On the Signing Front-Giants Edition!

A short signing front to keep caught up covers the two San Francisco Giants teams that I saw recently with the Augusta Greenjackets in Hagerstown and the Richmond Flying Squirrels in Harrisburg.

The Augusta Greenjackets hit town for four games,but I had such a few amount of cards with a minor exception,I was able to finish them in one night.
I missed former big leaguer and pitching coach Mike Caldwell and I had a work meeting to hit on the final day of the series,so I will have to try Caldwell when Augusta returns.
Other than that,the big catch was the Giants first rounder from last season in pitcher Kyle Crick and outfielder Brett Krill.
Outfielder Chuckie Jones signed his Topps debut cards and was very nice,but was sent down before the end of the set as Jones was hitting .093 at the time.
Not a lot of cards,not a lot of prospects,but nothing really difficult....
The highlight was the rehabbing Chien-Ming Wang,who I waited for as long as I could before I had to go to work.
Fortunately,Bill Cover stuck around and nabbed the pitcher for me.Thanks to Bill for the help.

Monday night,I traveled to Harrisburg with my usual partner Bill Cover and Corey Cunningham for the Giants AA affiliate,the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
The main goal for me was outfielder Gary Brown,the Giants first round selection in the 2010 draft and a draft pick of mine in my minor league fantasy league over the winter.
Brown was noted by other collectors as sometimes being a less than willing signer,so I was unsure what the results would be.
Bill went to the dugout spot as he was helping a young man that he knew find his sea legs in the collecting ocean.
Corey and I went to the "Autograph Alley" at Harrisburg,which is only sometimes open as the team rents it out to parties,but was open on a cold,mildly rainy Monday.
We did pretty well as there was just the two of us along with Bruce,a collector from Reading that just does his own pictures and "Lefty" a local Harrisburg collector.
Both are great guys and I enjoyed talking with them during pre-game.

The Squirrels have great uniforms and terrific colors,but the name does not do much for me and the first player out was a player that I also drafted in my minor league draft and a player that was super nice with Augusta two years ago in catcher Tommy Joseph.
Sometimes,players are not the same quality of signer as they rise through the system and a good signer in Low A ball does not always remain one as they are promoted.
Not the case with Joseph,who was as great as before,signed everything we had and talked a bit about his memories of the Muni,which as expected are not the best.
Tommy Joseph remains one of my favorites and I hope his career goes well.....

I also added Chris Dominguez,Ryan Cavan notably among others,but then came Gary Brown.

Keep in mind that Brown looks pretty grumpy in his first card from Bowman, but my experiences have sometimes been different from others on both sides of the fence.
I have had players reported to be great that blew me off and I have had players that many said were tough that were not a problem for me,so I try to keep an open mind going into things.

Brown came over and signed one card for each of us (3),which is never a problem,was surprisingly friendly and Bruce asked Brown,if he would mind taking a picture.
Brown replied" I don't do pictures,but I'll take one with you".
That was somewhat befuddling as he would not take a picture,yet he would take one with you?
Unusual,but my friend Dan,who would I see after the game shed some light on the matter for me and his explanation makes sense.
Dan says the Giants are attempting to control unauthorized photos by telling their players not to take them.
I suppose it is theirs (or Richmond's logo) in the pictures,so I see their point somewhat,but it still seems silly to me.
I think Dan is in the ballpark as pitcher Ari Ronick also refused a photo for Bruce,but said "I'll be happy to sign anything you have".

Not a bad bunch,really and we then watched the game (a 2-0 Richmond win) as we waited for after the game.
I added prospect Ehire Adrianza and pitcher Andy Reichard afterwards and got to see Dan and meet his new wife Rebecca.
SO as I am getting Adrianza,I look up and over to my right and Corey is getting Brown again,so I figure OK,Brown is a one pre-game and one post-game,so I'll get the other card I brought signed.
Brown's reputation kept me from bringing a bunch of his cards along and that would keep me from wasting time putting them back away.
I ask and Gary takes the pen and then says "I signed earlier for you".
I think it is my distinctive look,fat guy, beard (Growing it out for the Devils playoff run) etc.
My friend Kendall,who had his own little hot time with Brown in Bowie says I should have a new slogan-"Gary Brown thinks I am very memorable!".

How did Gary do in the game? 1 for 5 and currently is hitting .232 without a homer for the season.
All and all-a good time and not a bad night at all.
Lots of fun and a good night of adding future Giants to the collection!

One mail pickup from former Lions defensive tackle and Webster co-star Alex Karras

Photo Credits:Unknown