Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June Contest: Auto Edition

I'm sure we all have a sports related, non-card piece that is very special to us. It could be an old glove, a magazine, a ball, the possibilities are endless. One of my most prized pieces that isn't a card is this:


A program from the very first opening day at the Ballpark in Arlington, April 11, 1994. The Rangers opened that season with a series against the then A.L. Milwaukee Brewers. Over the course of that first season, I went to about 25 games. I managed to get 7 signatures on the program.

Hopefully, you can click on the photo to see a bigger image of it, because for this contest, you have to tell me who autographed the program. You don't have to get them all, but you get one entry for each of the seven you get correct. Your first guess is your only guess, so make them count. I'm only leaving this contest up until Thursday night because I'm on vacation next week and need to get a winner. I'll turn on comment moderation to keep you honest so good luck with the contest. No "contest pimping" required, but it is always appreciated.

Something interesting about the program is the seating/prices page inside. I paid $16 for my seats back in 1994 because I typically went by myself or with one friend and we always sat in the good seats. All the lower bowl seats were $16, no matter where you sat. Now the lower bowl tickets are ridiculous. For seats in the lower bowl, from dugout to dugout, you pay anywhere from $65 to $215 (more for "Premium" games). Crazy, and that explains why I don't go to more games. The tickets I had a few weeks ago were in the lower home run porch in right field and cost $30 each.



I know you weren't, but in case you were wondering how I display the program, here is the plaque it goes with. The ticket is my actual ticket for the first game. I had an 8 game ticket package to start 1994 and it included a couple of exhibition games against Houston, the opening game, the first night game and several others. I sat in section 5 in left field and paid $8 per ticket for those 8 tickets. Not a bad deal for $64.





I'd like to see some of you post some of your favorite non-card sports items.

Good luck!

20 comments:

  1. Gary Redus
    Rick Helling
    Claude Osteen
    Rick Honeycutt
    Matt Whiteside
    Kenny Rogers
    Kevin Kennedy

    ReplyDelete
  2. My six of seven guesses:

    Rick Helling
    Claude Osteen
    Kevin Kennedy
    Kenny Rogers
    Matt Whiteside
    Rick Honeycutt

    ReplyDelete
  3. I see:
    Rick Helling
    Kenny Rogers
    Rick Honeycutt
    Matt Whiteside
    Claude Osteen
    Kevin Kennedy

    And I have no idea who the blue auto is in the top left corner.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kevin Kennedy
    Claude Osteen
    Rick Honeycutt
    Rick Helling
    Kenny Rogers
    Matt Whiteside
    Gary Redus

    ReplyDelete
  5. George Bush
    Claude Osteen
    Rick Honeycutt
    Rick Helling
    Terry Kennedy
    Kenny Rogers
    Matt Williams

    http://cardjunk.blogspot.com/2008/04/absolute-best-thing-in-my-collection.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know for sure Rick Honeycutt, Kenny Rogers. I think Gary Redus, Rick Helling, Matt Whiteside, and Junior Ortiz. I don't know the other. this is my final answer with these six.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll go with the Dodger: Claude Osteen.

    Oh, and there's another Dodger: Rick Honeycutt.

    Rick Helling. He was never a Dodger. Thank God.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey, check out this post from my blog: http://clearcutcards.blogspot.com/2010/05/recovering-stockpile-of-autos-pun.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Genius.

    Let's say:
    Kevin Kennedy
    Rick Honeycutt
    Kenny Rogers
    Rick Helling
    Matt Whiteside
    Gary Redus


    6 of 7. The last one is befuddling me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'll give it a stab: Gary Redus (total guess?) in the upper left. Rick Helling, Claude Osteen (must have been the pitching coach at the time and Rick Honeycutt in the next row. Matt Whiteside and Kevin Kennedy are next and Kenny Rogers is near the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gary Redus, Junior Ortiz, Rick Helling, Rick Honeycutt, Matt Whiteside, Tim Leary, Kenny Rogers. Wow, that was tough. I just have no idea with a few of these. Fun contest.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am kind of freaking out because I can't get all of them, especially "claude Peterson"...so stumped
    others:
    Kenny Rogers
    Greg Vaughn
    Rick honeycutt
    Rick Helling
    (keith hernandez and kevin brown?)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am pretty confident with 4 of the autos.
    Rick Helling
    Rick Honeycutt
    Kenny Rogers
    Claude Osteen
    and maybe Gary Redus

    ReplyDelete
  14. I wish I could still sit in the lower bowl for $16. I honestly can't remember them being that cheap! I'm not sure if I'll ever sit in the lower bowl again, at least not with the whole family, way too much $$$!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Here is my official entry. Kenny Rogers, Rick Helling, Rick Honeycutt, Matt Whiteside, Gary Redus, Kevin Kennedy & Claude Osteen.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Claude Osteen
    Rick Helling
    Kenny Rogers
    Rick Honeycutt

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great program especially if I am right about the first auto. Having a presidential auto is very cool!

    George Bush
    Rick Helling
    Claude Osteen
    Rick Honeycutt
    Matt Whiteside
    Kevin Kennedy?
    Kenny Rogers

    ReplyDelete
  18. Okay, here's my guesses. I'm usually horrible at this sort of thing,but here goes:

    Gary Redus (Blue ink-top left corner)
    Rick Helling (Black ink-Middle)
    Claude Osteen (I'm not sure if he had any connection to the Rangers, but that's my guess)
    Metallica's own lead guitarist Kirk Hammett
    Matt Whiteside (over the stadium)
    and lastly Kenny Rodgers on the bottom.

    I'm not even going to guess who the other auto is from.

    I'm only really sort of sure about one of them.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ok, I am going to guess (left to right, top to bottom)...

    1 Gary Redus
    2 Rick Helling
    3 Claude Osteen (Pitching Coach?)
    4 Rick Honeycutt
    5 Matt Whiteside
    6 (I can't make this one out, it blends in with the stadium)
    7 Kenny Rogers

    ReplyDelete
  20. Contest closed to new entries. Randomization coming soon. Look for a winner post in the morning.

    ReplyDelete