30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Still living in the past...

One of the worst things that can happen to a sports fan... well at least this particular sports fan... is hearing that your favorite player has been traded.

Today marks the one year anniversary of the trade the shipped Kurt Suzuki off to the Washington Nationals and I'm still trying to recover from the news.  Thankfully, the A's have been pretty successful without him... so that helps to dull the pain.


But I'm still finding myself grabbing his memorabilia that depicts him in his Athletics uniform.  A few weeks ago, I won these two autographed photos off of eBay from an amazing seller:  sportsgalleryauthenticated.


Normally, I wouldn't go out of my way to plug an eBay seller, but I was very impressed with their quick shipment and amazing customer service department.  I received my photos the next day and they took the time to answer every question I had about the item and their signing session with Suzuki.

I discovered that they have several Bay Area locations, where they sometimes offer fans the opportunity to meet popular local athletes.  Suzuki signed for them twice, most recently on August 5th, 2010.


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend.  But after contacting Sport Gallery Authenticated, they informed me that he truly had the "aloha" spirit.  He was laid back, friendly with the fans, and "the ideal athlete you would ever want to encounter".

After hearing this, I was even more bummed that I missed the opportunity to meet him.  That day, his autographs ranged from $45 to $70 depending on what he signed.  I ended up paying only $9.95 (+ $5.99 shipping) for the pair, which is a steal when you consider that unsigned Photo File images usually sell for $5+ by themselves.

But in hindsight, I'd have no problem spending $45 to say that I got to meet and talk to my favorite baseball player.

These days, I still check in on Kurt Suzuki from time to time... just like I'll add a piece of his cardboard or memorabilia to my collection every now and then.

He's still struggling at the plate, but I'm hopeful that he'll eventually get his swing back.  Heck... maybe he'll eventually make his way back to the Athletics.   Until then... at least I'll have these two photos and the rest of my Kurt Suzuki Collection to keep the pre-trade memories fresh.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

18 comments:

Dawgbones said...

Those are some very nice looking autographs. I have not had the opportunity to meet any ballplayers yet, but I imagine they are like the rest of the sports population, having good days and bad. I've met several nascar drivers, having switched to rooting for MWR and Waltrip's team after having met him in person, he left that much of a positive impression on me! Then there are negatives too, Wouldn't cross the road for Ricky Rudd is he was giving out $100 bills! And I'd be really PO'd if I had to fork over hard earned money to be treated rudely by anyone!
One ballplayer that I'd love to meet just base on both his online personality as well as his TTM habits (and he pitched for the A's too!) is Pat Neshek.

The Lost Collector said...

Nice photos! Suzuki seems like a good dude.

Marcus said...

I'm a minor Suzuki fan as well, though I just have a few of his base cards, nothing fancy or anything. We both went to Cal State Fullerton at the same time (well, we overlapped a bit, at least), and he's a catcher, plus he seems like an awesome dude. Sweet autos!

Stealing Home said...

I know what you mean about favorite players getting traded away - one of my blackest baseball days was when Mike Piazza was traded away from the Dodgers.

sg488 said...

$45-70 for a back-up catchers autograph? Who pays these prices?

Fuji said...

Very curious... What'd Rudd do that left such a negative impression?

Fuji said...

One of my life's regrets is that I didn't make the effort to go to one of his signings while he was playing in Oakland. He was also playing in Sacramento several times with the River Cats... and they're known for taking the time to sign for fans. Another missed opportunity.

Fuji said...

Thanks. I had several relatives play against him in high school. Now they're all huge fans of the guy... which led to me liking him.

Fuji said...

That trade was crazy. If I were a Dodgers fan, I'm sure he would have been one of my favorites... which means I would have been bummed too.

Fuji said...

Lol. Yeah... not sure if he could sell his signature for $20 these days. But a few years ago, he was the A's starter and definitely a fan favorite.

Avley said...

I feel you Fuji, hurt hard when my jays just gave away Alex Rios a few years ago. Avley (also known as Daqda)

Brendan Taylor said...

I am a diehard Marlins fan so every player I have ever loved was traded away

Dawgbones said...

long story short, spent 4+ hours in line, watched him sign about a half a dozen or more items for the woman in front of me only to be told he'd only sign 2 out of the 3 items I had in my hands, but I was more than welcome to get back in line!!

Fuji said...

Bummer. I had a similar experience with Owen Nolan who up until that point was my favorite player on the San Jose Sharks. After that... Jeff Friesen was.

Greg Zakwin said...

That's a sweet deal!

Play at the Plate said...

He's a catcher, what's not to like?

mr haverkamp said...

One year and 20 days later, he's back to the A's! Know you must be excited, congratulations.

Fuji said...

Super... super... super excited!