When the autograph vouchers were announced for this year's Fan Fest, there weren't a lot of surprises. Nor were there too many guys left that I hadn't met, yet, so I picked up only a select few vouchers. I wanted to see Nolan Reimold again, so I bought the session that included him, Brady Anderson and Dylan Bundy. Melvin Mora was making his first appearance there in a long time, so I wanted to meet him, so I got the Mora, Tim Berry and Dylan Bundy session (so two meetings with Bundy) and finally, I wanted to meet Tyler Wilson, and that session also had Jim Palmer and Christian Walker. For each voucher I bought, I got a second, so Chris could go through the line with me.
I decided that I really liked signed specialty balls. I was able to find a real cheap 1996 All Star baseball for Brady Anderson to sign. As you can see above, the ball looks really good, even though Brady's signature is pretty bad. Chris also got a plain OMLB signed for me, which was nice. He knows that all of my stuff will eventually become his, so he did a really good job at Fan Fest in helping me find stuff, and also getting things signed.
For the people that I didn't necessarily need second signed balls of, I let Chris have an OMLB, which he got multi signed by a bunch of the guys there. I had only taken 14 balls to Fan Fest, then sold two to Ryan, so I needed a way for Chris to enjoy the signings as well. Also, in a rush to leave on Friday, I had forgotten the large photo that Chris had been getting signed by former Orioles.
I was able to find another specialty ball on Ebay, a 2005 All Star ball. This one was for Melvin Mora. I actually got complimented from a fellow O's fan on the ball, which was pretty cool.
The ball turned out really nice, I think. I really like the different colored seams on the All Star balls.
I was able to meet Hall of Famer, Jim Palmer again, which is always a treat. I can't count how many times I have gotten his auto at Fan Fest, but I try to every chance I get. I also traded for a signed Palmer ball from Ryan, then also ended up with Chris's ball. I had a pending deal with my good buddy Max for one of the Palmer balls in exchange for an upgrade to another one of my Hall of Famers (which I will show another time). The other, I ended up making a deal with my good friend, Sam for that. So, of the three I got, I have deals pending for two of them. The last one I will hold onto for now.
I think, other than Nolan, I was most excited about meeting Orioles pitcher Tyler Wilson. He just completed his rookie season, and had a pretty decent showing. He struggled, for sure, but I think he has a bright future with the Orioles. I had seen him (with Ryan, of course) pitch for Bowie a couple years ago, and really was impressed (much more than I was with the next day's starter, Eduardo Rodriguez),
Wilson was very nice when we signed, and I wished him well for the 2016 season.
I got another ball signed by Christian Walker as well. His signature has changed since last year, which is interesting. Walker has a chance to break camp with the O's, unless something drastic happens, and Chris Davis re-signs. I doubt Davis will be back, so maybe Walker gets his shot. Who knows.
I'm sure some folks are wondering if I got something signed by Nolan. I did, but since I have a ton of stuff signed by him that I absolutely love, I decided to do something nice for a friend of mine. So, I had Nolan sign a ball with a message, and I dropped it in the mail today. I hope my friend loves it!
So, of all of the baseballs I took with me to Fan Fest, I have one left. I will likely hold onto it for now, unless I decide to get it signed TTM by someone.
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