Dad – During the morning break, we headed to the vendors to pick up cards for Jason Simontacchi. Isaac picked a fancy X-fractor numbered to 150 and a Fleer throwback-like card. Simontacchi signed the X-fractor but would not sign the Fleer. He was very gracious and apologetic when explaining why. Here’s the story:
Simontacchi had a close friend and neighbor who takes care of his baseball card, memorabilia, and appearance arrangements. This friend stood by him even as his minor league career looked like it would not end with a stop in the majors. When he finally made it to the majors as a 28 year old rookie, he eventually autographed the Fleer Tradition card for his friend and, as a token of his friendship and loyalty, vowed never to sign that card for anyone else, regardless of circumstance. A promise he keeps to this day. Great story eh?
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3 comments:
Love that Gilkey card---he was one of my early 90's favorites.
And the Simontacchi story is great!
Isaac must have had a huge grin on his face when Gilkey slid the cards across the table because he broke into a huge grin and looked at me and the volunteer helping him and said, "That's why I love doing this. The smile on that boy's face was awesome."
I love the Simontacchi's story! Come to think of it, I love Simontacchi's name
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