Tiny Progress with the Mantle Project!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Today I'm going to explain to you exactly how not to sign for fans (even if you are the free signer). At the White Plains card show my Dad & I recently met Mariano Rivera at, we also took the time to wait in line for Ruben Sierra, who as I mentioned before was the day's free signer. I wouldn't have had much interest in meeting Sierra had he not been eligible (under my standards) to sign my Mickey Mantle 16x20 photo. I figured he'd be one of those nice little names to balance out the big guns that already signed the picture, such as Berra, Jackson, and Henderson. Well, he signed it... but that was about it.

While signing my Mantle picture and a card I also brought along, Mr. Sierra was taking a phone call, and it wasn't one of those ordinary "Hold on I'm busy let me call you back" sort of calls. It was more of a "How are you? Oh yeah... I can talk" conversation, even though I believe he was speaking Spanish but it was hard to tell with the noise of the building. I don't know about you, but I feel like if you're doing a meet and greet, you should probably at least try to look like you care. I thought Sierra was beyond disrespectful and that little amount I may have ever liked him has basically gone away. I couldn't even get a picture with him because he didn't even look up at me. I tried leaning in for a photo and was ready to say to him "I hate being rude and interrupting your phone call and all but would you mind posing for a picture?" Whatever.

Sierra signed directly below Charlie Hayes, and about the only positive I can draw from the experience was that he has a nice signature. Otherwise, autograph #51 on the Mantle poster was as lackluster as it got. I know Sierra was a freebie, but so was Roy White and so was Ron Blomberg, two of the nicer guys I'd ever met. It's just another example of how most modern day players are nothing like Mariano Rivera.

Here's my other "prize" from the Sierra encounter. A signed 1992 Studio card. Yippee!

I'm not disappointed, because I didn't expect much from him. Heck, I hardly even wanted to meet him in the first place. But this was pathetic.

Feel free to share your rude autograph seeking experiences in the comments below. And do you think having a phone conversation is crossing the line?

See Ya!