Yesterday was our appearance at Hall of Heroes with Yankees legends Reggie Jackson and Whitey Ford. This was my first trip to the store in quite some time. For any of you that live close to Roosevelt Field Mall you should really go check it out. They have all of our newest product on display there.

Anyway. Whitey arrived at about 11:00. I had not seen him since a signing we did at his home early last fall. Ford has always been one of my favorites. Reggie came in at about 11:30. It was awesome to watch the interaction between the two guys. It is not often that we book two players from different eras so it was pretty cool to see. Both Reggie and Whitey were unbelievable with the public (as always). The line would be held up for five to ten minutes at a time while they spoke to each fan. After the public portion ended the guys signed some spectacular items in private. Whitey signed a few web exclusive replica jerseys with some great inscriptions. Reggie also signed a few jerseys including one very special one. I was able to get a ten inscription (yes- 10!) jersey which will be on auction shortly. The thing is sick.
Ford finished about an hour before Jackson and went straight to the airport to catch a flight back to Ft. Lauderdale. Reggie finally finished at about 3:15. The best thing about Reggie is that he truly cares about the product. Some guys just sign their name and don't always care about where the best spot to sign is or which pen to use. Mr. October, on the other hand, takes his time and will always offer a suggestion about how an item should be signed. The only other athlete that really comes close in that category is Cal Ripken Jr. I recall being down in Baltimore with Cal a few years ago spending hours trying out different color pens on the simplest of photos.

After Reggie finished signing we went for ice cream before he headed home. I thought that was pretty cool as I never really had an opportunity to talk to him for an extended period of time (until yesterday). The guy has a ton of knowledge about baseball as well as business. He is, suprisingly enough, slowly creeping up to the top of my list of favorite athletes to work with.

We are now less then two and a half hours away from the start of the 2007 baseball season. As a clinically insane Mets fan I am beyond pumped right now for tonight's game. I have never been this excited about baseball beginning but will try to keep the Mets talk to a minimum (for at least the first few weeks). April is way too early to start going crazy over this stuff. Anyway , for the final time, I would like to reiterate my predition that the Mets will, in fact, win the World Series (It's all happening).

Now that I got that out of the way it is time for a quick preview of the upcoming week. On Thursday I am heading down to Washington D.C. for a private signing with Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin is one of the top three players in the league (the order is debateable but he is in the coversation for who's #1) and a must-have for any avid hockey collector. The on Saturday we have our appearance at Last Licks in Armonk with Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. I will get more into depth about that one later in the week. I will also have the privilege of attending a few more Allmans shows along the way !
Check back daily for updates. Enjoy the game tonight!