On Tuesday, June 7, 2022 I went to Tropicana Field to watch the Tampa Bay Rays play the St. Louis Cardinals. I wasn't having the greatest time at getting any autographs. My son, brother and myself were trying to get autographs prior to the game near the Cardinals dugout. Pitching coach Mike Maddux walked by and I called out his name. He gave a quick glance and a wave, but did not come by to sign. My son called over Harrison Bader and he came to sign for a large group. He signed a card for my son and brother but skipped over me. The big name stars such as Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Nolan Arenado didn't come any where close to us. The game eventually started and we found our seats. The game was tied at 1 in the 9th inning and my son says to me, he's never seen a walk off home run. I told him you never know what might happen. The game was tied at 2 in the bottom of the 10th inning. Taylor Walls was at the plate and down to his last strike with runners on. Taylor hit hard line drive down the right field line, which I was certain would be called foul, until it hit the giant yellow foul pole for a walk off home run! After the game, the three of us made our way over to the players parking lot, hoping for one last shot at Harrison Bader, Molina, Pujols... Really anybody at the point. The big names ignored us, as expected, until we saw the man of the hour, Taylor Walls. Taylor pulled out of the Rays parking lot in his over sized pickup truck and pulled off to the side just past where we were standing. A man told him that he had his home run ball and wanted to give it to him. After they finished talking, Taylor was kind enough to sign a card for my son and I. Taylor signed a 2017 Bowman Chrome baseball card for each of us! More would have been nice, but I was 100% satisfied!
