Two Eli Marrero Autographed Cards

Here Fuji goes again, pushing bloggers to write some posts with real substance and stories. This time he wants to know: Describe your best or worst IP autograph experience.  Who was it?  What made it special/memorable?

First I'll show you the autographs, so you won't know if it was good or bad and the suspense will make my writing seem interesting. I should really stop revealing my dastardly plans out loud, like a James Bond villain.

1997 Fleer Ultra #549 Eli Marrero

1997 Collector's Choice #477 Eli Marrero

In case you can't tell, those are in white-bordered toploaders. I'm not sure why, they were probably just the two most special-looking protectors I had at the time.

His autographs were free with admission to a card show near St. Louis. If I recall correctly, I have two because it was 1997 or summer 1998, before I could drive, so I actually convinced my Mom to take me to a card show. In retrospect, I can't imagine how boring that must have been for her, knowing only a little about baseball as it was. But, she was entitled to a free autograph too of course, so I brought along two cards.

As we approached the table I saw Eli seemed to be taking a long time on each item; I thought maybe he was inscribing something. He didn't speak English very well, so there wasn't much conversation, but he did give everyone a "Hi" and a big smile as they handed him their items. I saw why he was taking so long. He was just being extra careful to sign his name very big and very legibly. He signed his full first name, Elieser. I was toward the end of the line, and even after a long time at the table, he still had a great attitude about meeting fans and signing for them, so I count Eli among my best in-person autograph experiences.