Today, as every day should be, was a big Mets day. This morning began with us clearing out the weekend remnants from our conference room ('61 Yankees product, Suppan items). I then began setting up for signings with both John Maine and Mookie Wilson. Mookie came up at about 10:00. There was a ton of product just waiting for Wilson to sign (all the items that Bill Buckner signed when I was in Idaho). Mookie spent most of the morning adding his signature to Buckner baseballs. Maine arrived at about 11:30. Maine, as always, was really quick. It took him less than an hour to sign all the baseballs and photos. I also got some pinstripe jerseys and replica Mets pitching rubbers signed. They will be great additions to our already strong John Maine Exclusive Collection. During the signing we talked to John about the "Cuts for Cancer" program. As inspired by the Mets team headshaving we began an initiative to raise money for children's cancer research. Most of us at Steiner will be getting our hair cut by an athlete. Each time an athlete participates he/she will sign 12 baseballs with the inscription "Cuts for Cancer". These special limited edition baseballs will then be sold and all the proceeds will go towards St. Baldricks. It really is a great cause. Anyway, today's first cut was performed by Maine on DV. I have mentioned DV several times on the blog. He is the guy that accompanied me to Pennsylvania for the legendary Jack Lambert signing. More importantly he is as sick a Mets fan as I am (or at least close to as sick).
After Maine left I jumped right back in with Mookie. We knocked out all the photos and the remainder of the baseballs in about two hours. It was then time for me to get my hair cut. I was debating on waiting until tomorrow to get my head shaved at Shea but then decided that there would nothing more "Mets" than getting it done by Mookie. Mook was as professional as any barber I have ever seen. He did a really impressive job and , when finished, signed the dozen balls with the "Cuts for Cancer" inscription. I can't wait to show off the new haircut at Shea tomorrow night.
Tomorrow I will be doing a small private signing with Yankees icon and current Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Check back for a recap.