My favorite signing are always the hot ones. There is something to be said about spending time with a Hall of Famer or a great retired player but there is nothing like being in a city when they are winning or just won it all. I was lucky enough to have been in Boston in '04 and Chicago in '05. There is a such an awesome feel and vibe to these cities when they win. Granted there is nothing like winning in New York but, unfortunately, we need to wait until next year.
I arrived at Detroit-Metro at about 1:00 A.M. Wednesday morning. By the time I flew back to NY Thursday night I knocked out signings with eight players. At the end of the day Wednesday I had done signings with Todd Jones, Joel Zumaya, Ivan Rodriguez, Craig Monroe, Brandon Inge and Nate Robertson. All the guys were so pumped up for the series. I must admit that I knew nothing about these players going into this. All I knew was the Zumaya threw 103 mph (which he inscribed on each baseball. How cool is that!?) After meeting them , looking up statistics, and watching the World Series I can see why they have been so successful this year. They play as a team and, individually, are incredibly versatile and talented. Just look at what Monroe has done so far in the series.
The next day I did signings with Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez. We got some great product signed including three different images of Ordonez's walk-off homerun to win the ALCS. All the guys were great and I hope they sweep the next three in St. Louis. (I did not appreciate the Cardinals chanting "Jose! Jose!" during their celebration at Shea. After the World Series I will get into the NLCS a little on the blog)
I spent hours prepping the product to ship back to New York. It took most of the night (until about 4:00 AM Thursday morning) and about three hours after Guillen finished. Each baseball is individually bagged to avoid any smudging. Then each box is taped up, tagged and brought down to the hotel's shipping department. I finally finished up at 6:30 and caught a cab to the airport. I arrived back in New York at around midnight to the news that the Mets were down two with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth...........it is going to be a long winter.

Note: The Osi Umenyiora appearance scheduled for tonight in Thornwood is postponed. I'll let you guys know the new date once we reschedule.