Saturday, October 19, 2019

John Wasdin


I met him at Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex, the Baltimore Orioles spring training facility in Sarasota, Florida in 2017.

This was one of my favorite autograph experiences. My brother, my nephew and I were waiting in the parking lot for Orioles players and coaches to come out. We were also hoping to see John Wasdin, who was in his first year as Baltimore's Minor League Pitching Coordinator. John came out and I instantly recognized him. My brother called for him and he said he'd be right over as soon as he puts his stuff in his car. John walks over and we let my nephew, Braden, who was 5-years-old at the time, get his baseball card signed first. John introduces himself to my nephew and signs his card. My brother then asked to get an autograph for himself. As John is about to sign it, he notices it's a different card than what Braden got signed. He picks up the card and says to my nephew, "Braden, let me show you something." He then asks Braden if he can see his card, and holds them side by side. He points out that in each card, his finger is exposed on his glove hand. He explains that any time you see a picture of him with his finger exposed, it was only during a warmup or bullpen session. It was then that I pulled out my card, which was also different from the other two and John takes it, and sure enough, all 3 of our cards show his finger. He told us that he always kept his finger in his glove during games to avoid tipping his pitches.
It was really cool having John share that with us.

John signed a 1994 Classic card #13.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wasdijo01.shtml

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