Ok, I admit it… I was a bit flattered by it all.

My daughter Christina, my dear friend Will Isabella (Truebluewill) and I arrived at Citi Field in New York for the first of three Dodgers/Mets games on Friday afternoon. It had rained pretty hard throughout most of the day and to be quite honest, I wasn’t even sure that they would get this one in. “No worries,” I thought to myself. “If they get rained out tonight, they’ll play a double header tomorrow.” The last time I had seen a MLB double header was at Dodger Stadium when I was a kid; a twi-night double header, as they were called back then and I assume still are. We had arrived early to take in batting practice, which we pretty much figured wouldn’t happen because it was still drizzling pretty good. Sure enough, when the gates opened two hours before game time, the tarp was on the infield.

Christina, Will and me at Citi Field.

Because I almost always arrive early for Dodger games, I pretty much know their pre-game workout routine, although it would be reversed here because the Dodgers were the visiting team. I knew that the Dodger pitchers would be long tossing out near the fair pole (why do the call it a foul pole?) on the side that the visitor’s dugout is located (the third base side at Citi Field) and sure enough, they were.

When we arrived, the Dodger pitchers were long tossing but there was no BP because of the rain.

Will had picked up a couple of Rawlings Official Major League Baseballs (or ROMLBs, as I call them) at his neighborhood sporting goods store with hopes of getting a few Dodger autographs. I had brought a half dozen ROMLBs with me from home (because you just never know who you might run into at the ballpark), along with a brand new 2012 All-Star ball. As I have done for the past two years, I had hopes of getting the All-Star ball signed by 2012 Dodger All-Stars Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.

The three of us, who were joined by Christina’s roommate Whitney and our old friend Joe Pierre (OldBrooklynFan), walked down to the railing next to where the Dodger pitchers were long tossing. When they finished, I asked Clayton Kershaw if he would please sign an All Star a ball for me. He immediately walked over to us and asked me “How many baseballs have I signed for you?” I laughed and said “As long as you keep making the All-Star team, I’ll keep asking you to sign All-Star balls for me.” (By the way – you can never have too many Clayton Kershaw autographed baseballs). Clayton generously signed my ball and also signed a ball for Christina (on the sweet spot, no less – something that he rarely does anymore) and balls for both Will and Joe. He also signed for perhaps 20 or 30 other fans, both Mets and Dodgers.

Clayton hands me back my All-Star ball after signing it and prepares to sign a ball for Will.

I’m pretty sure that Christina and Will were somewhat impressed with Kershaw’s and my little exchange, but not nearly as impressed as when Dodger closer Kenley Jansen came over to sigh autographs and spotted me and said “Hey, what are you doing here?” Now, understand that I attend (almost) ever Dodger home game and I see these guys (almost) everyday, but I figured that they pay little attention to me. As such and as I mentioned above, I was quite flattered that both Clayton and Kenley recognized and acknowledged me.

Because I attend spring training each year and because I am at Dodger Stadium almost daily, I already have baseballs autographed by nearly all of the Dodger players (including newbie Josh Wall, whom Christina immediately claimed as her new boyfriend), but I knew that Will and Joe did not, so I said hello to each player as they walked by and almost all of them recognized me and came over and signed for Will and Joe, who were standing next to me.

Move over Javy, Josh Wall is Christina’s new boyfriend..

When the dust had settled and the pitchers left for the clubhouse, Will and Joe had collected autographs from seven of the Dodgers 12 pitchers – not bad for an hour’s work (ok, it wasn’t really work, it was more like an hour’s fun).

The only other autograph that I still needed (well, wanted) was Matt Kemp’s on my All-Star ball and I (and the others) were blessed when Matt signed for us after his pre-game stretching. Matt even took the time to pose for a photo with Christina, which she was pretty excited about.

Matt was kind enough to pose for a photo with Christina.

I was very fortunate to get Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp to autograph my 2012 ASG ball in the same day, something that is quite difficult to do at Dodger Stadium. The biggest surprise, however, was Clayton signing on the sweet spot for Christina, something that he rarely does anymore… well, maybe not all that surprising – she is kinda cute.

Although I get to see the Dodger players quite often both as a fan and while in the Dodger clubhouse during pre and post-game interviews for the ThinkBlueLA blog site (no autographs allowed for that), I never lose sight of the fact that I am extremely blessed to be able to interact with them; and whether or not I actually had anything to do with Will and Joe (and Christina) getting their autographs on this day I don’t know for sure, but it sure was great to see the excitement on their faces when the Dodger players took the time to sign for them.