'Graphers

We had an interesting discussion here not long ago about the memorabilia/collector business. Here's a nice little piece on the subject. It's definitely a part of the game, but is hound too nice a term?

Autograph Hounds Never Seem to Let Up

By Randy Harrison
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
They stood in waiting at the entrances to the clubhouse tunnels at Isotopes Park, armed with no more than a Sharpie, a stack of pristine, mimeographed rosters, sleeved baseball cards and a requisite lack of pride.
The autograph collectors — or “graphers” — on this day, they were hunting Redbirds. Their primary target was one: Josh Phelps, first baseman, whose signature is as rare as a northern spotted owl.
“You see him sign, there's your story,” said one hunter.
Lo and behold, Phelps emerged from the tunnel, some 20 minutes before game time, and apparently felt generous.
“I'll knock you guys out today,” he said, head down, scribbling on several cards before jogging away to warm up.
“Holy (bleep)!” said one of the collectors, whose day was made. It didn't matter so much that other Redbirds looked away as they walked past, or others emerged with two hands full — a common ploy to get out of requests. This was a successful hunt.
A few days later, not so much. New Orleans' Trot Nixon,who played on the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, walked past without an acknowledgment.
“Not surprising. He signed yesterday,” said one.
Those are scenes familiar to about a dozen or so graphers who are fixtures at Isotopes Park. Another dozen or so make it to at least one game in a series. At least one, 73-year-old Rudy Goetz, even buys the $6 berm ticket and yet doesn't hang around for the action. He'd prefer to drive back to his Paradise Hills home, monitor the progress on the radio and come for postgame signings.
“Three, three and a half hours? The games are too long,” says Goetz, a native New Yorker and Yankees fan.
This weekend is the graphers' last chance to engage players this season. The Isotopes' home schedule concludes Sunday.
The typical grapher is adult, a card collector at the least, hoping to turn a buck on his signatures either on the Internet or at card shows. They will try for complete sets, but they will prioritize those who have been in the big leagues or look like they can get there. And they do volume business, which displeases the purist in one. Marty Davis cringes when he sees others hand players a pile of 20 cards.
“That'll just make them mad,” said Davis.
It's not a kid looking for a signature on a bat and a hero to worship, though it certainly started that way for some, like Kris Shepard. He built a nice collection in his youth, then sold all but a handful when he was in college.
“I wanted to eat,” said Shepard.
One of those he kept, and later sold on e-Bay for some $600, is a signed Albert Pujols when Pujols was an up-and-comer at Class A in Peoria, Ill. Recently Shepard partnered with Lyndol Hendricks to form Aardvark Trading Co., a Web-based trading card business to support the graphers.
The graphers ping-pong between the Isotopes and the opponents from night to night. The regulars know well the scouting report on the home team. Chase Lambin has the best signature, a sweeping “C” and “L” that belies his compact hitting stroke. Some, like Dallas McPherson and Robert Andino, are hard to get to sign pregame, but much more generous outside the Isotopes clubhouse postgame.
Stuart Fein, a season-ticket holder who collects signatures on action photographs he takes of the players, says Isotopes John Gall and Tagg Bozied were much harder signatures to get when they were here as Memphis Redbirds than as Isotopes.
A fair point, Bozied said.
“It has more to do with my schedule, which is much more compact when on the road,” said Bozied. “And I just feel more obligated for the home fans..”
All of that said, Bozied doesn't have a problem with graphers making a Benjamin Franklin off his John Hancock, if they are only patient and respectful of his time and space.
“If they're making a living off of that, good for them,” he said. “But you'll come across people who ask for your autograph for six weeks, every day. It's not where they're just a fan of you. It's like `Let me see the shrine of me, or I'm gonna stop signing for you.' ”