First Time Collecting Soccer Autographs

Today was the day that I decided to try a new experience. After a weekend of having my mailbox stuffed with arriving soccer cards, I decided to take some of those cards to the Tampa Bay Rowdies pre-season workout this morning.

I got to Al Lang Stadium around 8:15 this morning. As I was walking toward the stadium, I noticed several people that looked like players, walking from the parking lot and into the stadium. I couldn't believe how easy this was going to be. The players park in the same lot as everyone else. I hung out for a few minutes, hoping I'd at least recognize someone. An SUV then pulls in and I instantly recognized Freddy Adu behind the wheel. As Freddy is coming toward me, I approached him for an autograph. He said he was going to be late, and then asked what I wanted signed. I held out my card and pen and he said, "oh, just this. Okay." I guess he thought I was going to spring several items on him.
Unfortunately, my first soccer autograph did not live up to my expectations. I didn't prep the card, and it shows. It also got smeared upon him handing it back to me. Oh well, I'm still very happy that I was able to get it.

Freddy wasn't lying about being late as he seemed to be the last one to show up. I decided to walk around the outside of the stadium to see if I could see any players on the field. None were to be found, but I knew that the team has also been working out at the nearby college recreation field.

After getting lost by walking about 4 blocks the wrong way, I backtracked and was able to find the field.

I was very happy to see that it appeared to be the entire squad working out. I soon started recognizing every player that I had a card of.

I hung out at the entrance of this field, which was on the opposite side of where I took the above picture.
As the morning workout was winding down, the coaches and staff were cleaning up and loading the van with their equipment.
Stuart Campbell, the head coach of the Rowdies, told me that when the players were finished, they'd come back to my area to change their shoes, but then they'd exit the field back on the other side...you know, right by where I took that picture. I had failed to notice that there was a gate on that side. He told me that I was welcome to go on the field to get the autographs that I needed. I declined, and headed back to where I was. As I'm getting ready to sit on a bench, I noticed a Barnes & Noble store across the street with outdoor tables and chairs. I crossed the street, propped my book on a table and pulled out each card so that I would have them ready.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

I was at the table directly in front of the park bench. A portion of the practice field can be seen to the right of the image.
Instead of being bussed between the stadium and the recreation field, the players all walk the short distance.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Sitting at the table was a great decision. It gave the players a solid surface to sign on.
I ended up getting all of the cards signed that I brought with me.
The first player to approach the table was Michael Nanchoff. He was walking with Freddy Adu. I wondered if I had waited, if Adu's signature would have turned out better if he had signed it on a table.
Anyway, Michael was showing his card to fellow teammates, commenting on how old the card was. As he was signing it, he was struggling to remember what number he wore when he was with the Vancouver Whitecaps. It then came to him and he added it to his signature.

Tom Heinemann was next. He looked kind of shocked when I called for him. He was just signed by the Rowdies less than a month ago, so it was probably weird for him to be recognized.

Several players were all walking together toward me, and 3 that I needed were all bunched together. I called for the closest one to me, Kalif Alhassan. He stops to sign, notices the 2 unsigned cards (Danny Mwanga and Matt Pickens) and says to the guys to stop and sign for me.

It was a very successful day for me. The players were all extremely friendly.
I'm not ready to give up on baseball autographs, but it was so refreshing getting autographs in a relaxed atmosphere.
Fun day, with hopefully more ahead. The plan is to go see the Philadelphia Union practice tomorrow in Clearwater.
Any more soccer talk and I may have to change the name of this blog to Keys to the Goalie's Box.

A New Hobby

Before I became a baseball fan and baseball card collector, the sport I fell in love with first was soccer.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies became a team in 1975, the year after I was born. They joined the NASL (North American Soccer League) and promptly won the Soccer Bowl in their first year of existence. While I have no memory of that inaugural season, I do remember my parents taking me to Rowdies games at Tampa Stadium when I was around 3 or 4. I got to see some great players in those days, including, arguably the greatest of all time, Pelé, when he played for the New York Cosmos.

The NASL folded in 1984, ironically, the same year that I started collecting baseball cards.
Soccer was no longer a part of my life until 1994, when the World Cup took place in North America. I was caught up in the hype and watched every match that was broadcast. From then on, I looked forward to every 4 years to watch the World Cup.
In 2006, after the conclusion of the World Cup in Germany, I discovered a cable TV network called FOX Sports World. On it, they aired live and tape delayed matches from the English Premier League. I was once again hooked on soccer, with Chelsea FC becoming my favorite European team.

In 2010 the Rowdies came back, though, due to a licensing issue, they were called FC Tampa Bay. I went to their first game, held at the New York Yankees spring training stadium in Tampa that April.
In time for the start of the 2012 season, the Rowdies were officially allowed to use their name.

As long as I've been a soccer fan, I never felt the need, nor really wanted to collect any cards. As far as I know, the NASL never had any licensed cards and the English Premier League cards were hard to find and very expensive.

February is not only a time for spring training in baseball, but for soccer as well. The Philadelphia Phillies have their spring home in Clearwater, Florida. Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union have followed, and make their spring home right across the street from the Phillies.

If you're not bored already, let me get to why I decided to create this post.

The Rowdies are hosting a spring tournament this month, featuring 6 MLS teams. 

Not only do I want to attend these games, but I also want to try and get some autographs. This week I've been buying a lot of soccer cards from COMC, eBay and Amazon.
Several cards began arriving today.
First, I went over the Rowdies roster and ordered cards of anyone that I was able to find a card of.
Perry Van Der Beck played with the Rowdies when I was a kid. He is now the Technical Director for the Rowdies.

Here's cards of players that are currently on the Rowdies roster.

Freddy Adu

Matt Pickens

Kalif Alhassan

Michael Nanchoff

Tom Heinemann

Danny Mwanga

This tournament features my favorite player who used to play for Chelsea.
Frank Lampard is Chelsea's all-time leading goal scorer with 211 goals. He now plays for New York City FC, but I just had to find a card of him in his Chelsea kit.

Since the Philadelphia Union will be training so close to my home, I decided to buy a 2015 team set.

Only 4 players from that set are no longer with the team.
I also bought cards of the Union's coaching staff.

Chris Albright

Jim Curtin

Mike Sorber

Also picked up a card of the Union's Sporting Director, Earnie Stewart. I remember watching him play for the USA in the World Cup in 1994.

I ordered a 2014 and 2015 team set of the New York Red Bulls.
Only the 2014 set has arrived thus far.

Inside that set was a card of Claudio Reyna, a former US player and current NYC FC Sporting Director.

I didn't know he'd be included in this set, because I had already ordered one elsewhere. Well, now I'll have 2 once the second card arrives. Luckily, I ordered myself a different card.

I'm looking forward to getting some of these cards signed. It's going to be all new to me, and I really have no idea what to expect, but hopefully I'll figure out the right places to stand and get a chance to meet most of these guys.

2016 Topps Jumbo Pack

I bought my first pack of 2016 Topps today. I was able to find jumbo packs available at Target.

To me, it was just an average pack. Nothing really stood out. I really like the look of the cards this year. Borderless is a great choice.

My lone Met was Future Star/Topps All Star Rookie, Noah Syndergaard.

A few other highlights from this pack include:

A gold parallel of Chris Sale (0114/2016).

Rainbow foil rookie card of Zack Godley.

Wade Boggs shown pitching on a baseball card.

A card highlighting Jacoby Ellsbury's MLB debut.

I really like this Perspectives card of Jhonny Peralta. I wish all the base cards looked like this.

Major League Baseball is getting their own version of Wacky Packages this year. This sticker card was in my pack, I guess as promotional material.

I used to buy Wacky Packages when I was a kid. Some made me laugh. I can't see myself buying these baseball ones when they come out in March.

I look forward to buying more of these 2016 Topps cards, and of course, getting some signed this year.

Meeting the Mets

Today I went on a 3 hour+ road trip with my brother and nephew to see the Mets fantasy camp at Tradition Field in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
It was my first time visiting the stadium and I had such a great time, plus, I did really well with getting autographs.
The players and the staff were all incredibly nice. Just about every player took the time not only to sign, but also to have a conversation.

As a lifelong Mets fan, it was a huge thrill for me to see Mets players that I grew up watching, as well as players who played prior to me becoming a fan, including those who played on the Mets' first World Series championship team in 1969.

There were Mets players from all decades of their existence.

The first player that I met was Felix Millan, who played his final season with the Mets when I was only 3-years-old. I didn't become a Mets fan until I was 8, when my dad took me to Shea Stadium in 1982.

Next up was Lance Johnson, who had a solid season and a half with the Mets in the mid-90's.

I love that he added his nickname, "1 Dog" along with his signature.

When I met Pat Zachry, he told me that he wanted to make sure that he was holding the card right, so that I'd get a legible autograph. I told him that he must've done this thousands of times. He replied, "it never gets old," which I really appreciated him saying.

One of my favorite Mets, simply because of his name, Butch Huskey.

My next card that I got signed, I believe, is my first autographed oddball card. I'm not even sure how I ever obtained this card, but I'm happy I had it, as it was the only card I had of him.
Here is Ron Swoboda animated, making his infamous catch in the 1969 World Series.

Breaking up the autograph collecting, I was able to get a picture with comedian/actor Jim Breuer, who was participating in the camp as a player.

After discovering that the original picture that my brother took of Jim and me was too dark, I approached him a second time. Jim was cool about it, grabbed the phone from my brother and insisted on a selfie.
My nephew wanted in on the action, so Jim took one with him as well, which my brother promptly photobombed.

Jim spent several minutes with us. Turns out that he's from the same part of Florida that my brother and I grew up in. I told him that I'd like to print out the picture that we took and have him sign it the next time he's in the Tampa Bay area doing comedy. Off the top of his head, he knew the exact date and venue, and then offered us free tickets. He asked for our contact info, so hopefully he'll come through for us.

Back to the autographs, it was a big thrill for me to get a Met who played on the inaugural team in 1962. Unfortunately, I didn't have an original card, but I'm pleased with the archive card of Joe Pignatano.

A player that I constantly rooted for during his MLB record 27 consecutive game losing streak, was Anthony Young. It was a miserable time to be a Mets fan, but you couldn't help but feel bad for him.

It was cool to finally meet Turk Wendell, a player probably more known for his superstitions than his playing abilities.

Here's the only card that I own of John Stearns. Brian of Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary sent me a package full of Mets cards several months ago and this card was included. Glad I was able to get it signed today. Thanks, Brian!

Here's a Met that I watched in the Minor Leagues, but never had a card of him to get signed, Edgardo Alfonzo.

Another 1969 World Series champion, Duffy Dyer.

The tallest baseball player that I've ever gotten an autograph from, 6'10" Eric Hillman.

It wasn't just retired players at the complex. Immediately after meeting Eric Hillman, I spotted Zack Wheeler exiting the stadium. Literally, minutes before I left this morning for Port Saint Lucie, I decided to bring some cards of current Mets, just in case they were there early for spring training. It certainly paid off.

Happy to add a 1986 World Series champion to my collection, Tim Teufel.

And with that, that ended my day at the Mets fantasy camp. I ended up getting all the cards signed that I brought of the fantasy camp coaches.
As we're leaving, we decide to drive through the parking lot to the opposite side of the stadium. There, sitting in his car with his door and trunk opened, is Lucas Duda.

What a great way to end this day with the Mets.

He wasn't even the last autograph I got that day. We decided to head over to Palm Beach, Florida, where the St. Louis Cardinals were also having a fantasy camp.
Upon entering Roger Dean Stadium, we spotted Hall of Famer, Whitey Herzog, sitting in a golf cart on the first base side.

Such a great signature and the added inscription, which I didn't even ask for.

This was definitely one of my better autograph collecting days. It'll be hard to top the memories I came away with from today.