Earlier today at the Stade municipal in Québec was held the 6th edition of the Celebrity Softball Game to benefit the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Society of Quebec. Most "celebrities" were local radio and TV people, but there were also some former hockey and baseball players present.
Before the game, I was able to catch Philippe Boucher and Tim Raines as they arrived at the stadium one after the other and both signed my cards:
I then waited outside for none other than Pedro Martinez to arrive, hoping he would sign the Rawlings Official MLB ball I had bought the week before at a Boston Red Sox game, but when he arrived in a bus with other celebrities, security led him right inside the stadium in an area reserved for the media and the celebrities taking part in the game. I then went inside the stadium and took a seat next to that reserved area, which was right by left field. I could see Pedro Martinez getting interviewed by all local media and signing a few autographs for the other celebrities. After some time, he stood up and looked like he was about to go on the field to get warmed up, so I called him over. He noticed me, came and I was able to hand him my ball and a pen under the chain-link fence seperating the seating area and the area where he was. He signed my ball very nicely and went on the field soon after that, where he had to take part in a few photo sessions before warming up. Here's a photo of my autographed baseball:
After the game, there was an autograph session with the celebrities around the infield. We were told that we could only get the game program signed and that only one autograph was allowed, but fortunately, none of those rules were enforced! That's how I was able to get all these cards signed by Pedro Martinez (again), Moises Alou, Vincent Damphousse and Denis Boucher:
Pedro Martinez was the most popular signer but man was he a slow signer! He'd sign a photo for someone then show it around to some of the other guys and comment on it, then sign something else and do the same thing all over again. He was definitely the one signer holding up the line! :o) At least you always got a very nice autograph out of him!
The other former players who were there today were Alain Côté, Mario Marois, Marc Fortier and Dave Pichette, but I hadn't brought anything to get signed by them.
