Yesterday morning (extremely early- was still dark when I left) I headed down to Baltimore for a signing with the recovering ace of Yankees pitching staff Joba Chamberlain. This was a last minute signing so we spent much of Thursday prepping the product and loading up for the drive. I must say- I hate that drive. I did it (and another 45 minutes) for five years while attending University of Maryland (at College Park..go Terps! 4216 Knox Road!). It is awful and would take the Boston drive anyday over the pains of the New Jersey Turnpike. For once I made great use of the ride...for the past few weeks I have feebly attempted to learn Spanish. I have wanted to for years (after making the wrong decision to take Italian in High School) and, with the all the spanish speaking players I am surrounded by, felt it was time to start studying. With that in mind (aside from the books I have been reading) I bought a few CD's to learn from on the ride. That actually made the drive go quicker and I think I retained a lot of what I heard...if anyone wants to help me learn let me know....at some point I plan on doing one blog in Spanish (hopefully is right after the Mets win the World Series...I will be using the term Los Mets a lot)
I finally arrived in Baltimore just in time to set up for the morning's signing. After unloading the product and laying it out I was left with less than an hour until Joba's arrival. Strangely enough this was my first time meeting Chamberlain. Somehow every time we have had something with him I was either on the road or stuck at another signing in New York. I must say, after spending some time with him, he really is a nice guy. He is extremely easy to talk to and , while he is a fast signer, takes the time to question the particulars of how something is signed (rather than grab the first marker he sees and signing the first open spot). Joba cranked through the signing in less than two hours and I was left with a mess of a room filled with some seriously potent product. Over the course of the session Chamberlain signed some ridiculously hot game used pieces (including bases and balls with inscriptions), Yankee Stadium commemorative baseballs, MLB baseball and some awesome photos (including an image of Joba's first pitch in his first start)
After packing up for about an hour I finally hit the road at a little before 3:00.
I popped back in my Spanish discs and was excited about the prospect of being home by 6:30....of course, as always, that was not the case. I hit a ton of traffic in Delaware where there was construction (I do not see the need for construction in that state whatsoever), and got caught in a 90 plus minute stand-still in northern New Jersey. I finally arrived at home after 9:00. Despite the agonizing ride home I did learn a fair amount of espanol before switching to Los Mets game once I was able to get reception on the Fan.
All in all not too bad a day's work to be able to get you guys the most prodigious product imaginable. Later today I have an appearance at Last Licks Manhattan with the legendary Bob Feller (he is also signing at Last Licks Massapequa prior to the Manhattan one). Hope to see you there!