hours before the majority of the fans were allowed in, Braden and I had a unique opportunity to get some autographs. Elly De La Cruz signed an 8x10 picture for each of us. The few collectors attending the Q&A had told us Elly was almost impossible to get an autograph from. Inside there were around a dozen or so autograph collectors. Elly only signed for my son and I! I guess luck was working with us this particular weekend!