What do a Canseco, a Franco, and a Mike Marshall all have in common? Well on one hand, Jose, John, and the pitcher are all pretty tough autographs to get. Also, all three are players who signed for me on Monday. Not the tough ones, mind you. But still, adding Ozzie Canseco, Julio Franco, and the outfielder Mike Marshall is a pretty good day.
Chris and I hit up the Cats for the second time since I moved down here, this time with our friend and fellow grapher Matt giving us a ride over. We met him in Frisco back in January and have been graphing with him ever since. As soon as we got in, Marshall was quick with the pen, signing 8 each for myself and Chris as well as three for Matt. From there, we dashed over to where Julio Franco was. I was a bit late though: Chris got two, Matt three, and I got there just in time to see him go into the locker room. Oh well, I figured with it being a doubleheader, I'd have plenty of chances to get him.
From there we headed over to the Charros side where Ozzie and his pitching coach were working with a couple of potential additions to the squad. As Ozzie finished we asked him to sign and he kept walking telling us he'd get to us: "I'm not done working yet guys," he said as he headed toward the dugout. We stuck around by the bullpen, chatting with a couple of the pitchers then went toward the dugout. Finally Canseco came out and over to us, asking "Something I can do for you?" He signed everything we all had, including six for me.
The players started doing warmups and Franco emerged from the locker room. Two fans asked him to sign and he said he'd do it down at the field. He went out and did some running and stretching and finally when he finished, he had us all line up and went right down the line, signing three per person. He was pretty quiet when signing. Chris called him the "Keeper of the Gold" as he was known when he played for always wearing a few gold chains. I mentioned I grew up watching him play in Cleveland. He didn't respond at all, but at least he made sure to sign for everyone.
In between games we got Marshall again, as he did four for me, four for Chris, and three for Matt, one of which ended up going to me. Franco signed and took a couple photos quickly with some kids before heading out to the field for the second game. If we felt like sticking around, we could have gotten him again, but one game was enough. While the United League is indeed a professional league, it's not exactly the highest quality baseball you'll ever watch. One game was enough for us.
TOTALS: 22 autographs from 3 players (20 from 3 for me, 2 from 2 for Corey and his Mets collection).
Blog is on indefinite hiatus as of November 2020.
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