Signed Ball of the Day : Tommy Lasorda ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

Well I have run through my bobblehead posts so I thought I would start another ongoing category. I was on the look out for one last bobblehead and I just won it on ebay so once I receive that then I will do a post on that. I will be taking the newly acquired bobble to Spring Training next week so hopefully I will get it signed. And Spring Training is where we start with this new category.

Most of my autographs are on baseballs but I do have a few exceptions ( bobbleheads, pictures, bats, etc ) so I am going to start with the balls and sprinkle in the others from time to time. I would say around 60% of all my signatures are in person ( IP ). Some people would find it sacrilegious to get an autograph any other way but I don't think it is a crime to acquire it whether by trade with another person or buying an authenticated one on ebay or some other source. The majority of my signatures are Dodgers, past and present, and some are just not realistic to get in person. For instance, I bought Pee Wee Reese's signed ball as he has passed so IP is not possible. I missed Russell Martin when he was a Dodger and didn't know if I would ever catch him again so I bought one on ebay for $15. My collection is built the way I can and want to acquire the autographs and yours should be the same. Don't let anyone else tell you how to get your signatures.

Anyways, back to the new category and Spring Training. Last year was my first time I was able to go to Arizona to catch the boys in blue. My main goal was to acquire as many autographs as I could get and I came away with about 20 in my one and half days there. One thing that I have been adjusting in my collection is if I bought an autograph I would still try to hunt down that person so I would have an IP autograph instead and then I would resell the one I originally bought. Well that was the case here. I bought Tommy Lasorda's autograph as I couldn't never meet up with him and then I have heard and seen stories about the temper he has. I personally have seen it once when I got close so after that I looked and found videos showing the same experience I got. Well I bought his PSA authenticated autograph about 3 years ago and thought I would never meet up with him again. Well on the first day in AZ and towards the end of the day there he drives out on his golf cart and a line of about 20 people line up and he proceeds to sign for everyone. I had my buddy with me and thought maybe he could get my bat signed but I have heard stories about bats so I got my baseball signed and thankfully he signed on the sweet spot. Nothing irritates me more than side paneling unless asked, I'm looking at you Shane Victorino. I didn't want to be the person wanting a signtaure after the signee is pissed off so I went first and then my buddy walks up and Tommy lights up into him and says, " I don't sign God damn bats ". Ahhhh... the infamous Tommy temper came out. Anyways, I got my ball signed and that weekend I sold the one I previously purchased. A great way to end my first day in AZ.