I have gotten some great responses already on your personal top ten sports moments. I am going to extend the timeframe for this until Wednesday August 2nd. I am really enjoying reading your emails. Keep them coming.

I am conducting a poll of all your top ten sports moments. I think this will be a lot of fun, as well as help us with some new ideas for signings. I am going to be taking emails on this until Monday evening and will post the results by Tuesday morning. I will also give you guys my personal top 10 later in the weekend. I am really interested in all your input as you all are the ones that drive the blog, the website and the business. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Big series in Atlanta this weekend...let's bury them.

We have a very exciting month coming up in August. Every weekend is packed with great appearances. It all kicks off next weekend at Hall of Heroes where Whitey Ford and Moose Skowrun will be signing for the public from 11:00-1:00. Ford has always been one of my favorites. I have spent a lot of time with him over the past few years. There is always a great crowd on hand whenever Whitey is signing. Moose does not sign very often so I would recommend coming out if you need him on any multi signed pieces.
Then later that day Jose Reyes and Billy Wagner are appearing at Last Licks in Scarsdale. You guys all know how I feel about the Mets so I am not going to go into too much detail about those signings. I do encourage all you Mets fans to come out to all the appearances. This is a special team and a special year.
Saturday August 12th my main man Chien-Ming Wang will be signing at Last Licks in Thornwood with Yankee outfielder Bubba Crosby. I don't watch many Yankee games (However I will be flipping back and forth from the Mets game tonight to see how my boy Wang is doing) but everytime I check out the YES network Crobsy is making an unbelievable catch. He has been huge in keeping the ailing Yankees in the race this season.
Along with these great public appearance there will be several private signings. I will be doing private signings with Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr., just to name a few. You are all able to send in your own items to be signed at any of these privates as well as pre-order products. Check out the send in page on the website for more information.
Check back later for a new contest as well as a preview of the second half of August.

I just returned from New Jersey where I did a small signing with Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. I have done several signings with Wang and really enjoy hanging out with him. He has definitely emerged as an elite pitcher this year. Aside from Mussina, Chien-Ming has been the most consistent pitcher on the Yankees staff. It is scary to think where they would be without him. Tonight Wang is being honored by the Staten Island Yankees. He is, by far, the biggest success to come out of that organization As you all remember my last signing with Wang was in the Starbucks parking lot. Thankfully this occasion was spent in a hotel conference room. He has become an extremely fast signer and is beginning to rival some of his teammates in that department. Chien-Ming is appearing at Last Licks in Thornwood on August 12th along with Bubba Crosby. I am already looking forward to hanging with Wang again. In the past week we have booked several new appearances. Check back tomorrow for an detailed preview of the upcoming month.

Here are a few more photos from the Mets appearance this weekend. It is actually a semi-quiet week for me signings wise. As always there is a good chance a surprise signing or two may pop us so definitely keep checking the site.
I am not sure how many of you look at other parts of thw website so I would like to talk a little about two other awesome pages. Our online auction has been nothing short of incredible. I have been supplying them with unique, one of a kind items from every signing we do. They also have great vintage items including an awesome Mickey Mantle 8x10. The auction has great baseballs sets such as a four ball 2000 Yankees set that started at $1 this morning.
Another great page involves our Ticket Redemption Program. This program allows you to send in your Met or Yankee ticket stub. We then frame the ticket with a replica lineup card from that game as well as a number of different items at a few different price points. I think it is so cool that for less than $100 you can have a ticket framed up with a lineup card, stadium dirt and a nameplate. There are also several higher priced options that include either a game used base or baseball.
Anyway, check back later for a preview of the next two weeks and a new trivia contest. I assure you this one will be even more difficult than last week's question.

Here are a few photos from the Heilman, Sanchez and Nady appearance. Check back later for more and a preview of some upcoming signings.

Last night Mets stars Xavier Nady, Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez appeared at Hall of Heroes. The signing did not start until close to 7 PM due to the early rain delay of Saturday's game. There was a great crowd eagerly awaiting the entrance of Aaron, Duaner and X. Nady was the hero of yesterday's game. He had a huge three run home run that essentially won the game for the Mets. Each person in line made sure to thank X for the day's heroics. This team is incredible. Every day it truly is a different hero. The night before it was John Maine and Jose Valentin. Yesterday it was X and, it's safe to say that, today will be someone else. I have been around a lof of winning teams the past few years and that is exactly how it is with the winners.... a different guy coming up big each night. There have been plenty of games where Aaron and/or Duaner come in and shut down the opposition in a huge spot. Those two have become the quintessential 7th and 8th inning setup men. They bridge the gap seamlessly between the starter and Billy Wagner.
The appearance itself went great. All three athletes loved interacting with the fans. They took photo with everyone and were so appreciative of the compliments and encouragement of the fans. I have been a big fan of X all season but did not realize, until last night, how much the rest of the fans have endeared themselved to him (hitting a game winning three run homer helps that). Going into the appearance I was unsure of how big a crowd we would have due to the weather. I was pleasantly shocked by the endless line. Aaron is awesome. I did not realize that Heilman is a Notre Dame graduate. We spoke in length about the school and I told him about some of the great Irish items that we have. As for this signing, we got some cool new product signed including MLB baseballs, some sick photos and a handful of Nady balls with "The X-Factor" inscription. All three Mets have really good signatures. Check out the site tomorrow for images of these new items.
I could probably go on forever about this appearance (I'm sure you guys know by now that I get pretty pumped up talking about the Mets) so I going to cut it short here.
Check back tomorrow for more about this signing (there is a pretty funny story I am holding back), the '86 Giants event, and a preview of some new appearances we just booked.

This Saturday we are hosting a 1986 New York Giants event at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. I am sure you have all heard the great ESPN radio commercial for it. Otis Anderson, Carl Banks, Joe Morris, Sean Landeta, George Martin and the Hall of Fame's newest inductee Harry Carson will all be on hand for a meet and greet. Those guys are all awesome. Anyone that goes will definitely enjoy meeting them. There will also be a live taping of our YES Network program "Memories of the Game" as well as a live broadcast from ESPN radio . Check out the Great Adventure website for more details. Unfortunately I won't be there due to our Mets appearance at Hall of Heroes. You guys should all go check it out and let me know how it is. The event should be a lot of fun.

The answer to this morning's question is

Jim Abbott and Horacio Estrada

Congratulations to Frank T. for being the first to respond correctly.
Check back later today for another posting and perhaps another contest.

The first person to email me the correct answer will receive a VIP ticket for Xavier Nady and Aaron Heilman this Saturday at Hall of Heroes. That will entitle to an 8x10 photo to be signed and you will not have to wait on line at the appearance. Here is the question:

On May 20th 1999, against the Brewers, Robin Ventura became the first player in Major League history to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader. Who were the two Milwaukee pitchers that gave up the slams?
Good Luck!

I am really excited about the next two weekends. We have five Mets signing in the next eleven days. The Mets have been rolling since the all star break and each of these athletes have been instrumental to the team's success this year. This Saturday relievers Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez are appearing at Hall of Heroes with outfielder Xavier Nady. X had a huge homerun last night against the Reds. He has been one of my favorites all season and it is great to see him back in the outfield every day. Heilman and Sanchez have been awesome in the seventh and eighth innings as the bridge between the starter and Billy Wagner. Sanchez has been practically unhittable.
Next Saturday we have Billy Wagner and Jose Reyes signing at Last Licks in Scarsdale. Wagner just notched his 300th save a few weeks ago and was getting up to 98-99 on the radar gun last night. Billy appeared in Long Island for us a few months ago and was incredible. I had never seen an athlete interact with fans at an appearance like he did. You guys should all come to meet him and Reyes. Jose has evolved into a truly elite player. It seems like everytime he gets on base he scores. Even with missing a few games Jose leads the league in runs scored as well as triples and, of course, stolen bases. It was only a month ago where Reyes went on that historic tear where he raised his average almost 50 points in less than two weeks. It is obvious why he has been dubbed the most exciting player in baseball.
So, as of now, those are the Mets signings we have coming up in the next two weeks. It is definitely an exciting time to be a Met fan and I am as pumped up as anyone. I must admit, though, that I am a little nervous about the Braves sneaking into the playoffs with the wild-card. We have the better team but thats not always who wins it. The hottest team wins it all. Hank Aaron will never let me live that one down if they knocked us out. We need to bury those guys in September.
Check back later for a new trivia contest and a few more surprises.

I have no signings today so this morning I had an opportunity to walk through our warehouse and revisit some of the pieces I have gotten signed in the past. With that in mind I came up with my top 5 items that we have. Here you go:

5)2005 Chicago White Sox team signed baseball. The White Sox team signing was one of my favorite experiences in this business. I landed in Chicago the morning after they had won the championship ready to roll with photos, bats and balls. The amazing part of the story is that the White Sox hadn't even left Houston at that point. Also, Jose Contreras is one of my favorite athletes. The guy is awesome It is always exciting being in a city after a team wins it all. There is nothing like it. (Can't wait for October in Queens)

4)Tom Seaver 1973 Locker Room Celebration 16x20 - I love this photo...in fact I found this photo. It is such a cool image that shows the basement of Shea Stadium. Seaver had an incredible year in 73 and inscribed each photo "'73 CY, '73 NL Champs".
For some reason (I think) fans love the teams that almost win it in the face of adeversity more than the teams that do. The 2001 Yankees are as beloved as any of the four championship teams. I have always been a bigger fan of the 1999 Mets team, which lost in the NLCS, than the 2000 NL champ team. That leads me into #3

3)Edgardo Alfonso MLB baseball - Fonzy is back. The Mets just signed him to a minor league deal and it is only a matter of time before Edgardo is back at Shea. Alfonso is one of my favorite Mets ever and I am so pumped to have him back in blue and orange. He was the cornerstone of the best infield ever and put up ridiculous numbers for 8 seasons as a Met. I can definitely see him being huge down the stretch for us.

2)Larry Bird I/O Basketball - Bird was the first big signing I had ever done. I have done a ton of signing with Larry since the first but that will always be memorable. The signing was in Naples (a long time ago). We did over 200 basketballs that day. Unsigned basketballs come in a cardboard box that surrounds the ball. The balls are flipped inside the box to the side where the player signs it. After they are done signing each basketball (in the box) is individually bagged. That is done so there is no smudging. Being that it was my first big signing I took each basketball out of the cardboard boxes (big mistake). There were 200 plus balls bouncing around the room. Larry thought it was hysterical. We got through the signing and I was up all night putting the balls back in the cardboard and bagging them. It was quite an experience. Its incredible how many signings I have done and how many places I have been since then.

1)Kiss Group Pose Fire Background 16x20 - The Kiss signing still stands as my all time favorite signing experience. Nothing will ever compare to hanging out in the Kiss warehouse with Gene Simmons listening to rock and roll. I love all the Kiss images but this happens to be the one I have hanging in my apartment personalized by each guy. Paul Stanley wrote "To Eric, Keep Rockin'!. How awesome is that?


So there are my top 5 pieces that we have in our inventory. I would love to hear some of your favorites and why they are so special to you. Keep emailing me and check back. There will undoubtably be a few suprises in the days to come.

I just got back from Manhattan where I did a small private signing with the NBA's two time reigning MVP Steve Nash. I do not know that much about basketball so I made sure to do my research on this one. I was amazed by the stats Nash put up in the past two years. The numbers Steve has put up these past two seasons rank up there with any two seasons that any guard has ever had. He ranked number one in the league in assists while still averaging well over 15 points a game. Steve did all that while also leading the NBA in free throw percentage. Once I saw those numbers I became pretty excited to meet the man. Nash was awesome. I could hardly recognize him with his shaved head though. I definitely took a double take when I introduced myself. Aside from basketball, he is really involved in his charity work with children. In fact this Saturday Nash is having his annual charity basketball game in Canada. It is always great to see an athlete giving back to the community. I did not realize just how much charitable work Steve does until I checked out his foundation's website. We also talked about New York in general. Steve loves the city, especially downtown. Anyway, we got some unbelievable items signed today. We did a limited edition collage photo as well as white Suns jerseys. Each item is signed and inscribed 2x MVP. All in all it was a great signing and I am already looking forward to , hopefully, work with Nash again in the future. Keep checking back as there will definitely be a few more suprises this week.

This past Saturday we had Yankees star (I think it safe to use that word now) Melky Cabrera appearing Hall of Heroes. The signing was unbelievable. There was a line of 400 plus people waiting for a handshake and an autograph from the young player. It is amazing how popular Melky has become in such a short period of time. Many of the fans were wearing "Got Melk?" t-shirts and Cabrera made their day by signing and taking a quick photo with them. The appearance was a total success and a sell out. Check back later for a big surprise signing.

I received a phone call last night from work letting me know that I would be conducting a signing with Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang in New Jersey today. I was to going meet up with Wang at a Starbucks to do the signing. I have definitely done signings in some strange place so the Starbucks was not that out of the ordinary for me. I arrived about an hour early to meet up with the young star. I wanted to make sure that I had enough table space to get everything signed. I bought a coffee (and Chuck Berry's "Hail, Hail Rock and Roll" DVD/CD, which is sick) and claimed some prime real estate towards the back of the store. Within a half hour the Starbucks became packed. As soon as Wang walked in we agreed that there was no way to do the signing there. There would have been a mob scene and the 15 minute quick signing would have taken an hour. We then headed towards my car and knocked it all out inside the vehicle. Wang is awesome. He is probably the most low maintenance athletes I have ever encoutered (as you can tell by this story). We stocked up on mlb baseballs as well as a few game used items. I tried my best to get a great photo with Wang but it is difficult to get one while holding the camera myself. The guy is so tall and I am pretty out of practice taking those pictures. You need to go back to the spring training posts for the last time I had to do that.
Tomorrow Melky Cabrera is appearing at Hall of Heroes after the game. You guys should all come out and, definitely, check back tomorrow night for an update.

Yesterday afternoon, amidst torretial rains and a tornado warning, I headed out to Princeton, New Jersey to do an autograph signing with skateboard legend Tony Hawk. Tony is in Jersey for his Boom Boom HuckJam shows at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. He has been appearing at Six Flags parks for the past few weeks and says the tour has been a lot of fun. It actually turns out that Tony and I were ten minutes away from each other in upstate New York last weekend. I wish had known as I would love to go see Hawk perform. If any of you have a chance to go, today is the last day he will be in Jersey. Tony has a lot going on aside from the tour. He just started hosting a show on Sirius radio and is really enjoying it. I think it is time for me to enter this millenium and get satellite radio. I think I was the last person in the world to upgrade to a dvd player so it should be no surprise that I am without satellite radio. Anyway, Tony is also working on his next video game which I am sure will be out by Christmas. He was telling me how much goes into making these games. It is incredible. We got some more decks signed as well as photos. There are so many great Hawk images but my favorite remains the half-pipe photo. The background of the photo is one of the clearest skies you will ever see.
I left Princeton at about 10:15 last night. As soon as I got on the road the rain began (again). That was some of the loudest thunder and craziest lightning I had ever seen. It took me well over three hours to get home. I did make it back and I am now gearing up for some more signings.
Check back later for a preview of this weekend and some new signing news.

I am back from my vacation and ready to roll. It was a great week. I spent some time at the beach and also caught a bunch of Phil and Trey shows. The shows were off the hook. Anyone lucky enough to catch the Scarlet>Fire Friday night and the UJB>Stephen on Sunday would undoubtably agree with me. Let's keep our fingers crossed for an eight night Beacon Theater run in the fall. Anyway, back to business.

First of all thank you for your emails last week. I am going to try to post as many of them as I can. In my absence there was great article written for the website by Jason Klein. It gives a lot of insight into the signing process. I think you will all enjoy it. Tomorrow night I will be with Tony Hawk in New Jersey for a private signing. Then on Saturday we have Yankees outfielder Melky Cabrera signing at Hall of Heroes. Melky has been incredibly solid for the Yankees since becoming an everyday player earlier this season. That should turn out to be another great appearance as Cabrera has quickly become a fan favorite. There may also be a few surprises so keep checking back. Tomorrow we are making a few changes to the blog so keep an eye out for those too.