player encounters

[MrCinatit]

i know autograph shows are usually just "turnstile" events...you know..."move them on through"...but there were a couple which stick in my mind.
one was Stan Musial - yeah, i know, he was a redBIRD, but still one heck of a classy gentleman. i was just some 14-year-old punk at the time...but...it was THE MAN! a very friendly man, actually took the time to talk with every person for about half a minute, which was just a thrill. i think i managed to spurt out "Glaifrirhg, Mr. Musahoaoaprel" (though i could have called him Mr. Mantle, for all i know).

much later, Paul O'Neill was signing at the old Piqua East Mall. he was still rather young...i think it was right after the '89 season. because of the state of the Reds' team at the time, the turn out was embarassingly small - i think i stood in a line of 12 other people.
in my posession, i have a 1982 Cedar Rapids Reds set, with Paul's first card. i plopped that sucker down in front of him and his eyes got as wide as saucers.
"Where did you get that!" he asked. i explained i had bought them at a giftshop in Cooperstown. He only shook his head. i really need to find that card and post it sometime - he had some serious 'fro stuff going on in '82, and he seemed ashamed someone had actually seen it.
he then started talking about the rest of the team...youngsters such as Kal Daniels, Eric The Red, i think Ron Robinson was with the team at the time...a very large number of future-Reds for (i think) a single A team.
while talking about this, the look in his eyes was a rather classic look. i think he started thinking back to the old times again, when he was just a kid starting out with the team. felt pretty good, actually.

[IowaRed]

1982 Cedar Rapids Reds included Paul O'Neill, E.D., Rob Murphy, Scott Terry, Kurt Kepshire and I believe it was the year that Jeff Jones hit a Midwest League record 42 HRs.

[savafan]

I met George Foster and Ken Griffey at my first Reds game. I was a couple months old, and my dad let them both hold me. That's the story I get anyway, I don't really remember.

I've told this story quite a few times. I was at a flea market in 1991 when I was 14 years old. I was standing in line to get a hot dog with my dad. After the guy in front of us got his kid's food and turned around, I recognized that it was Paul O'Neill. So, like anyone would do, I asked him, "Are you Paul O'Neill?" He smiled and said that he was. I talked to his son briefly while he and my dad had a long conversation. While they were talking, I found my way to the nearest vendor selling baseball cards and bought every Paul O'Neill card that he had. Paul signed every one of those cards for me. It was well over 20 different baseball cards. He was very soft spoken and seemed somewhat shy, yet very personable.

[KearnsyEars]

jr. isnt that friendly to meet away from the field....is dunn?

I can say aaron boone, sean casey, and sullivan were great in person.

[OldRightHander]

Even though I started this thread, I still find one thing funny. We see these guys in an everyday setting, at the grocery, buying an ice cream cone, eating lunch at a restaurant, and we make a big deal about it. "Hey, did you know that I saw Adam Dunn putting gas in his car once. Imagine that. He actually has to stop at the gas station on occasion. I thought only peons like us had to do that." Now, I'm as guilty as anyone else of making a deal of these things, but I still think it's kind of funny that we find some amusement in the fact that ballplayers do every day things just like we do. It's like we don't expect them to have normal lives too. Incidentally, I saw Paul O'Neill at a hockey game up at the Gardens about 4 or 5 years ago, but I left him alone because I figured he was probably there for the same reason I was, to watch a hockey game. There were some kids who didn't see things the way I did, so I don't know how much of that game he actually got to watch.

[RosieRed]

I don't have any great stories, but I'll share a few anyway.

I ran into Ken Griffey Sr. and George Foster a few times at a game last year when I was sitting in my company's box suite and they were in the suite next to us. Almost bumped right into Griffey Sr. when he was coming off an elevator and I was getting on it. It was weird; normally I'm not all that shy, but I couldn't bring myself to go up and interrupt him, even just to say hi. So I didn't talk to him or Foster.

Saw Boomer Esiason at a Starbucks in Cincinnati last year. Not a Reds player, I know, but it was so random. I have no idea what he was doing in town; it was a weekday.

Not a random sighting, but one year at RedsFest I had a nice conversation with Corky Miller. No one was in his line but me.

Saw John Bale at a bar in Cincinnati a few years ago. He was all by himself, and looked pretty unhappy. I've seen quite a few visiting players at the same bar, but I've never tried talking to them. (A friend of mine tried to talk to Jason Kendall, when he was still with the Pirates, and Kendall was super-rude.)

And, many of you have already heard this one, but Creek and I ran into Dunn, Kearns and Graves at a bar in Florida during ST. We were sitting at a table right next to them. They're good at tossing back drinks. (Belisle was also there, but not sitting with them and I have no idea who he was with.) Before we left I went over to talk to Dunn, Kearns and Graves for a minute. They were all very polite, especially Graves. Dunn winked at me. (Had to throw that in for Creek. ) Aurilia showed up a few minutes later and him and Danny left. Dunn and Kearns left too, for a strip club.

[SunDeck]

My dad is one of those west-side boys who is just social to every one (and in turn embarrases me greatly).

Bingo!
If we're out at a restaurant with my dad and we can't find him we know to look in the kitchen because he'll be there talking to the cooks, the owner, the guy filling the pepsi machine, anyone.

One of our all time great player encounters came when my dad cut Pete off on 5th street. He pulled up at Walnut and started yelling at my dad from inside his Rolls. My dad told him he'd kick is --s if he didn't think it would keep the Reds from beating the Dodgers in the pennant race. Pete thought that was pretty funny and that was the end of it.

[OldRightHander]

One of our all time great player encounters came when my dad cut Pete off on 5th street. He pulled up at Walnut and started yelling at my dad from inside his Rolls. My dad told him he'd kick is --s if he didn't think it would keep the Reds from beating the Dodgers in the pennant race. Pete thought that was pretty funny and that was the end of it.

That's keeping priorities straight.

[Jesus Freak]

I saw David Weathers eating lunch at TGIFriday's the other day.

Pretty cool, eh? I bet you're all jealous.

Did you get his autograph? Was he dressed like Tackleberry? We need more info.

[RedsFan75]

Not a Red's player but spent some time talking to Jimmy Wynn, of the Astro's. Very nice guy. He was at a function thrown by my company at the time when I was working in Texas. He, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Staubach were at the even. Spoke at length to Wynn... Seems not many folks knew who Wynn was but lots of folks around Ryan and Staubach. Got to speak briefly to Staubach, Ryan was nice, and spoke to him longer. Learned he was launching the Round Rock Express about 2 weeks before it hit the paper.

Wynn, seemed to be impressed that I knew he'd hit the longest HR at Crosley and autographed a ball for me.

[Jesus Freak]

My friends and I heckled David Weathers before a game at Riverfront Stadium when he played with the Marlins (I think it was his rookie year). He was shagging flyballs and we kept chanting "Batboy" at him. He kept saying, "I am a "bad boy." After the game, we were over getting autographs where the players come out when we saw him. We all started chanting "Batboy" and his girlfriend started dying laughing. He came over and shook our hands while he laughed it off.

[Cedric]

I talk with Chief Bender about weekly where I work. I don't even know what he does anymore, but he always gives me some info on breaking stuff.

[Reds Fanatic]

My only direct encounter with a Reds player was with Pete Rose was when I was about 14 or 15. A local car dealer had a promotion going where if you bought a car you got to go a dinner where Pete Rose was the featured speaker. Well my Dad was buying a car so we were invited to this dinner. After Pete spoke each person got to meet Pete and get pictures or autographs after the dinner. Before talking I was really excited meet one of my idols growing up. But when we talked I went completely blank and could not think of anything to say.

[NYMoose]

This encounter was not with a Reds player, but I think it is a little funny. My wife and 9 year old son were staying at a hotel in New Hampshire (I forget why we were even there). The wife and I were sitting in a hot tub next to the pool while our son played in the pool. Being a huge Montreal Canadiens fan I had on my usual Canadiens hat. Montreal had just been bounced out of the playoffs and their rivals, the Boston Bruins had also been knocked out.

I noticed a guy slide into the hot tub across from us, he looked familiar. I figured out who it was and mentioned it to my wife. She looked at me like I was stupid, nothing new there. So after a few minutes the guy says to me, "How are your Canadiens doing?" So being the big Canadiens fan I say, "Playing golf, just like the Bruins." The guy starts to laugh. I said to him, "You're Mike Milbury aren't you?" He started to laugh. Yes it was Mike. We chatted with him for an hour or so, real nice guy.

[SunDeck]

My only direct encounter with a Reds player was with Pete Rose was when I was about 14 or 15. A local car dealer had a promotion going where if you bought a car you got to go a dinner where Pete Rose was the featured speaker. Well my Dad was buying a car so we were invited to this dinner. After Pete spoke each person got to meet Pete and get pictures or autographs after the dinner. Before talking I was really excited meet one of my idols growing up. But when we talked I went completely blank and could not think of anything to say.

You were channeling me. Sorry about that.