Wil Nieves (08/30/14)

Wil Nieves, Philadelphia Phillies Catcher

Wil Nieves, Puerto Rico native, is the back up catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nieves has played 11 MLB seasons for the Padres, Yankees, Nationals, Brewers, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Phillies.

I went to Citi Field today to watch the New York Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies. Citi Field had a nice promotion for today's game. The first 20,000 fans received a Curtis Granderson bobblehead. I arrived early to the game to try and get Cole Hammels' autograph for my World Series MVP collection. The Phillies were taking batting practice and most of the pitchers were in the outfield shagging fly balls. Unfortunately, Cole Hammels did not come over to sign autographs.

Wil Nieves was the only Philadelphia Phillies player who came over during batting practice to sign autographs. It was awesome to meet a fellow countryman. He signed a baseball for me right on the sweet spot and inscribed his jersey number.

Wil Nieves signing autographs at Citi Field.

Here's a picture of Wil Nieve handing me back the signed baseball.

Wil Nieves signed Rawlings official MLB baseball.

The view from my seat during the national anthem.

Curtis Granderson New York Mets bobblehead.

The Mets ended up losing to the Phillies 2-7, but I was happy I got to meet Wil Nieves and add his autograph to my collection.

Jason Grilli (05/26/14)

Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates Closer
2013 MLB All-Star

Today, I went to Citi Field with my friends Tom and Jack to watch the New York Mets take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. I arrived early with hopes of obtaining a couple of autographs before the game. Once I got into the stadium all of the New York Mets players finished warming up. I decided to go down the left field line, where the Pirates were warming up, to try and get an autograph.

Jason Grilli came out of the Pirates dugout and was the coolest guy on the field. He waved to everyone and said he would sign autographs after his warm-up. My friend Tom, who is a huge Pirates fan, got his attention when he yelled out "Jason, Seton Hall brother!" Jason smiled and pointed right at him and said, "You already know." Seton Hall was the college that Jason attended.

Here's a picture of Jason and some of his teammates.

Jason kept his word and came over to sign autographs. He literally went down the line and signed autographs for everyone. Jason signed my baseball right on the sweet spot.

Jason Grilli signed Rawlings official MLB baseball.

Here's a picture of Jason signing Tom's Pirates hat.

The next player that I really wanted to get was 2011 1st overall draft pick, Gerrit Cole. Cole was the last Pirates player to finish his workout. Unfortunately, he was only signing a couple of autographs. He had to rush back to get ready for the game. Here's a picture of Gerrit Cole signing autographs.

Jason Grilli is a very nice guy. I was happy to meet him and add an MLB All-Star to my autograph collection. This was my first time attempting to get autographs at Citi Field. If one arrives early, there's a good chance of obtaining at least one autograph. Citi Field does a great job allowing fans to go down to field level before the game begins.

Jeremy Hefner (07/21/13)

Jeremy Hefner, New York Mets Starting Pitcher

My friend and coworker, Amber, attended a meet-and-greet event at Citi Field with New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies players. The event was organized by Berkeley College, Modell’s Sporting Goods, and Snowball Express, an organization dedicated to creating happy memories for the children of fallen U.S. troops. This event took place while I was away on my trip to Arizona, so I had no chance of attending. Amber was really nice and took one of my baseballs to get autographed. She was very successful! Amber met and spoke with New York Mets pitcher, Jeremy Hefner. Here are some of the great pictures that she took at the event.

Jeremy Hefner signed my Rawlings Official Major League Baseball.

A huge THANK YOU to Amber for getting me this autograph. I'm a big Mets fan and Hefner's autograph will make a nice addition to my collection. You're the best, Amber!