I love three-day weekends. In spite of my lack of religiosity, if Jesus wants to give me a day off work, then he's a cool guy in my book. Having Good Friday off for the first time in... well... ever, gave me an extra day to do some graphing. Originally I planned on just doing Saturday's game until I realized I had a day off. And since Friday's tickets were cheaper on StubHub, I moved everything up a day with plans to only do the tunnel on Saturday and Sunday.
The tunnel was decent on Friday. No huge names of course, but Jason Frasor signed three cards for me, as did J.P. Arencibia and Mitch Moreland. A word on Arencibia, he only typically does two-per. Fortunately someone helped me out and got the third signed for me (shoutout to TAC's texasaggiefan11 for assisting me there). I missed Ivan Rodriguez by about 5 minutes.
Inside I just headed straight for the White Sox side. Most players who signed at first were doing so only over the dugout and I didn't feel like getting involved in the mosh pit over there, so I stayed in my typical spot near the 3B Commissioners Box. Jose Quintana signed on that side but stopped before getting down to me. I was however in perfect position for the two big ones I wanted: Paul Konerko, who signed a card for me, and Jose Abreu, who signed a ball.
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| Apparently that says Jose Abreu |
The group of us that went upstairs went back down to field level again where a few others signed. Daniel Webb signed but I had nothing for him. Matt Lindstrom did the same as Arencibia, signing two of my three cards, with texasaggiefan11 (I'm terrible with names) got the third one done for me. Right after the National Anthem, Adam Eaton quickly signed one of my two cards on his way back to the dugout as well.
The game was a total blowout for the Rangers, 12-0. Martin Perez picked up his first complete game shutout, giving up only three hits. Robinson Chirinos had a homer, and Prince Fielder finally saw his bat wake up as well. Prince celebrated his 2 for 2 with 2 walks night by signing at the tunnel after the game. Postgame signers were rare last season so it's good to see him out there early. Hope it keeps up.
I ended up delayed on Saturday due to floorball so I missed out, but heard Chirinos, Perez, and Engel Beltre all signed before I got there. Also heard Fielder signed again after the game. WOW!
Having missed out on Fielder and Perez, I figured I had to give Sunday's tunnel a chance. While neither of them signed, I did have a good day down there. I got there super-early in the unlikely event of a Pudge appearance, but no dice. I did get my first Ron Washington sigs of the year, signing a trio of cards. If my math is correct, there are only about two or three cards left of him that I don't have signed yet. Matt Harrison came through next, signing all three cards I had with me. First time I've gotten him aside from the Winter Caravan stop. I asked him if he had an ETA yet on his return and he said he'll hopefully find out this week. He seemed a bit exasperated about it though-- it's understandable, the guy hasn't been able to pitch in a major league game in over a year, but he did have a nice rehab outing in Frisco. It sounds like he should be back soon.
J.P. Arencibia stopped as well, signing the last two cards I had of him. Same with Neal Cotts, who signed the last two I had of him. Jason Frasor was his usual self, signing three and chatting with everyone. New bench coach Tim Bogar came through and signed three cards for me.
Couple fun Bogar stories, first was when he was managing in the South Atlantic League. I went to a Lake County Captains game back in 2005 and he was skipper for Lexington. The Captains stomped them pretty well, about 11-2 if I remember correctly. On his way off the field I asked Bogar to sign a couple cards for me, I asked him my usual "How's it going?" and he looked up at the scoreboard and back at me and said "I've been better."
The second was just today as he was signing. If you have a 1993 Stadium Club card of him, flip it over. He won't sign the front but will sign the back. The back photo is of him, but the front is another Mets-drafted utility infielder who became a coach, Aaron Ledesma.
Last one I got was Hector Noesi who signed two of my three cards. I was hoping I'd get him eventually this season-- I missed him last year with the Mariners and he was the starter in the Indians-Mariners game I did in 2012.
FRIDAY TOTALS: 16 cards and a ball from 9 players
SUNDAY TOTALS: 18 cards from 7 players
WEEKEND TOTALS: 34 cards and a ball from 14 players
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