ICHIRO – Spotlight 

One of the true emotional conquest of any autograph seeker is to obtain that elusive autograph of a legend in his own time. Many athletes do not know when to call it quits, but sometimes you see an athlete out there that you just have not been able to land an autograph of and you wish the day never comes when he/she leaves without giving you that brush with greatness. Thanks to the baseball gods, for me it came on Friday August 11, 2017.

If you ever landed or came close to landing Ichiro’s autograph, I don’t have to tell you that it is total mayhem. If you are a big guy like me, your chances of obtaining the graph are good, if you are a small scrawny guy or gal, beware cause this is an autograph that will get you hurt. I think I received a few contusions myself, but the awesome feeling you get when you do land the autograph is worth the punches and late night cramps from the stretch you gave your body to position that ball in front of everyone else’s.

This pic taken by MLB Miami Marlins baseball, my hand is all you can see here, but my positioning was such that he worked his way back to me, and until the very end, I never knew I was in the mix. I ended up being the last autograph he signed that day. My wife asked me three days later why I was still smiling, I didn’t even answer her, I just thought to myself…If you only knew how close I was to not getting that elusive Ichiro autograph that day. The day unfolded very unfavorable for me to even have a chance to land the autograph, but I will save that story for the next post, and yes the picture of my Ichiro autograph!!!