Monster effort

Sure, it may have taken three trips to Tropicana Field in a single day and nearly nine hours to get it done, but to snag 26 autographs from Tampa Bay Rays players, coaches and the general manager is, to me, pretty darn remarkable.

After hearing that the Rays would hold an off-day workout during the All Star Game break, Colin and I decided to try our luck with the team last Thursday. Our hunches and hard work paid off, too.

Our first trip of the day, in which we arrived at the Trop around 11 a.m., provided better information than autographs. Though we did put the first three signatures on it, the best part was learning the time of the workout.

Unfortunately, a bit of a misunderstanding led to a lengthy wait at the beginning of the second trip of the day. At first, I thought the player said the workout would start at 2:40 p.m. As a result, we arrived back at the Trop around 1 p.m. with high hopes. About 30 minutes after arriving, a team clubhouse worker told us the workout wouldn't start until 5 p.m.

Rather than head home and come back, we stuck it out, taking a walk around the Trop, laughing at lizards and watching a baby frog try to climb over a sidewalk curb. After a while, our patience was rewarded, as player after player, including Scott Kazmir, Evan Longoria and James Shields, all heeded Colin's call and added to his team ball.

Our last trip of the day, timed with the close of the workout, put the finishing touches on the ball, as Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, B.J. Upton and Jonny Gomes all signed.

Who signed where?

Top photo (signatures listed from top to bottom): J. P. Howell, Akinori Iwamura, Grant Balfour, Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton
Second photo: Tom Foley (coach), Jason Hammel, Dan Wheeler, Steve Henderson (coach), Evan Longoria, Dave Martinez and Dioner Navarro (along the right side)
Third photo: Detail of Evan Longoria's autograph
Fourth photo: Andrew Friedman (GM), Andy Sonnanstine, Jonny Gomes, Scott Kazmir, Tim Bogar (coach), Joe Maddon (manager) and Cliff Floyd
Fifth photo: Carlos Pena, Willie Aybar, Shawn Riggans, Edwin Jackson, Jason Bartlett, James Shields and Gary Glover.

Players we didn't get (yet): Matt Garza, Gabe Gross, Erik Hinske, Trever Miller Troy Percival, Al Reyes and Ben Zobrist

Grumpy old men (We asked, but they wouldn't sign): George Hendricks and Don Zimmer