My second day in Tampa began with a very interesting breakfast at the Hyatt. I had the honor of joining Duke Snider, Don Zimmer, Johnny Podres and MC for about an hour. All the guys (including Duke who signed later in the day) were in town for Don Zimmer bobblehead night at Tropicana Field (not to mention a Sha Na Na concert immediately following the game). The Rays were playing the Dodgers so it was befitting that the old Brooklyn teammates were to be reunited for the event. It was great to hear the guys reminisce about the old days and discuss the state of today's game. Zim is still in baseball as he maintains a role with the Rays' front office.
After breakfast Duke and I headed to a conference room where he began signing. Snider, as we all know, has an incredible signature. You can read every letter and most of the baseballs that he signed includes the HOF 80 inscription. Duke finally finished the signing at about 5:00. Luckily, I was able to box up most of the items as he signed so it did not take me long to get out of there. I caught an 8:00 flight back to LaGuardia and eventually stepped in my front door at about midnight. I went straight to sleep as I had to wake up early to make it out to Huntington for Saturday's Chad Pennington appearance.
Check back for a recap.