2004 Upper Deck, Tim Hamulak

Here is a card that I got signed in Des Moines, Iowa in 2008. But the story about this autograph starts in Omaha. I was at the College World Series at the time and I had spent so much time getting free autographs from Gaylord Perry and Orel Hershiser that, by the time I got inside the ballpark, all of the general admission seats were full. So, my dad and I stood in a walkway for about an inning watching the game before I called it quits. We had planned on going to Des Moines after the game and I was expecting to get there right when the game started at seven o'clock. So, I figured that if we left early, I could get to Des Moines in time to rake in the autographs before the game started. That was the plan at least.

But, unknown to me was the fact that the Iowa Cubs game the night before had been rained out and they were playing a doubleheader that day. So instead of getting to the park an hour before the gates opened, I got there as the PA announcer was reading off the starting lineups. I took a few quick snapshots of the ballpark and got the tickets and then went inside and found my seat. The game hadn't quite started yet, so I went down to the Omaha Royals bullpen to see who was out there. The only person I saw that I had cards of was Tim Hamulack, so I hurried down to him to see if he would sign before the game started. He acted like he shouldn't be singing autographs at that time and he even looked around to get the other reliever's thoughts and they were all shaking their heads as if saying "don't do it". But, he went ahead and signed all of the cards for me (I can't remember if it was two or three) and that was the extent of raking in the 'graphs before the game.

It turned out all right, though, as I was able to rake them in between games and after the games.