Chris texted me last night, alerting me that Ivan Rodriguez was going to be at the Roughriders game on Sunday, asking if I wanted to go. Since I still haven't gotten Pudge yet, I figured this was as good a time as any. Plus we could get a few Roughriders, and I might be able to add a former Indian to the collection as former Tribe moundsman Don Schulze is the pitching coach for Midland, whom the Riders were playing.
We got inside and after a brief stop down at the field to ask where Pudge was signing, we headed over for him. Unfortunately, it turned out that Pudge was signing for a private party. A couple other collectors I know got him outside the ballpark though, so we though we might have a shot later if we could figure out where and when he was heading down to go throw out the first pitch, or perhaps even get him outside as he was leaving. In the meantime, we went over to the Riders side and several signed. Chris hooked me up with a few cards so I was able to get Luke Jackson and Rouglas Odor (2 each, 1 of each going to me and one of each to Chris), as well as hitting coach Jason Hart. Chris got them along with Ryan Rua, Luis Sardinas, and Jake Skole.
We debated making a dash over to the other side to get Schulze after Jackson signed, but it was getting close to gametime, so we might not have a shot. Instead, since Pudge had just gotten done throwing out the first pitch, we figured it would be best to head outside and try for him. Besides, Midland comes in a number of times and Schulze is accessible TTM.
Our gamble paid off. It wasn't more than about two minutes after we got outside the Pudge came walking out, and signed one for each of us. As a Little League catcher growing up, I always liked Pudge (even if he kept taking Gold Gloves and All-Star appearances away from Sandy Alomar Jr.) so it was great to finally get him.
Chris and I also made a trade, with him getting Tim Bogar and Hector Noesi and me getting Spike Owen and Brooks Kieschnick.
TOTALS: Four autographs from four players.
Blog is on indefinite hiatus as of November 2020.
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