Despite the Shock it’s Time to Rock
2/11/09
Play Ball
If you’ve been following this blog you know, I’m already in Tucson. I’ve been there for two weeks now (in my mind). Nothing can stop this trip. The best part is the guys that I’m going with are as excited as I am.
Ryan Speier accepted me as a friend on Facebook today. Ryan was my third Rockies autograph ever and he signed for me on autograph day last spring training.Ryan gave Zack Hample his glove a few years back and I remember Zack mentioning in his blog that the glove was this most prized gift from a player.
I want all the Rockies pitchers to have a good season but I’m really pulling for Speier and 
Morales.
Morales.
Both of these guys have dipped their toes in the big league and I’d like to see both of them “take the plunge” so to speak.
Here’s a new segment I’m going to call “Ranters question of the day”.
Todays question…I guess I’m what you could call a collecter. What do you collect? What is your most prized posession and would you ever sell it?
Rockpile Rant 
Okay – make up our own subject? I like this! Okay – what will be the first type of sandwich that D– will eat on the trip in the MBU? I vote for Turkey, lettuce & tomato on whole wheat, light on the mayo?
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
Sandwiches? Gotta be the PB&J! Grilled! Maybe chunky peanut butter that doesn’t have lead in it, and some raspberry jam on white. WOW. Sounds great!
http://kaybee.mlblogs.com
Tofu Reuben w/Russian dressing. (OK, I actually got that one off the Whole Foods website)
I’m thinking brats with kraut.
Ryan Speier has srsly awesome facial hair.
I am so jealous of your being in Tucson. I’m still stuck here in the 98% humidity (actually today it’s 30%, which is practically a record). Post LOTS of pictures so I know what to expect when I drive down next year 😀
Kylie — http://kylie.mlblogs.com
JULIA, KAYBEE and R-LUV-Did you three actually comment on an emtpy blog entry?…D
KYLIE-I have seriously awesome facial hair, Speier has partial facial hair. I will be posting pictures and video constantly all day while in Tucson. I’ll have my laptop at the game blogging live while at the same time trying to snag autographs and baseballs. It can be difficult at times typing with a glove on…D
Remember NO GLOVE NO LOVE 🙂
D, so excited to hear all the happenings in Tucson! Ryan Spier has a facebook!?!?! are you sure it’s official? (not questioning you, just the accuracy of the internet) What did you say for him to accept you? are there other players with facebooks?!?
~Alex
http://bloggingwithanaltitude.mlblogs.com
Cool that Ryan Spier is now your friend. I always liked Justin Speier when he played with the Jays (used to be a Rockie. Great name, ‘Just Inspire,’ Justin Speier. Anyway, hope that Tuscon is a blast!
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/
Hey D,
Of course I did. That’s why I love your blog so much, it’s always so much crazy fun.
I collect piggy banks and Rockies autographs. My most prized posession? Hmmmmmmm? Either my Rockpile Ranter’s autograph or the white Rockies hat I had autographed each time I went to a game last year and nope, I wouldn’t sell either.
Yup – thought you were giving us something fun to do to pass the hours until spring training starts! But you didn’t tell us what type of sandwich you like!
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
JULIA-Sandwich..hmm, toasted classic italian sub, or a grilled cheese.
R-LUV-Do you have a Rockies piggy bank? The white Rockies hat you get autographed..is that the free one they gave out last year?..Just curious, those are nice hats.
HOMIE-Your right, that is a cool name. He’s a cool dude. He only accepted me on facebook, I’ll have to work to be his friend. I can tell you he’d be lucky to have me as a friend.
ALEX-It’s official, my buddy Dan is friends with Ryan on facebook too. All I’ve said to Ryan so far was see you in Tucson…D
I collect baseball cards and probably have more than I should. It started out as a joint collection with my younger brother but then I got tired of having to trust him with the cards and basically took them all. He was 8 so it wasn’t hard to trick him into thinking I was just looking after the cards and organizing them. Now all of those cards are mine and he has his own small collection.
I would say my most prized possession (that has to do with baseball) is the ball I got autographed by a bunch of Mets players at Spring Training last year. It has a Joe Smith autograph and they are the first autographs I got by myself. I would never THINK of selling it.
2 days!
-Ellie
http://mrmetbro.blogspot.com
ELLIE-That’s great, I love baseball cards. I have a bunch but I don’t really collect them. I have an old Army buddy who’s name is Joe Smith..He used to tell people his name and they wouldn’t believe him…D
D- I’m friend with Ryan on Facebook too!!! How exciting. I’ve heard Joe Koshansky is on it too, and at one point, Troy Tulowitzki, Garrett Atkins, and Ryan Spilborghs were, but that ended. I hope you’re having a great time! I’m so jealous!!!
Emily
http://deconstructingthoughts.mlblogs.com/
My most prized possession would be all the Rockies memorabilia I have collected through the years.
I have it all in pictures and posted on my facebook too.
Missy
http://rocktober-2007.mlblogs.com/
EMILY-That’s cool. I like Koshansky too.
MISSY-Send me a picture of your Rockies collection, I’ll post it…D
Hey D,
Nope and yep. The coolest thing is the 1st autograph I got was Jeff Francis!
I guess I have to put the “collecting” question in two parts: what was given to me, and what I bought.
My life is centered on baseball, so my most prized posessions have that in mind. The best thing that was ever given to me was the old Devilrays On-Deck Circle from the 2001-2004 season. I can’t tell you how I got it, but it was not stolen or gotten by illegal means.
The best thing I have ever bought was during an auction I was alerted to in Georgia. I went there and bid furiously for one of Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Black Betsy bats. I paid a good amount for the bat, and it sits in it s own bat case in a very secure spot in the house. Another item that is in a jersey display case and I have never wore it to a game is a Wade Boggs game-used jersey from 1998.
I just love baseball, they are more cherished than my football collectibles . I love both sports, but I still have passion for baseball.
D- great job as usual. You got me thinking there dude, and that is not always a good thing.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Hi Ranter! I collect lots of things, mostly baseball related. The most unusual non-baseball thing is containers of sand from beaches I have been to.
Baseball-wise, I buy bobble-heads at every stadium we visit. It is much harder to find generic team bobbles anymore, a lot of times there are only player-specific ones available. Then I have to resort to eBay.
I also have a large collection of autographed baseballs. I refuse to pay big money for an autograph – I’ve been fortunate enough to get them either free at Spring Training, or for the price of admission to the Phillies Phestival each year.
The most prized ones are really old team-signed balls that came through my uncle-in-law, from the 1940s, teams like the Pirates, Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, NY Giants, Boston Braves, Phila A’s (no Yankees, that would be worth serious money). I’m sure they’re worth some money, but I have no intentions of selling them.
Sue
Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
Hey D,
I’ve got a few things I collect, but probably the one I’ve been at the longest would be collecting autographs. My Dad got me started on it when I was really young. The first HOF’er we ever got was Brooks Robinson at a University of Maryland baseball game. I was the batboy for the team that year and they were playing team USSR. It was a big deal and Brooks was up in the press box. From there, our collection just grew and grew. He got signatures on baseballs and I got signatures on a big coffee table book that covers the greatest ballplayers of all time. It’s an A-Z book with a bio on one page and a picture on the other. There’s probably 60 HOF’ers that have signed in there. Our most prized one in the collection is probably Mickey Mantle. I branched out and started getting autographs from musicians when I was in college. My favorite one in that group is a harmonica that I caught at a Blues Traveler show. I got John Popper to sign it a few months after the show.
-Mark
http://babypaul.mlblogs.com
RAYSREN-Shoeless Joe Jackson’s bat. WOW. Remember thinking it is ok, acting on it is another story. Thanks for sharing.
SUE-I love the bobbleheads, I have four of them. I’m with you on the autographs, I will not pay for them. I don’t come from a huge sports family so that’s cool you inherited some neat baseball relics.
BP/MARK-I’m willing to bet your collection is impressive. I’ve been collecting sports autographs for only a year now. You snagged a Blues Traveler harmonica?? Man that’s right up there with snagging Flea’s bass guitar at a Red Hot’s show..Nice job brotha…D
Everyone thanks for sharing your collections. My most prized possesson/autograph is the first one I ever acquired. It was Omar Quintinilla. That will remain tops for me until I meet Todd Helton..
Hey D,
Yeah, I caught it at a show in DC and got it signed when they were back in town a few months later. I almost snagged a second one at their Halloween show a few years back, but I tipped it and it went off in another direction. That night, the band was dressed up in costumes. Brendan Hill, their drummer, wore a big, red clown nose during the show and tossed it to me as they were walking off the stage.
Hey, I know you’re a Pete Rose fan. I was in Las Vegas yesterday and he does signings almost every weekend at a place called Field of Dreams in the Caesars Hotel. I don’t know what they charge, but you get an autograph, pictures and can sit and talk with him.
-Mark
http://babypaul.mlblogs.com