Here are some strong photos from the past week or so of signings. After this upcoming holiday weekend the blog will be making a major comeback...complete with daily posts, recaps and even a few new contests. Enjoy the short week and the long weekend!

Okay, so I dropped the ball...again. It has been an interesting two weeks and plan on getting you all up to speed over the next few days. My last post gave a bad prediction about the outcome of the NBA Finals (I have been exile since then). I was wrong about basically everything related to that series...at least I wasn't the only one. I am confident that Dr. Buss and Mitch Kupchack will do the right thing and add some much needed toughness and defense to the Lakers...we will be back stronger than ever next year (with Andrew Bynum at center!). Anyway, with all that in mind, we have added another incredibly strong name to our already impressive list of Steiner Exclusives. That name is none other than "The Truth" Paul Pierce. Personally it is always extremely difficult when my teams lose in a championship round or game as I always end up going right to the belly of the beast. This was never more difficult than in 2006 when the Mets lost to the Cardinals. While this won't be quiet as distressing a situation it will definitely be a little strange. Bottom line though is that Pierce is the real deal..big players show up in big spots and he did just that. He willed that team (can't even bring myself to use the hated C-word right now) to victory and deserves all the accolades (and the MVP award). He is definitely a must-have autograph for any NBA collector or Boston fan in general.
Check back over the next few days as I will be recapping all of the signing from the past week.

At a little after 9:00 tonight the NBA Finals finally tip off. I don't think there is a person in the country who isn't aware of who the two competing teams are as this is a big as it gets. Forget Yankees/Red Sox (which has become boring anyway) ... the best rivalry has been and will always be Celtics/Lakers. Granted I am a Lakers fan but for anyone that has turned on a television or read a magazine or newspaper this week it is definitely difficult to refute that statement. We are in for an all-time classic series. It would be virtually impossible for it not to be. Before I make any predictions this is as good a time as any to talk about some of the Lakers and Celtics collectibles we offer. Rather than go into depth on the pieces here are , in my opinion, the top three collectibles we have for both teams.
Lakers- 1)Magic Johnson Basketball
2)Kobe Bryant Home Jersey
3)Kareem Abdul Jabbar Skyhook 16x20 Photograph
4)Kareem and Magic Dual Signed Box Out 16x20
5)Kobe All Star 2007 16x20

Celtics-1)John Havlicek Basketball
2)Larry Bird Basketball
3)Paul Pierce Basketball
4)Larry Bird Driving against Jabbar 16x20
5)Anything Bill Russell!

With that all said we also have some incredibly strong dual signed Bird and Magic photos. Even if you have no interest in buying anything at this time go ahead and search Lakers and/or Celtics on this site as we have so many more unbelievable pieces than those I listed here.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the series...and this is not solely because of my affiliation to the West Coast team: Lakers in 6! They have a better bench (Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton have and will continue to come up big and bring some real energy off the bench), better coaching (Jackson- 11 rings, 'nuff said), solid front court (Celtics may be a little better in this facet of the game..but not by much), experience and poise at the point with D Fish (.4 , 'nuff said) and lastly the best player on the planet (I can't see any valid argument against that statement) who in his own admission can get off any time he wants and is , by far, the best closer in the business (He's Mariano)
..Lakers in 6. Enjoy the game!

Yesterday morning we did a small private signing with Yankees pitcher Darrell Rasner. Rasner has been tearing it up this year and is arguably their most consistent pitcher. Despite a 3-2 record he boasts an impressive 2.67 ERA and is one of the main reasons why the hot and cold Yankees have remained afloat in the competitive American League East. With those kind of numbers it became obvious that we had to add Rasner to our current Yankees projects (the ones I have been working on since spring training). Darrell came up for about an hour and half. I could tell from the start that he would be extremely easy to work with. The signing flew by as he actually had more questions for me than I had for him. The guy is definitely one of the better stories in a very strange young baseball season. Aside from the special projects (which should be completed within the month...much more on these in the coming weeks..) Darrell also signed some robust items including MLB baseball and commemorative Yankee Stadium balls. We have been getting those commemorative balls signed by every Yankee over the past few months. They are the same balls being used at Yankees home games. As strong as they are individually it would make a great gift or item to pair up a bunch in one of our cases.
I know the blog had hit a stalemate for a while but the coming weeks should be as strong as any we have ever had...so keep checking back as I am going to try to keep you all up to speed daily.

As you all know from my past few entries we have been in Dodgers mode for the past few days. With them in town getting kicked around by the rejuvenated Mets we have been able to get some great signings done...none of which was more important than the small one I conducted Sunday with our old friend Joe Torre. The whole weekend must have been a whirlwind for Joe as he was back in New York for essentially the first time since signing on as Los Angeles' manager. Torre was nice enough (he really has been so accommodating to us over the years) to give us an hour Sunday morning (with such limited time I opted to not take any photos and maximize the signing) Before going into the plethora of amazing product that was signed I must say that Joe truly does seem happy, relaxed and..at the same time..excited about his young talented team. Anyway, the main focus of the morning was to finally complete our 1998 Yankees team project. I have been chipping away at it for months and ironically the final name to be added was the one to fill up the sweet spot on these impressive pieces. Overall these pieces came out amazing. We did a limited number of baseballs, bats, jerseys, batting helmet and three different images in 16x20...not to mention a small number of those classic Joe DiMaggio signs. The '98 team is one of, if not the, greatest team in the history of the game. As the years go on it will be harder and harder to get the whole group to sign so I definitely recommend picking up a piece or two (or three) from this run. Aside from the Yankees project Joe also signed some ridiculously strong game-used Dodgers items including baseballs and bases. As I said in my last entry we are slowly but surely building up an incredible collection of Dodgers items ranging from Sandy Koufax to Clayton Kershaw to Joe Torre. Los Angeles is one of the elite franchises in baseball and we are really excited to offer these robust pieces.
Check back later for some thoughts on another elite sports franchise from Los Angeles...

The day after the Kershaw signing we did yet another Dodgers signing. This time it was with rookie sensation Blake Dewitt. Dewitt is having a monster year so far...unfortunately a ton of that damage has been done against the Mets. He has been in the conversation for rookie of the year since practically Opening Day and the third baseman has already become an obvious favorite of manager Joe Torre. With all those accolades surrounding the young third baseman (not to mention the Dodgers/Steiner relationship and LA being in New York for four days) it was a no-brainer to get this incredibly talented kid up to the office to sign. Over the course of the two hour signing Blake signed MLB baseballs, bats and three very strong images in both 8x10 and 16x20...one of which is of his first MLB hit! Aside from those pieces Dewitt also autographed a good amount of game used product including baseballs from several games. He also inscribed most of these with stats from the games!..very strong. We are extremely excited about this partnership with the Dodgers. Over the coming months you will begin to see a major product line built around this special anniversary year for the storied franchise.

Ok, so this is my first posting in quite some time. The past few weeks have been pretty quiet on the signings end but we have said started to pick up some momentum over the past few days (just like a certain team out in Queens!) It all started on Thursday. A mere hours after the Dodgers touched down in New York their young phenom (and Steiner Exclusive) Clayton Kershaw came up to our office for a private signing. Kershaw had been one of, if not the, top pitching prospects in the nation and was coming off an impressive first start. I recall down in Florida a few months ago Sandy Koufax was raving about how special a pitcher Kershaw could/will be...coming from Sandy that definitely means a lot. Anyway we were able to get some incredibly strong product signed including MLB Debut inscription baseballs, Dodgers caps and a handful of awesome game used pieces (thanks to our partnership with the Dodgers). Kershaw is a can't miss pitcher...his stuff is ridiculously good. He truly is a must-have for any baseball collector (not just Dodgers faithful)

I know it has been quite awhile since my last post. I returned home from my Los Angeles trip early last week...which was nothing short of amazing (saw a few shows including an epic Sunday nighter with the hottest second set in recent memory!). Anyway, a mere hours after touching down at JFK I walked into the set up for the largest team signing I have ever done. This signing with the 1969 Jets team was to begin a day later so we had to jump right on the elaborate set-up. It was, by far, the most amount of helmets I have and probably ever will do with a team. We secured a huge room outside of our office..in the same complex. It took practically the entire day just to cart all the helmets to the location (let alone set them). In the end it was a strong job by all involved and we were ready to roll to following afternoon. The plan for the signing was simple...23 guys in 54 hours. Joe Namath had signing the pieces about a month ago so, in the end, it would be a total of 24 signatures on our impressive product. What I had not realized going into the monster signing was that it would take a minimum of 6 and 1/2 hours to complete the marathon. It actually took most guys somewhere between 7 and 1/2 and 8 hours to get through it. That made for quite a long night on the first day (we did not begin until about 2:00 PM that day) and then we started really early on Thursday. When all was said and done we were..somehow..in unbelievable shape by the last shift on Friday. The last two guys to sign were Matt Snell and Emerson Boozer who were finally done about 7:00 PM. As the last guys signed we had a strong crew shadowing them and breaking down the set-up..and carting everything back to our warehouse. Timing wise (other than a slight jam-up on the first shift) everything worked out perfectly. The end result is ridiculously strong. Unlike the current Giants pieces you can perfectly read every single name on the product. Each guy wrote out every letter of their name which makes for arguably the most robust team items we have ever gotten signed...a close second is the 1999 Women's World Cup team product (which is nothing short of incredible). I am extremely proud of the pieces and of everyone involved in the process...especially Margaret who coordinated everything.

This is actually a fairly quiet week for me. Traditionally the week before Memorial Day weekend is not too busy with signings....there may be one or two small signings so still keep a look out. Anyway, over the next week or so I will be previewing June as well as talking about some exciting non-signing related things going on here. We all know by now it is going to be a long summer here in New York with both baseball teams underachieving so feel free to email me questions and suggestions on ways for the blog to remain strong and competitive...unlike our teams as of late.

Yesterday morning I conducted private signings with two key members of the Yankees depleted pitching staff. The first signing was with legendary clutch pitcher Andy Pettitte. This was actually my second signing with Andy in as many weeks (remember I took a break from the blog last week). I always enjoy my time with Pettitte. He, just like all my Yankee friends, are well aware of my loyalty to the Mets. This always makes for great conversation as I can literally go inning by inning with Andy of that classic 2000 World Series Game 5. Ironically it was during that disaster of a game (cheap Sojo hit) that I first understood how good Pettitte really is. He matched Leiter basically pitch for pitch and kept the Yankees in the game...which unfortunately they won despite Andy getting a no-decision (which he also got in Game 1 where he pitched well enough to get a W) Anyway, we always end up talking about that as well as a few other Subway Series moments. The focus of Andy's two small signings were mainly on a few special projects we have been working on. I know I have been hyping these up for weeks so hopefully you will all agree on the strength of the product once it is finally done. Aside from the project Pettitte also signed Yankee Stadium Final Year Commemorative baseballs as well as 2008 All Star balls. As you can see we have been doing these special balls with every Yankee that signs. They are undoubtably a must-have for any Yankees collector (not to forget a case for all of them).



About an hour after Pettitte finished Ross Ohlendorf came up to sign. I met Ross on Saturday where he had an appearance at Last Licks Thornwood. He has shown unbelieveable potential and is sure to be a vital cog in the Yankees bullpen. Ohlendorf also autographed some of the special Yankees projects as well as Final Year baseballs and MLB balls. After the signing I gave Ross a quick tour of our facility. I don't think anyone has a real understanding of the scope of what we do here until they walk through our warehouse. To say the least Ohlendorf was extremely impressed with the strength of it all.



This Saturday we have Yogi Berra appearing at Last Licks Thornwood and Osi Umeniyora signing at the Steiner Store. Both appearances should be great so come out if you can.
With all that said and recapped I am about to head out to California for a short vacation. I will be back Monday evening (after Phil Lesh show at the Greek Sunday!)
and back in bright and early Tuesday to start prepping for our massive 1969 Jets team signing.
Lastly congratulations KB24 on earning his first MVP award. Enjoy the weekend! Go Lakers!

I know, I know..I have been slacking on the blog posts over the past few days. There are only so many times I can talk about the same athletes and same signings. So, with that in mind, I took a hiatus for a few days to regroup, rethink and hopefully retool the blog (there will be positive changes and a few new adjectives introduced next week when I return from a small vacation). I am writing this one at a little after 2:00 AM. I just did a private signing with Yankees star (and Red Sox cult hero) Johnny Damon. Damon has always preferred to sign a little bit later- after games rather than earlier in the day before one. I never mind knocking out a signing late night as there are few distractions and it's quiet. It was also great to catch up with Johnny who I have known well since October 2004. I first met Damon shortly after the Red Sox won the World Series that year (to be exact it was the night after the parade). Over the course of four days (starting the night after the Sox won it all) we knocked out my first real big team signing (I have done my share since then as any of you faithful readers would attest to). I probably learned more about this business in the t hose four days than anyother span of my run. Shortly after that team project Damon ended up signing with the Yankees, which could not have worked out more perfectly for us.
Since then we have done our share of signings to say the least. It has been awhile, however, since we have introduced some new pieces to our ridiculously strong Johnny Damon collection. Earlier this evening Johnny signed Yankee Stadium Final Year Commemorative balls as well as some serious game used pieces. Three nights ago Damon had a monster game against Seattle (3 hits, 3 runs, 2 RBI's..strong!). Ironically enough we had just gotten in game used balls and bases from the game (it really does work that fast) so Johnny signed and inscribed each of these unique pieces. I haven't talked much yet this year about the Yankees/Steiner relationship and all the incredible items we have and will continue to have from the final season at Yankee Stadium. Over the next few weeks I am going to get much more into depth on the exciting things we have going on to commemorate this historic season.
In a few hours I will be doing a small private signing with Yankees ace Andy Pettitte. Check back later for a recap.