The best day of the year...so far

I had such an amazing day today. To think I almost didn't go. I went to bed about 3:30 a.m. Saturday when I decided I wouldn't be a panzy about going by myself somewhere. I ordered tickets to the Texas Rangers Fan Fest and I woke up 4 hours later to go :-)

Here's some highlights from the day that was.....awesome.

My new friend Tony praying to the Ranger gods in the early morning mist. Actually he's still recovering from heart surgery and needed a breather.

The first autographs of the day. Rangers television broadcaster Tom Grieve (left) and former Rangers designated hitter Mickey Tettleton (right.)


Grieve signed my 1998 Texas Rangers postseason program courtesy my good friend Chris Gove.















While Mickey signed a Texas Rangers minibat circa 1998 courtesy my new friend Wayne Smith.
















After Tettleton and Grieve was my favorite Rangers outfielder of all time lovingly referred to by my brother Matt as Rusty "the Busty" Greer.


I handed Rusty the same 1998 postseason program Grieve signed and he quickly autographed it, stopped and began looking for himself in the team photo.
"Long time ago," I said to him.
"Yea..." he said almost sadly.
















And rounding out the first autograph session was Ray Burris, someone I'd never heard of but he was a really nice guy. It was definitely an honor to meet those four men.


I picked up a complementary card Burris was autographing.















I was invited to tag along with my new buddies Wayne and Tony. I found out Tony works at Frito Lay and helps develop new tastes for the snack foods, while Wayne used to own a sports card shop and both were master memorabilia collectors who kindly showed me the ropes today.

After the Tettleton/Grieve/Greer/Burris signing, we made our way up to the Diamond Club where Jamey Newberg, author of the Newberg Report, was hosting an autograph signing for future Rangers.

From left to right: Chris Davis, John Whittleman, John Mayberry Jr. (not pictured: Doug Mathis)

I got an autograph from each one of the young prospects on a baseball provided by Mr. Smith.











































Pictured: John Mayberry Jr. (top) and John Whittleman (bottom)














Pictured: Chris Davis (top), Doug Mathis (middle) and Mike Jeffcoat (bottom)














Sadly after the prospects' signings, Tony felt he couldn't continue and went home leaving Wayne and I to hustle after some more autographs. Here's where he taught me a little trick. First, some background info: you couldn't just go get autographs. You had to be given a ticket that meant "one" autograph from each of the players at the table. Well, Wayne and I went and waited in a line, got the tickets for the autograph, then jetted to another line and so on. Then we went to each line as we pleased knowing we had a guaranteed shot at an autograph.

We decided to go back to the Grand Slam Gift Shop in centerfield where we had gotten Rusty's autograph earlier. This time they had a few new faces.

From left to right: Jeff Russell, Jim Sundberg and Rangers broadcaster Josh Lewin.

Lewin signed my Fan Fest program...














and a complementary card.















Sundberg was kind enough to sign...

a card...














another card...














and a bat.














Russell signed...

a complementary card...














and four other cards provided by Mr. Smith.















The next hour afforded us the pleasure to meet...

Rich Billings...
...who kindly signed...

a bat...














...and a ball.
Pictured: Rich Billings (top), C.J. Wilson (middle) and Jason Jennings (bottom).

There was also the dynamic duo of Mike Jeffcoat (left) and Pete O'Brien (right)...

who signed...

a card (Jeffcoat)...














a bat (Jeffcoat)...














a bat (O'Brien)...














a card...














and more cards.















After going through this particular autograph line twice, Billings, Jeffcoat and O'Brien recognized us, yet they were classy enough to oblige our autograph requests. With no real plan for the 2 p.m. autograph, Wayne and I waited in the C.J. Wilson line. I've grown to be a pretty big fan of C.J.'s not only for the work he does on the field, but he's a really nice guy from all accounts. He set up a children's foundation and even organizes gaming events to benefit said foundation. This was really the only current Ranger I really considered getting.

C.J. rockin his Guitar Hero shirt.

In addition to the baseball he signed mentioned above, he also signed a complementary card.














After waiting nearly an hour for C.J.'s autograph, we headed back to the Grand Slam Gift Shop for another former Ranger with a dear place in our hearts - "Steeeeeeeeeeveeeee Boooooochelllllllllle."

The great Steve Buechele. And Dad, he's one year younger than you :-P

Although he was standoffish, Buechele did sign...

some old ass cards.














In addition to Buechele was Dave Hostetler.
who signed this ball...














and the complementary card.














And to round out the day, we finished off with the newest Ranger - Jason Jennings. The ball he autographed has been previously pictured.

All in all, the day simply could not have been any better. I got some great players to sign stuff and I met two really cool guys who showed me the ropes of a Fan Fest. I can't thank them enough for all their generosity and help in making it such a memorable experience.

Hunting for autographs reminded me of the great times my dad would take Matt and I to Ranger games when he lived in Dallas. One time we saw Ripken play and prior to the game were two humongous lines, but only one was fortunate to get Ripken's autograph. That may have been the time I chickened out of getting a first-grader's autograph. Good ol Molly Palmison, star of the former local Ranger commercials. Luckily Matt had the balls to get her autograph. Matt also got Mr. Bob Uecker's autograph one game against the Brewers. I remember watching Matt and Dad, through binoculars, walking to a spot beneath the announce booth. Dad put Matt on his shoulders and the rest has been told countless times.
"Mr. Uecker? Can I have your autograph?"
"Sure kid. Throw the ball up here."
Still has to be one of the coolest moments ever.
Then there were our first real autographs with our favorite baseball player Pudge Rodriguez when he was a rookie. It's almost been exactly 16 years since we got his autograph. February 2, 1992, Pudge did an autograph show in Midland and we showed up. Of course this was before millions of dollars, so he was a really cool guy to get an autograph from. Sadly, Wayne told me the millions must have gone to Pudge's head because he charges out the wahzoo for his John Hancock. Wayne said other notable autograph assholes were Mark Teixeira, Ferguson Jenkins and Alex Rodriguez.
Nevertheless, today has been etched alongside those memories of younger days. Although I wasn't with my family today, they were with me as I ran from line to line getting autographs. Until next Fan Fest!