"**** you, Boddicker!"

[Moose Milligan]

It's a slow day.  But this made me laugh out loud.  I'm sure I'll be uttering "**** you, Boddicker!" while driving around and doing last minute Christmas shopping today.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30573261/what-happens-14-year-old-superfan-writes-favorite-nba-wnba-stars-bubble

 

Quote

Then one day my mom told me she had gotten the family tickets to go to an Orioles game. Sure, seeing my first MLB game in person was cool. But ... "I just want to get autographs!" I told her. My letters had been mere scrimmages for this, my autograph Super Bowl.

That day in Baltimore, my mom smuggled us down past ushers to lurk outside the Red Sox dugout, and my head practically exploded when I spotted Mike Boddicker -- the Mike Boddicker, standing 50 feet away! -- along the foul line. Boddicker was deep in conversation with a fan, raising up one finger to indicate that he'd be right with us, when my mom asked for his time. But after several more minutes of waiting, my mom could take it no more, terrified that the heat (a 75ish usher who looked like Danny DeVito's out-of-shape dad) would come for her at any moment. "Can my son have your autograph?" she asked again.

"Give me one minute," Boddicker reiterated.

My mom waited 15 more seconds before saying, "Come on, my son really wants to try to get autographs and we have limited time," she implored.

"Hey, I am in the middle of talking to another fan," Boddicker said, mildly frustrated, and for good reason.

"F--- you, Boddicker!" my mom replied, an outburst I had never seen from her before ... and I loved it. (A source close to my mom says this is ludicrous, a figment of a young boy's fertile imagination, that it was kids day at the ballpark and we were encouraged to be down there, and also, she never would yell at someone like that, and she certainly wouldn't swear, and even if she had, she wouldn't have said the actual word, she would have definitely said the letter "F" instead of the whole word, but yeah, none of that happened, Ryan. Either way, well, it was kids day and he should have signed.) Regardless, we stomped off, and I was never prouder to be my mom's son. I eventually landed a Chris Hoiles signature from the other dugout before we got booted back to our section.

By the moment we sat down in our seats for the game, my relationship with my mom had forever changed. She had fought for me against the Villainous Darth Boddicker of the North. It made me feel like she'd fight for me forever.

I'm sure you guys have autograph stories, too.  But I don't know if any of you guys dropped an F bomb on an Oriole.

[Sports Guy]

I never had any heartbreak over an autograph.

 

However, when I got a Tiger Woods autograph, I heard one guy (who was one of the few who didn’t get a signature) say something about Tiger around his little girl that was pretty awful.  Don’t think Tiger heard him (not sure how many heard me but me) but it was just another reminder of how awful people can be when they don’t get what they want.

[jabba72]

Autographs signings tend to bring out the worst in people. I remember butting way ahead in line to get a Tony Hawk autograph in the 80's. Embarrassing when I think about it today.

[Mountain Bird]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I never had any heartbreak over an autograph.

 

However, when I got a Tiger Woods autograph, I heard one guy (who was one of the few who didn’t get a signature) say something about Tiger around his little girl that was pretty awful.  Don’t think Tiger heard him (not sure how many heard me but me) but it was just another reminder of how awful people can be when they don’t get what they want.

I was past my fiftieth birthday before I got to attend my first O's game in person. It was in St. Louis in 2004 and I had seats behind the Orioles dugout. The late-great Elrod Hendricks was signing some autographs at the rail. I was reluctant to go get an autograph because it was mostly youngsters in line. At the urging of my wife, I went down when the line got short. When it got to my turn Elrod turned to walk away and not sign any more. I politely shouted "It's my first game and you have been one of my heroes!". He turned around, came back and signed my program. He said "I'm sorry. I thought you were the father of that kid before you." I thanked him. He didn't know but I was a fifty year old kid. Later that night I also got Tony Batista's autograph to wrap up a good evening. The worst part was that Pujols hit a bases loaded triple and the O's lost.

[clapdiddy]

I understand the Mom's frustration, but get a life.  I realize this was something her son really wanted, but it sounds like Boddicker was doing a nice thing by taking the time to talk to another fan.  I don't know Mike Boddicker myself, so I don't know if he's a jerk or not.   To me, this guy's mother was the "bad guy" in this incident.

And like others...I don't get the whole thing about autographs.   At least, not to this extent. 

[Redskins Rick]

20 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's a slow day.  But this made me laugh out loud.  I'm sure I'll be uttering "**** you, Boddicker!" while driving around and doing last minute Christmas shopping today.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30573261/what-happens-14-year-old-superfan-writes-favorite-nba-wnba-stars-bubble

 

I'm sure you guys have autograph stories, too.  But I don't know if any of you guys dropped an F bomb on an Oriole.

Its hard for these guys to even go out for dinner. I remember the team and Cal thought it would be less distracting to stay at a different hotel than the team and some of the fans called him out as a Diva and didnt want to be a part of the team. Billy talked about it once on a radio interview and explain the reasoning and how insane the crowds were. 

[Daddy-O's]

I was about twelve years old, and my mom dropped me and my two buddies off at Mailman's department store in south York to get Brooks Robinson's autograph.  We waited in line for a couple of  hours and finally got his autograph.  Went to a pay phone and called my mom to pick us up.  The three of us sat down on the curb and waited, when Brooks walked over and sat down next to my buddie.  He talked to us for a couple of minutes, and then Bobby Grich pulled up, Brooks jumped in and they took off.  That is my greatest autograph memory.

[ChangeRoadUnis]

i remember fondly one autograph experience and one not so fondly.  i have lived in Arizona my whole life and attended a few Cleveland Indian spring training games in 1973 and 1974. I was 12 or 13 at the time.  I saw Hank Aaron play there and that man stood there and signed all the requests for autographs.  I don't have the autograph but what a gentleman. 

On the other hand, being an Oriole fan since the late 1960s, i saw Frank Robinson and Boog Powell play there.  i was no excited to get their autographs.  Of course Frank was extremely rude and wouldn't give any fans the time of day. I was surprised that Boog Powell was the same way given his reputation.  Anyway, never looked at Powell or baseball players the same way after that.

[Ruzious]

41 minutes ago, ChangeRoadUnis said:

i remember fondly one autograph experience and one not so fondly.  i have lived in Arizona my whole life and attended a few Cleveland Indian spring training games in 1973 and 1974. I was 12 or 13 at the time.  I saw Hank Aaron play there and that man stood there and signed all the requests for autographs.  I don't have the autograph but what a gentleman. 

On the other hand, being an Oriole fan since the late 1960s, i saw Frank Robinson and Boog Powell play there.  i was no excited to get their autographs.  Of course Frank was extremely rude and wouldn't give any fans the time of day. I was surprised that Boog Powell was the same way given his reputation.  Anyway, never looked at Powell or baseball players the same way after that.

Guessing I'm the same age - born in '61.  Funny - my 2 baseball heroes growing up were... Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson.  It was still a thrill seeing him being interviewed this past season on several Braves games - such a humble and likable legend - much like Brooks Robinson.  And I've remained a Braves fan all my life - weird how that childhood stuff sticks.  

[weams]

23 hours ago, clapdiddy said:

I understand the Mom's frustration, but get a life.  I realize this was something her son really wanted, but it sounds like Boddicker was doing a nice thing by taking the time to talk to another fan.  I don't know Mike Boddicker myself, so I don't know if he's a jerk or not.   To me, this guy's mother was the "bad guy" in this incident.

And like others...I don't get the whole thing about autographs.   At least, not to this extent. 

I ate breakfast in Sarasota with Ernie Tyler one day in Sarasota. Mike came and joined us and seemed to be a very pleasant and engaging man. His whole family was there with him so he only stayed ten minutes or so. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

8 hours ago, ChangeRoadUnis said:

i remember fondly one autograph experience and one not so fondly.  i have lived in Arizona my whole life and attended a few Cleveland Indian spring training games in 1973 and 1974. I was 12 or 13 at the time.  I saw Hank Aaron play there and that man stood there and signed all the requests for autographs.  I don't have the autograph but what a gentleman. 

On the other hand, being an Oriole fan since the late 1960s, i saw Frank Robinson and Boog Powell play there.  i was no excited to get their autographs.  Of course Frank was extremely rude and wouldn't give any fans the time of day. I was surprised that Boog Powell was the same way given his reputation.  Anyway, never looked at Powell or baseball players the same way after that.

Boog will sign and take a picture with anyone at his stand on Eutaw Street now. Bit of a difference from your experience. 
 

Once after a Bowie game (I believe 2 years ago,) I asked Steel Russell for his autograph on a ball. He was legitimately shocked and said “me? Why me?” I flat out told him I thought he had an awesome name. He laughed and signed the ball and we talked for a bit. Cool dude.

[linedrive]

I was trying to get Matt Wieters autograph when he was coming up through Bowie. The game was in Harrisburg, and he was signing autographs for other fans. Just as I was getting close, all the players were called into the dugout, and Wieters began walking away. I called out and asked if he'd sign my Orioles media guide, but he was apologetic, saying he had to go. But then he shrugged, came over, and signed for me, and I thanked him. He didn't have to sign, but he did, which was very cool. Not many high draft picks would have done that, so he quickly became one of my favorite players.

[OFFNY]

19 minutes ago, linedrive said:

 

I was trying to get Matt Wieters' autograph when he was coming up through AA-Bowie. The game was in Harrisburg, and he was signing autographs for other fans. Just as I was getting close, all of the players were called into the dugout, and Wieters began walking away. I called out and asked him if he'd sign my Orioles media guide, but he was apologetic, saying he had to go. But then he shrugged, came over, signed for me, and I thanked him. He didn't have to sign, but he did, which was very cool. Not many high-round draft picks would have done that, so he quickly became one of my favorite players.

 

o

 

Was that a doubleheader that was near the end of the 2008 season ??? I was also at that game/doubleheader. John Stearns was managing the AA-Senators (and coaching 3rd base for them.) 

 

o

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

For the the record I met Mike Boddicker as a kid once (I think it was at my sister’s preschool) and he couldn’t have been nicer.

We had a short conversation and he was genuinely interested in hearing what I had to say. I think this mother was way out of line. 

[linedrive]

On 12/26/2020 at 8:22 PM, OFFNY said:

o

 

Was that a doubleheader that was near the end of the 2008 season ??? I was also at that game/doubleheader. John Stearns was managing the AA-Senators (and coaching 3rd base for them.) 

 

o

I can't recall if it was a doubleheader, but I live in the Harrisburg area and make it to as many Bay Sox games as I can.