Last night I was at Shea Stadium for our appearance with Jerry Koosman. I met Jerry over at the Mets offices at 5:00 to being signing items in private. Over the past few years we have done this incredible 16x20 photo of Koosman, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. With Koos in town for the appearance it was a no-brainer to start up another batch of this classic shot. He signed for about an hour and half at which point we took a break before the public session. While it was sporadic there was a good crowd on hand to meet the legend. This was my first experience doing a public at Shea and I think it will grow into something pretty special. Koos is one of the best pitchers we have ever had. He won the deciding game of the 1969 World Series and will always have a place in the hearts of Mets fans (which was obvious during the ninety minute appearance). People came up with unique items such as newspapers from '69 and those cool ESPN signs from the "believe in miracles" campaign. Most customers came over with their kids. They wanted their children to shake the hand of a true Mets legend. The funny thing was that 90% of the kids were wearing #7 jerseys and Jerry kept asking them if Ed Kranepool was their favorite player (all had a puzzled look on their face). Regardless it is very cool that when these kids are older (and Shea is no more) they will be able to reflect on the September night when they met Jerry Koosman. After the public dwindled down Koos signed a few more items in private including MLB baseballs and 8x10 photos.
Later today I will over at the Steiner Store for our appearance with Endy Chavez. Hope to see you all there.