Celebrating 100 Years at Fenway

Unless you're living under a rock in Boston, it's hard not to notice the Red Sox are aggressively and actively celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park.  It is the oldest active major sporting venue in the U.S. and no location or venue has seen more sports, concerts, and speeches combined in one venue over the past century. 

Thanks to this celebration, I have been regularly thinking of some ideas for collecting autographs from some Red Sox greats on 100 year items.  There are many, many ideas out there, all of which are good.  Some are elaborate and some very simple.  Here are some thoughts:

This year, MLB created a special ball to be used at Fenway for all home games.  This ball has a special 100 year logo on the side, that replaced the normal MLB logo ball.  This ball is perfect for autographs, and I would recommend having Red Sox hall of famers sign this ball under the logo with the years in a Red Sox uniform noted under their name.  The year inscription can be added for a minimal fee at public signings.  The balls are very expensive at Fenway ($40) each.  I would recommend purchasing them online for $20-$25 or purchase them in person at card/collector/autograph shows for about $20 each.  This will be a limited, one year item only, so purchase them now.



The 100 year ball used at Fenway this season.















Another idea is the 100 year mini truck.  Again these are very expensive at Fenway ($30), but you can find these at places like Modell's and Sports Authority for $16.99.  Perfect for about 8-10 autographs of your Red Sox favorites.  These trucks are also available in limited quantities.


Limited edition toy truck.















One neat idea I saw at Fenway, is the 100 year commemorative bat.  There are two sizes in a variety of colors.  The mini bat is $35 and the full size is $100.  What fun about these bats is that you can have a personal name, date or experience engraved onto the bat.  Then you can have them autographed by anyone you want.  I have done this for family and friends and it is truly a great keepsake.


100 year mini bat autographed by Mike Aviles, David Ortiz, Cody Ross and Franklin Morales
















Lastly, next time you are at Fenway, take a photo of the field, green monster, maybe a part of the ballpark that is recognizable.  Make that photo into an 8x10 or 16x20 photo and have players autograph it.  This is a great personal keepsake that is your own, and it definitely will have more meaning with your own personal memory of it vs. a generic baseball or toy truck.

My personal photo of the green monster from 2001, not with 10 autographs.  Notice the years under the player names.

Have fun celebrating the 100th anniversary.  It is a great time to be a fan of Fenway.

Have you ever met a knuckleball pitcher????

Tim Wakefield Autographed baseball

New England Picture Company and Sure Shot Promtions are providing another great opportunity for New England Sports fans.  They are hosting a RARE public autograph signing with 2x World Series Champion and former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield.

The pricing on this event is FANTASTIC.  They have rolled back the prices to the 2007 price point for Jason, as he is only $49 for basic/regular items such as small photos and baseballs.  The price is only $69 for the premium items such as bats, jerseys, game used merchandise and bobbleheads.  If you choose to add a personalization/inscription the charge is $25 extra.

The date is on the evening of Tuesday June 5th.  For more information please check http://www.newenglandpicture.com/ or http://www.sureshotpromotions.com/.

Information on time and place is below.  Hope to you see you there.

The Captain is coming, The Captain is coming, Jason Varitek Appearance

Jason Varitek Autographed Baseball

New England Picture Company and Sure Shot Promtions are providing another great opportunity for New England Sports fans.  They are hosting a RARE public autograph signing with 2x World Series Champion and former Red Sox captain Jason Varitek.

The pricing on this event is FANTASTIC.  They have rolled back the prices to the 2007 price point for Jason, as he is only $69 for basic/regular items such as small photos and baseballs.  The price is only $89 for the premium items such as bats, jerseys, game used merchandise and bobbleheads.  If you choose to add a personalization/inscription the charge is $25 extra.

The date is on the evening of Tuesday May 22nd.  For more information please check http://www.sureshotpromotions.com/or http://www.newenglandpicture.com/.

Information on location and time is below.  We hope to see you there.

Come and Meet Red Sox Prospect Jose Iglesias

New England Picture company and Sure shot promotions are offering Red Sox fans a great opportunity to meet the organization's top shortstop prospect.  The hype around Jose Iglesias is at a high as the baseball season is starting.  Fans are split as to whether he should've made the major league roster to start the 2012 season.  Nobody seems to question his glove, but this 22 year old needs a little more time to develop his hitting skills.  Regardless of his current status, Jose will become a star for the Sox. 



Jose Iglesias Autographed Ball















So if you are a follower of my blog, you know I can't preach enough to take advantage of meeting these young stars, while they are still young.  I guarantee you his price will increase and availability will diminish over the next few years.  He is worth taking a chance on now, in terms of getting a reasonably priced autograph.  His value will appreciate over time.

His pricing is great.  $29 for regular items, $39 for premium and equipment, $15 for inscriptions.
He will be appearing at the New England Picture South Shore plaza location on Saturday April 21.
For more information please check www.newenglandpicture.com or www.sureshotpromotions.com.

Keep it simple, collect in small groups

Every April the major league baseball season starts anew.  Fans are excited, it's the first sign of the warm weather season, and it's time to hope that your team will be playing in October.  Another fascinating aspect to the beginning of the season is to watch how all the new managers and players will perform in their respective cities.  About 20% of rosters have changed, and everyone both inside and outside an organization are anxious to see what will happen on the field. 

With such a high turnover, it's hard to collect team autographs, either on one item or individual items. While it's not impossible to collect all signatures on a team, it is a challenge.  So to counter this overwhelming task I suggest you collect in small groups or by position.  I have had far more success just collecting by positions, ie. the catcher's, or relief pitchers, position players, etc...  Follow the old saying called KISS, Keep it simple Stupid. 



Autographed baseballs from the 2012 5 Red Sox Starting pitchers.  Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, Daniel Bard, Jon Lester, Felix Doubront.



My photo made the cover of a book!!!!



Front cover of the book Fantography





















Before I started collecting autographs, my biggest hobby was to photograph my favorite players, and parts of any ballpark I visited.  I then started to print my photos into 8x10 size and have players autograph them.  I still do that today, but not at the same quantity I once did 4-8 years ago.  It was always a "high" to have a conversation with the players about the photos they were autographing.  It was even more special when players asked me for copies of my photos for their families.  That was always an honor.



My photo of Manny Ramirez that he autographed.















I just had a new positive and exciting experience with one of my photos.  About 2 years ago I submitted about 10 photos to a person named Andy Strasberg.  He was compiling a collection of baseball fan photos and stories top publish a book.  Earlier this week, I received a copy of the book.  Much to my amazement my photo of Fenway Park's green monster was on the back cover.  Then as I flipped through the book, the same photo was used to highlight the beginning of chapter 7 titles, Scoreboards and Signage.

My photo of Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky.

The name of this book is Baseball Fantography.  So if you are a true baseball fan, please take a look at this book on Amazon.com and consider buying it.  It's completely written and photographed from the regular fan's perspective.  I guaranteed, pleasant reading experience for the true fan.


The back cover of the book has my photo of the green monster on it.