I used to go cycling a lifetime ago and one of my routes was a loop around the old Arlington Stadium where the Texas Rangers played baseball before they built the new brick orgasmatron. We would park right next to the entrance and unload the bikes and then race each other in the loop that was about 1 mile around the stadium.
The Oakland A's were in town and Nolan pitched a no-hitter (his 6th I think) the night before. We went for an early morning ride the next day and we had the whole park to ourselves. The parking lot was littered with trash from the big game the night before.
After our ride, as I was loading up my bike, something caught my eye on the ground in a pile of debris up against the curb. I thought it was some wadded up money... cha-chiiing!....
But nope, it was a $3 green parking pass... the kind they give you after you pay your money to park. It caught my eye because it had some dark scribbling on it.
I stuck it in my car and forgot about it... kinda dissapointed it was just a piece of trash and not $20 like I was hoping! A few weeks later I was cleaning up the car and found it again and gave it a closer look.
That dark scribbling looked alot like it said "Nolan Ryan"! Did I find some kid's lost autograph?! It kinda made me sad that there was some kid out there that hugged the fence waiting for Nolan to walk by and finally got the autograph fo his dreams and then lost it in the parking lot.
I happened to work at the TGI Fridays just up the street from the ballpark and had served Mr. Ryan a few times since he joined the Rangers. (he always ordered a club sandwich on wheat bread... no mayo). I carried that ticket in my apron for a few months before I saw him again intending to ask him if it was really his autograph.
So, I handed him the ticket and he started to get stand-offish until I told him that I didn't want an autograph... I just wanted him to look at one and tell me if it was real.
He took the ticket and glanced at it and said
"Nope... that's not MY autograph"... My heart sunk. Oh well.
he continued... "It looks like Reggie Jackson's autograph to me"
Huh!? <---- say it like Scooby Doo
Then he says...
"Mine is on the back... hey, can you get me some more iced tea?"
He hands it back to me and I look at it again... Sure enough... Reggie Jackson on one side, and Nolan Ryan on the other. All this time I thought the Reggie autograph was just Nolan's that had bled through (sharpie ink). I never really looked at it that close.
So, that kid has to be REALLY crushed now!
