Earlier today I did a private signing with Dodgers manager Joe Torre. You all may remember Joe from his stint as skipper of the New York Yankees (that was a joke- they man is a legend). It was that decade-plus in pinstripes that will inevitably earn Joe his rightful place in both monument park and Cooperstown. For us here at Steiner it worked out pretty well that Joe ended up taking the prestigious Dodgers job. We now have a game-used partnership with Los Angeles (just like the ones that we have with the Yankees, Mets! and Red Sox). The bulk of this signing was almost all game-used items. Torre signed game-used balls and bases from his final season in New York. All of these are inscribed with his Yankees years and we were even able to obtain balls and bases from his final game as a Yankee. Joe inscribed these "Final Time in Pinstripes"..very strong! Not only did we do New York items but we got a nice head start on our Joe Torre Dodgers collection. Joe autographed press conference photos in both 8x10 and 16x20 as well as the jersey that he wore on that special day at Dodger Stadium. He seems extremely excited about the upcoming season and we spoke briefly about a few stud pitchers that LA has in the minors. I am really looking forward to seeing Joe back in the senior circuit.
Tomorrow I will be conducting a private signing with Yankees star (and Steiner Exclusive) Robinson Cano. Check back Friday for a recap.

The 2007 Red Sox team project is officially over. Sunday evening I flew out to San Antonio to add the final name to our team pieces. That final name is arguably the most important on the roster...Josh Beckett. Beckett was their best pitcher during the entire run. He was the ALCS MVP and the winner of Game One of the World Series. After making the big mistake of having some local food for a late Sunday dinner I awoke Monday morning and began setting up the pieces for the final time. Josh came over to the hotel at about 12:30 and completed the signing in about two and a half hours. In addition to the team items Josh also signed a strong variety of individual pieces (including some great game used items such as champagne bottles from the World Series and some game used balls). After Beckett was done it was then time to pack up the items (for the last time!). This took about four hours as it was the first time I had to ship the pieces (versus load up a van). I flew back to New York yesterday afternoon and, after a typical two hour flight delay (they...whoever they is..must know when I am flying because, as you all know, I am always delayed..it's insane) I made it back to our warehouse at about 8:15 last night. I dropped off the team photos which I brought back on the plane with me and then, finally, headed home. I am now home for a minimum of six nights, five days (which sounds like how people describe their vacations).
I am extremely proud of these Red Sox pieces. I have been gone for weeks working on them and every item came out amazing. This was the first team signing I have ever done since the game-used thing really took off. Not only do we have the team-signed balls, bats, jerseys and photos but we also were able to get team-signed game used home plates, champagne bottles, balls and bases. Everything should be up on the site within the next day or two so be sure to check out all the images.
Now that there is closure to the 2007 season I have to admit I am already looking forward to next year's team signed 2008 World Champion Mets signings...you heard it here first.

It is 10:12 Wednesday evening (Thanksgiving Eve). I just returned home from my latest Boston trip which lasted a day and a half longer than expected (which is becoming the norm for my Boston treks). Anyway despite the length of the trip it was quite successful. I arrived in the city Sunday evening and first thing Monday morning we began setting up for the latest rounds of signings. Manager Terry Francona showed up at about 10:30 and cranked through all the team pieces in about two hours. Not only did Terry add his name to our multi signed projects but I was also able to get some 2007 World Series baseballs autographed by the two time World Series winning manager.



After Francona I had a little down time to start re-organizing the pieces. Each signing is like a whirlwind and it always takes some time to get everything back in order for the next guy (at least this time I had that luxury versus two weeks ago when I had up to five guys signing at once). At around 4:00 Jason Varitek walked in and breezed through it all in about an hour and a half (I am at the point where I am very conscious of how long it takes each player...I need something to amuse me after twenty-plus guys have been through the marathon) Once Tek was finished day one was complete.







The next morning I was awoken to the news that the Curt Schilling signing would have to take place at his home. At that point we began re-packing up the product for the twenty minute drive. While it was not the best of situations we made the best of it and got it all in with a little bit of time to spare to set up. Curt was extremely apologetic about making us come to him (it was due to a media obligation at his home that evening) Curt demolished the signing in about an hour and a half. Aside from signing the team pieces Schilling also signed 2007 World Series baseballs and two amazing new world series photos. After it was done we re-repacked the items and headed back to the hotel. That was the end of day two.




Early this morning I unloaded the van and brought everything back up to our conference room to re-re-re set up the signing. David Ortiz arrived at about 2:00 and actually (surprisingly) was the fastest out of everyone. It took him a little over an hour and fifteen minutes to add his name to the team pieces as well as sign some strong individual product. Once David was done we re (quadruple re this time) packed it all up and loaded it back in the van for the final time.
I was a little nervous about the ride home. The day before Thanksgiving is notoriously the worst travel day of the year and I was expecting a six plus hour drive back to New York. Unbelievably there was minimal traffic and I made it door to door in four hours and fifteen minutes (while not a record by any means that is pretty strong considering the time and date!)





Now after close to ten days in Boston (not to mention one in Arizona) I am one signing away from completing our 2007 World Champion Red Sox team project. Sunday afternoon I am flying out to Texas for Monday's signing with 07 ALCS MVP Josh Beckett. Check back Monday for an update from San Antonio. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Earlier today we had our appearance at the Steiner Sports Store with the real Home Run King Henry Aaron. As you all probably know Hank and I have gotten pretty tight over the past five years. He is the one athlete that we do not send a driver or car service for. We have gotten in a rhythm where I pick him up at the airport, take him to the appearance and take him back. Thankfully Aaron was able to come in for this event. He recently had surgery on his knees and we almost had to reschedule the appearance. Hank arrived at La Guardia (crutches and all) at about 10:00 this morning. I pulled the car around and we were off to Roosevelt Field Mall. Upon arriving at the store we immediately went to the back and spent a little less than 2 hours signing pieces in private. At 12:00 sharp we walked over to the front of the store. There was a huge line awaiting Hank. With everything that has been going on surrounding his home run record (this isn't the right forum to discuss it) Aaron has become even more of a legend and hero over the past year. He was greeted by the largest crowd we have seen in quite some time at the Steiner Sports Store. Henry signed for every one of the fans and even took the time to take a few photos with kids (which he rarely does due to time constraints). Everyone seemed ecstatic to shake hands with the man and , as always, Hank wound up with many gifts to take home from his supporters. Lucky for me Aaron was given two copies of the recently released DVD of the old Home Run Derby show (I made sure to take one home and have the cover signed by Hank!). Henry won the 1959 contest and brought home $23,000 dollars from it ($23,000 in 1959 was strong!) I am really looking forward to watching it. Anyway, we got through the line by about 1:40 and we made our way out to the car and back to the airport. I am already getting excited about my next trip to Atlanta for the next Aaron signing...can't wait to talk more about the Home Run Derby show.
Aside from the incredible public showing today we were able to get some awesome product signed including game model bats and jerseys. Hank Aaron is a true must-have for any serious collector. He is the greatest living ballplayer and top five of all time. For anyone that doubts that he is the greatest just take a look at his career hit total- 3771...that means that without the record 755 home runs he still would be a proud member of the 3000 hit club (enough said)
Tomorrow I am driving back up to Boston to complete our 2007 Red Sox team project. Check back throughout the week for updates from Beantown. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Tuesday afternoon I was informed that I would be heading out to Arizona for a private signing with (and this is a long introduction-) Steiner's newest exclusive, 2007 World Champion and 2007 American League Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia. Thursday morning I hopped on the first flight to Phoenix and touched down at about 10:15 AM (I love the time difference going west but it is brutal traveling back to New York). I immediately went over to the hotel to begin setting up for Pedroia. Dustin walked in at about 12:15. I congratulated him on the Rookie of the Year honor and we were underway. I was amazed at how fast and well Pedroia was signing. He has a cast on his hand. While it wasn't on his signing hand it still seemed like it would get in the way. I was so wrong. He crushed the marathon signing in less than two hours and even came up with a new way to sign baseballs. Most guys sign the balls in the box- meaning that they simply move from ball to ball without touching them, a dozen at a time. Dustin began lining up three dozen in a row and absolutely rocked them. While he is still young it is only a matter of time where he is in the conversation with Joe Monatana (see last post). Aside from being fast and an incredible ballplayer Pedroia happens to be an awesome kid. I am definitely glad that he is now a part of the Steiner family. After Dustin finished I began packing up the items to ship back to New York. It always boggles my mind that it take three times as long to set up for the signing, break it down and ship it as it does for the athlete to actually sign the items. I finally finished at about 6:00 Mountain time and called it a day. I was on the first flight out to New York Friday morning and finally made it home after 6:00 PM that evening (I hate the Van Wyk).
So that brings us up to speed. As you can see I have done a ton of signings over the past ten days. I was also fortunate enough to catch the last six Phil Lesh and Friends shows at the Nokia Theater (anyone else blessed to be in attendance for the second set of each of the last three nights feel free to email me as that was as good as it will ever get!)
Anyway, I am now off to the airport to pick up my friend Henry Aaron and take him over to the Steiner Sports Store for today's appearance. Check back tonight for a recap.

Last Sunday was our appearance at Last Licks Armonk with Notre Dame and 49'rs legend Joe Montana. Prior to the public signing Joe came up to our office (early Sunday morning) for a marathon private session. We began by knocking out all of the Notre Dame multi signed pieces. Montana is, by far, the FASTEST signer I have ever worked with. I will never be able to throw around the names Schilling and Jeter anymore. Joe is an absolute machine. After the Irish project was completed we went straight to the single signed items which ranged from Notre Dame photos, a handful of amazing San Francisco photos, helmets, mini-helmets and footballs. The incredible thing about Joe's ridiculous signing pace is that his awesome signature is consistent from the first to the last. After finishing the private items and knocking out a few cheeseburgers we headed over to the store for the appearance.
I am always interested in seeing the fan turnout at appearance when the player is not a New York guy (not in our market). Certain players like Hank Aaron and Dan Marino always bring out a huge crowd while other don't. With this being the first public I have done with Joe I was extremely intrigued by what the crowd would be like. As it turns out there was a a strong line awaited the Hall of Famer and he was unbelievable with each excited fan on line. Joe took photos with everyone and truly seemed to enjoy talking with the kids and drinking milkshakes. Overall it was a great day.
I am now halfway done getting caught up on these blog entries so keep checking back for recaps and updates.

Last Saturday we had our appearance at Last Licks Thornwood with Giants greats Phil McConkey and Mark Bavaro. Before the appearance both guys came up to our office to knock out the private items. Mark arrived first and immediately began signing all of our Notre Dame multi-signed pieces. These things are really shaping up and are almost ready to be unveiled. I have been running around for months working on this project and am so proud of the results. I cannot wait for you all to see the finished product. Mark signed for about two hours which gave us a chance to talk Notre Dame footballs and the big Giants/Cowboys game. Interestingly enough the Irish were a week removed from their devastating loss to McConkey's alma mater Navy. Phil arrived about twenty minutes after Mark yet somehow finished almost forty minutes before Bavaro (some guys are just faster than others) Aside from single signed items and ND pieces we were able to get some incredible dual signed celebration photos (in both 8x10 and 16x20). Mark and Phil were such a big part of the Giants great history and after spending a few hours with them I defnitely developed a much bigger apprecation of what they meant to the franchise.

Last Friday I had the privilege of conducting a small private signing with baseball legend Frank Robinson. While Frank is no longer managing in the big leagues, he is still working for Major League Baseball and remains an important positive influence on the game's young talent. I spent the majority of the two hour signing picking Frank's brain about his thoughts on the NL East (being that he is just a year removed from managing the Nationals). I had a blast talking to him. Anyway, in between conversation, Frank signed an impressive array of items including MLB baseballs, HOF inscription baseballs, MVP inscriptions baseballs (Frank won it in both leagues and commemorates that by inscribing both years and leagues on the same ball!..strong!), and bats. Robinson is an absolute must have for any baseball collector.
I am trying my best to get you guys caught up on the last week so keep checking back for updates. Hopefully over the next twenty-four hours we get current.

Last night I did a private signing with Yankees Captain Derek Jeter. This is the first signing I have done with Derek since the Yankees' premature exit from the playoffs. Jeter is coming off of another monster season and is already looking forward to spring training. This has been an incredibly interesting off-season for the Yankees and it will undoubtedly be a very different team and vibe in the Bronx in 2008. Anyway we got some awesome product signed including several strong new photos as well as 2008 All Star balls (we have been getting these autographed by a few Yankees but, out of all of them, Derek is the one that will definitely be playing in the mid-summer classic next season).
Check back later for a recap of today's Frank Robinson signing.

So here is the long awaited recap of my week long stay in Boston. After watching the Red Sox celebration last Sunday night I began to expect the inevitable (which was me heading up to Boston Monday) I was 100% right and late Monday afternoon I drove up to Beantown for, what I thought would be, a two day marathon of signings. Little did I know that I would not be back home until late Saturday night. Upon checking into the hotel I found out that the meeting space we had reserved was actually way too small for our needs. With that in mind we instead took a large conference room at the hotel across the street. Unfortunately we were unable to intercept all the boxes and pallets of product that was being shipped to the hotel. Everything was delivered to my hotel and that is where the fun began. Over the next two days I did everything from wheel a cart across the street (through traffic no less ) to take 10 plus trips in my car moving boxes (I neglected to mention that the hotels are on a one way street so when driving you actually have to travel seven blocks...yes, I counted.., to arrive at your destination). Anyway,despite the setback we eventually got everything over to the correct location. Tuesday, after the parade, players started coming in to sign. We began an incredible team signed project. Each of the athletes signed the team pieces as well as a handful of individual baseballs. I always enjoy doing team signings, I love the challenge of spacing the names out and signature placement on the multi signed pieces. This was a very different kind of team signing as it was the first I have done with a team that we have a game-use partnership with. Due to our awesome relationship with the Sox I was able to get game-used balls, champagne bottles, bases, pitching rubbers and home plates signed (the home plates are especially strong) By end 1:00AM Tuesday we had one panel of the balls filled. That leads us to Wednesday. That was really the day that everything started to come together. Manny Ramirez came into sign at 9:00AM. At the parade Manny, with microphone in hand, joked with the crowd by inviting them over for a party that night. Manny told us that 40 plus people showed up at his place. Anyway, with Manny on board the product was starting to become something special. By late, late Wednesday we were approaching the half-way point. It was on Thursday, though, when things began to get really interesting. The first guy to sign on Thursday was Dustin Pedroia- our newest exclusive. Aside from signing the team project Pedroia autographed some impressive individual pieces including World Series baseballs and an assortment of tough photos. It was also on Thursday that MVP Mike Lowell signed. Lowell was awesome. He told me about meeting my man Reggie Jackson at his first spring training. Mike is definitely as down to earth as any athlete I have worked with. Later that evening we were informed that we had to switch rooms...that is where things go a little crazy. At 1:30 AM we moved the whole signing on little hotel carts around two corners, into an elevator, up one floor, down a hall into a new room. It took forever. We did get it done though and were ready to roll Friday morning when Jonathan Papelbon entered the room. By the time Kevin Youkilis signed later Friday night we already had eighteen names on the baseballs. Saturday was a full day of packing up and loading up. I finally hit the road (straight into a full fledged noreaster storm) at 6:30 that night. It took me about four hours to get home and , almost 120 hours after it began, part one of the Red Sox team signing was over. I am sure more anecdotes about the week will come to mind over the next few days and , as they do, I will be sure to include them in upcoming posts. Next week I will be doing some more Sox signings with the intention of finishing the project over that time. Between now and then I will be doing quite a few signings including ones with Derek Jeter, Frank Robinson and Joe Montana (not a bad bunch of names). Check back daily for updates.

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. Monday afternoon I headed up to Boston for a whole bunch of Red Sox signings. I am not going to go into detail on it right now as I have to try to get some rest. Originally it was intended to be a quick two day trip (in and out). Instead it became a five-plus day sleepless marathon signing (wait until you see the photos!) Check back tomorrow for a complete recap of my week in Boston. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!