After buying tickets to the D-Backs Social Media night for Friday, I won tickets to the Arizona Lottery Fan Appreciation Day Neon Party for that same night. Luckily the there wasn't any scheduling conflicts. The Social Media stuff was pregame and the party took place during.
The party was held in the Miller Light Diamond Club which is past the bleachers in right field. Daniel from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop was there too. It's always good to be able to catch up with him.
Our prize package included $20 in D-Bucks that could be spent at the Team Shop, two neon green D-Backs t-shirts, and a pair of Arizona Lottery sunglasses. Those were great but the highlight of the party was a meet and greet with D-Backs alumni, Doug Davis and Augie Ojeda.
Both players were great. Doug Davis signed his 2009 Topps Heritage card for us.
Last night was Social Media Night at Chase Field. Fans interested in participating could purchase a package for about $30. It included a lower level ticket, early entry into the stadium for batting practice, an @Dbacks T-Shirt and $10 in D-Bucks to spend in the Team Shop. The main event was a Q&A session with Diamondbacks broadcasters Greg Schulte and Steve Berthiaume as well as my favorite player Daniel Hudson.
After the panel, Daniel signed autographs and took pictures with everyone who waited. Daniel signed my 2012 Bowman International card and I got a pic too.
The whole thing was pretty cool. I brought home some great stuff and there's still even a chance I'll win something in their Instagram contest.
Wow. I haven't done a 2008 Topps post in awhile. I've gotten a few new things for our collection that I need to scan. Maybe I'll work on that this weekend.
In the meantime, here's a card that former Chicago White Sox outfielder, Jerry Owens, signed for us. I sent Jerry a TTM request earlier this year c/o the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League. It came back a few short days later signed.
# 144 - Jerry Owens
Progress: 520/990
Miguel Montero is my wife's favorite player so I try to look for his cards sometimes. I got this certified autograph from the 2013 Panini Pinnacle set for $2 shipped.
Miguel hasn't had the best season this year. Injuries, etc have held him back some. Hopefully he can bounce back and regain his All-Star form from 2011.
Man, everybody in Phoenix loved Junior Spivey in 2001. He was the hot rookie who got called up and provided the Diamondbacks with a spark that helped lead them to the World Series. With more playing time he put up some good numbers in his sophmore season and was even named to the 2002 National League All-Star team. After that he was traded to the Brewers and slipped off into obscurity.
We caught up with him at the Alumni Game last month and had him sign this 2002 Fleer Triple Crown card. For whatever reason, Spivey has been kind of elusive for me so I was glad to get this one signed.
If you're curious, this is our final Alumni Game post. With unintentionally sporadic posting I ended up dragging this out for almost a month.
Stephen Randolph was a big piece of the Diamondbacks bullpen from 2003 to 2004. He appeared in 95 games over those two seasons. I wasn't really following the D-Backs too closely back then but I do remember liking Stephen.
After leaving the D-Backs, he spent a few seasons bouncing around in the minor leagues for a few different teams. In 2009, he would sign with the Yokohama BayStars. Pretty cool since he was born in Japan.
Stephen signed his 2005 Topps card for us at the Alumni Game last month.
Okay maybe Russ Ortiz didn't do so well for the Diamondbacks but I still like the guy. He put up some great numbers for the Giants. He was an All-Star for the Braves in 2003. I'll just try to ignore the 7.00 ERA he had with the D-Backs.
Russ signed his 2006 Topps card for us at the Alumni Game. This will be considered an upgrade over the certified autograph we already had for our D-Backs collection.
Mike Morgan finished up his 22 year career with the Arizona Diamondbacks. We were the twelfth team he had played for which was a record then.
Mike pitched for the D-Backs from 2000-2002. He was mostly utilized out of the bullpen but did get a few spot starts. Most importantly he pitched four scoreless in the 2001 World Series.
Mike signed his 2001 Topps card for us at the Alumni Game last month. He's a great guy. Super friendly.
Travis Lee was my first favorite Diamondbacks player. He was the hot rookie during our inaugural season in 1998. He got the first hit and first home run in D-Backs history and finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Travis played 338 games for Arizona before being dealt to the Phillies during the 2000 season as part of the package that brought us Curt Schilling.
Travis signed this psychedelic card from the 1998 Upper Deck Wonder Years insert set for us at the Alumni Game last week.
Outfielder Bernard Gilkey was traded to the Diamondbacks from the Mets at the trade deadline in 1998. He played in 162 games for the D-Backs before being released halfway through the 2000 season.
Bernard signed his card from the 2000 Topps set for us at the D-Backs Alumni Game. He wasn't scheduled to be there this year so this was a nice surprise.
Former Diamondbacks infielder, Alex Cintron signed his card from the 2004 Playoff Prestige set for us at the Alumni Game this past weekend.
Alex played for the D-Backs for parts of five seasons from 2001-2005. While his primary position was shortstop, he also filled in at second and third base. In 439 games he hit .279 with 25 home runs and 152 RBIs.
On Saturday night I joined the sea of purple for Throwback Night at Chase Field. The main event was a post-game Alumni Game featuring some D-Backs greats.
I got down there early and was able to get a few autographs for our Diamondbacks collection. I also hung out with Daniel from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop again so that was great too.
First up is former D-Backs starting pitcher, Elmer Dessens. Elmer signed his 2004 Upper Deck Pepsi card for us. These were inserted into 12 or 24 packs of Pepsi cans.
Elmer started 39 games for Arizona over parts of two seasons. He won 9 games and struck out 168 batters.
