Saturday, October 2, 2010

Player Appearance: Matt Kemp


I found out earlier in the week that Matt Kemp would be making an appearance this weekend. I've made two previous attempts at getting Kemp's autograph in person, and had no success either time.

The first time was at a scheduled Macy's appearance in Northridge last year, which Kemp pulled out of, and was replaced by Clayton Kershaw. The second attempt was on August 21 of this year. That appearance was not organized very well and became a complete disaster. I had missed out on a Kemp in-person autograph for the second time.




Today was different. The event was held at The Plant, which is a giant Living Spaces in Van Nuys. Kemp was scheduled to appear from 10:00am to 12:00pm. After finding out he would be signing for two hours, I became a bit more confident that I would get the autograph. But I still had my doubts. Matt's a popular player, and his appearances get crazy. Luckily, Van Nuys is 10 minutes from my home so I didn't have to travel far.

I got to Living Spaces and met up with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle.  My buddy Tom showed up later. I also got to meet a few other people,  Eric, Richard and little Aaron. Great conversation kept us all occupied while we waited for Matt to show up.  We were about 255 people back. We knew that because of the wrist bands they handed out. The first 250 people got pink wrist bands, the next 250 got green ones. We were in the second group.






Well, Matt got there on time. The line moved into the store right away. They were letting ten people in at a time. As usual, they told us one signed item per person, and no pictures with Matt.  When we got to the front of the line, we saw people taking pics with him. Huh? OK, so we could take picture with him. Cool.



When it was my turn, I got my homerun-saving Matt Kemp bobblehead out and handed it to him. He asked where I wanted the signature, and which color Sharpie I wanted him to use. I told him on the hat with silver Sharpie. Then I built up the courage to ask him for a picture, and he said yes. Matt's my favorite player, so I was real nervous.





At the end of the day, this event turned out to be a great success. The staff at Living Spaces were very nice and organized.  I got what I wanted, an autograph and a picture. I also got to hang out with some great Dodger fans. I can't wait for the next Dodger event.

14 comments:

  1. That's so cool, Matt looks like a down to earth guy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice bobble, the silver came out great. But I mean, you were so confident the whole time, it really calmed the rest of us down. :o

    wickedortega- Kemp is a great guy, extremely nice, fan friendly. Talks with fans, signs whatever. A pleasure to meet both times I've been fortunate enough to do so.

    ReplyDelete
  3. wicked - I was very upset with Kemp after the last appearance. But after meeting him today, I've got to admit, he's a real nice guy.

    Greg - Well, you know, you guys were being so negative. Someone had to have faith in Matty! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The auto looks great on the blue background of the hat, but I think getting a pic is even better. Cool Stuff!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think with the year that Matt Kemp had this season, he's a misunderstood guy. In my opinion, I have always liked him because he loves LA and treats the fans really well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Charles - I agree. Love the pic!

    Are No - Make the trip down here for a player appearance once in a while.

    Jessica - He does have a reputaion as being full of himself. He was very nice today. I can't say anything negative after my experience.

    The guy is an amzing ball player. Yes, he's had a terrible year. He'll be back to the old Bison in 2011.

    I'm typing this minutes after he hit a homerun in his fourth game in a row. This is what we should have seen from him all year. Who knows where the Dodgers would be now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I keep telling my grandpa about Matt Kemp, that he'll be back next year. But my grandpa has had it with him and Russell Martin. He thinks they have gone too Hollywood.

    Which I don't know if that I agree with that. Martin may not have been hitting well but I really felt that his defensive was improving.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jessica - the problem with Russ is that he's been in a three-year offensive decline. I don't think we'll ever see the same player we saw in 2007. The catcher free-agent market is very thin, so bringing Russell back makes sense. As long as he plays league average baseball, I'm fine with that. If he gives anymore than that, it's a bonus.

    Matt Kemp will be back to 2009 form in 2011.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Joshua!!! Thanks for posting I really like to read stories like this about Meet and Greets.
    Glad to hear you had a great time and got to meet your favorite player that is always fun. If it were not for work I may have gone. But fans getting there at Midnight the day before I don't know about that. The line at the LA Fair was long enough at a 5 hour wait. But it was worth getting # 34's signature.
    Think Blue
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bruce - Glad to hear from you again. Actually, this was one of the smoothest player appearances I have ever attended. It's very surprising, considering it was Matt Kemp. Next time there's an appearance, email me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glad to hear it went so well. As far as other apperances, I usually find them on Your site or Robeert's website. I would guess now that the season is over there will be fewer apperances to go to. Maybe some will come up though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bruce - If there are player appearances in the offseason, I will try to go.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Glad you finally got his autograph. This one was my 1st attempt and i got lucky that i got my OMLB signed. I was thinking about getting my bobblehead signed but figured it's so easy to break. And glad i used a ball cuz just a few days ago someone in the house admitted that they dropped my bobblead and broke the head and arm. Would have been worthless. Glad the ball was on hand. PHEW!

    ReplyDelete