2004 Donruss, Darin Erstad

#73 Darin Erstad

On Wednesday, I went to my first ballgame of the year and I got to see the Nebraska Cornhuskers lose to the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas. It was a great game and the Cats were able to come out victorious, 6-5, thanks to a pair of three run home runs. But, the highlight of my day was getting some cards signed by the newest member of the Huskers coaching staff, Darin Erstad.

I got to the park right after the gates opened and I went over to the visiting team's dugout. The dugouts at Tointon Family Stadium are not very good areas to get signatures, so I went out to the outfield area in foul territory. It's a good place to get autographs, as long as the person you are trying to get a signature from heads out into the outfield or the bullpen.

At first, I didn't think that Darin was even going to leave the dugout. Then, as the Huskers were taking fielding practice, Darin grabbed a fungo and started for the outfield. He stopped directly in front of me and started to stretch. My dad, doing his best Captain Obvious impression, was nice enough to whisper to me "there he is". But, I let Darin be as he continued to stretch and then take some practice hacks with the fungo. He then went further out into the field to hit some flies to the outfielders.

When the outfielders were done with their drills, Darin started running back to the dugout. I was a little amazed as I don't think that I had ever seen a coach run that fast. He was moving so fast that I didn't think he was going to stop, or even hear me, when I asked for his autograph. But, he did hear me and by the time he came to a stop, he had to back up three feet to where I was. He then proceeded to sign three cards for me and three for my dad as I was asking him how his players were getting along with the new bat restrictions. I also asked him how he liked having the Nebraska jersey on again and he said it was great and that he was loving it.

All in all, it was a great day and it was fun to be graphing at the park. I had such a good time that I am heading down to Wichita tomorrow to try my luck at a Wichita State game.