Saturday
A couple of my buddies and I started off the weekend on Saturday morning going for the 2005 World Series guys that were there, Jose Contreras, Carl Everett, and Willie Harris. For my 2005 collection, I already had cards of Contreras and Harris signed, but Everett is a tough one, so I was happy to knock him out of the way. I got an 8x10 of Contreras that looks dark in the picture, but in a better light, it turned out decently. As mentioned, I got the card of Everett. I got another card signed by Harris - just so happened to be an '05 Topps World Series card, so I'm going to use that one on my final product once I collect the whole team. With the addition of Everett, I'm now at 10/25 of the 2005 White Sox.
After Harris, we ended up waiting in line for 3 minor leaguers, but one of them was the Sox #1 prospect, Tim Anderson. He was the main reason to go so we hustled and got a wristband for his line. The other two were Adam Engel, the Arizona Fall League MVP, and Eddy Alvarez, who before he became a professional baseball player, was a silver medalist speed skater at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Alvarez and Anderson both signed 8x10s, and I'm never one that really cares what a signature looks like, but what I really like about Alvarez's signature is that he includes the Olympic logo. I was supposed to also get Engel on an 8x10 but the guy that sold us the photos gave us the wrong guy. Kind of unfortunate, so I had Engel sign my pass.
The last set of the day included more minor leaguers - these just so happen to be the best groups overall signing. We made it back with plenty of time to get a wristband for Jacob May, Carson Fulmer, last year's #8 overall pick in the draft, and Trey Michalczewski. In order, those are the Sox #5, #2, and #4 top prospects overall, and they all signed an 8x10.
Sunday
My friend and I arrived at 7:00 a.m. this morning, 2 hours before it opened. My goal was to get an 8x10 of Chris Sale. However, there were a few hundred people in front of us, and they were only giving out 100 Sale wristbands. Everyone was going for him. I ended up ditching that effort, and settled in the Avisail Garcia line. I got an 8x10 of Avi Garcia, which wasn't so bad considering that the 9:00 a.m. signers weren't all that special.
I just so happened to find Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro hanging out at the #SoxSocial Lounge that they had set up at the Hilton. I first went up to Avila and held out a junk ball for him. Before I could mutter the words to ask him to sign on the sweet spot, he signed on the side of the ball. I was a little upset by that, but that's okay. I ended up going up to Navarro and had him sign the same ball, making it a 2016 White Sox catchers ball. Avila and Navarro signed on opposite sides, but I think I made the best of it.
In the end, I ended up getting 4 of the top 5 prospects for the Sox, who don't necessarily have the strongest farm system, but still could produce some big leaguers. The big guys like Sale and Abreu drew huge crowds, so I'll have to get them some other time. Todd Frazier only was there on Friday night, and I unfortunately was not. I also got a picture with Jose Contreras and the 2005 World Series trophy and I also won a Paul Konerko bobblehead, along with 5 free tickets to an upcoming game this season. I had a lot of fun this weekend, and I'm excited to hopefully go back next year!
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