The Beckett Blog

Wednsday night there was a cool event in Arlington (Texas, ya’ll) where I (along with four other Beckett employees) was able to load up on some great autographs for my ever-expanding collection.

Jamey Newberg has a Web site “covering the Texas Rangers from top to bottom,” and especially their prospects.  He  publishes an annual report (pictured above) that is loaded with information that any baseball fan would eat up. Being relatively new to this baseball market, this is the first one I have actually sat down to read.  So far, it’s loaded with excellent insight and analysis, the stuff I absolutely crave.

Anyway, he had a book-release party at Sherlock’s Pub, that was an autograph-hounds dream. If you had purchased his book, you had the opportunity to get autographs from five Texas Rangers, past, present and future.

Thanks to my well-timed, and very early arrival, the five of us were able to get the two perfect tables, right where the line began. The things I do for these guys!

First, there was the future: Derek Holland, a fast-rising left-handed pitching phenom, who signed the book cover for me, as well as (a photocopy of) a drawing of him that Andy Broome (our vintage grading expert) had done. I have to thank our waitress, Tabitha, for making a copy of it for me when Andy wandered off to the restroom. Sorry, Andy, you no longer have a 1/1 piece of original art.

There was Chris Davis, the Ranger’s 2008 ROY, who signed a ticket stub from his first homerun (second MLB game). Yes, I save every ticket stub to every game I go to, maybe that’s weird, but this is a cool autograph! He enjoyed seeing it, especially when I told him that one of the autographs I got at that game was from Clay Condrey, the Phillies pitcher who gave up the HR, so it was obvious that I brought him luck. (Sorry, Clay, I have a knack for doing things like that.)

Then to Taylor Teagarden, the University of Texas product and US Olympic team member who I really enjoy watching since I have followed him since his college heroics. The Stadler pen that Andy Broome brought with him really made this Bowman Chrome autograph look sweet. The scan does not do it justice. He also signed another card, that I immediately smuged (dang it) and a card for my buddy down in Austin.

I will skip forward, wait, back, to the Ranger’s past and show these two Jeff Zimmerman cards next. Zimmerman was an All-Star as a rookie in 1999 and well on his way to an outstanding career when injuries took their toll a couple of years later. He was an incredibly nice guy and the Upper Deck card he signed is in my top-10 on-card autographs I have gotten over the years, it looks fantastic.

Now, back to the present, forward to the present … whatever. This is also the future, as in future Hall-of-Famer Michael Young. He signed two cards for me, his Topps Chrome RC, an Allen & Ginter and to save the best for last, a baseball. He graciously inscribed “AL Gold Glove ‘08″ on it for me.

I told him the ball already had a home on my shelf, right between my Josh Hamilton and my Brooks Robinson ball. His reaction told me that he really has no idea how great of a player he is. He was humble and over-the-top polite, and I am proud to finally have gotten the signature of one of the game’s true gentlemen and finest players.

Thanks to everyone who put this together, and I look forward to next year!