On Saturday February 9, 2013, Lakers legend Jerry West was scheduled to make an appearance at the Long Beach Expo Coin, Stamp & Sports Collectible Show. West was scheduled to sign from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Magic Johnson was scheduled to sign from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. I arrived at the Expo around 11:45 a.m. and by the time I made it inside and picked up my tickets from will call it was about 12:15 p.m. Luckily I had purchased my autograph ticket in advance and they were lining up according to numbers. The first group called was 1 through 25 and I had #24!
Jerry West was dressed in a suit and tie and was somewhat engaging to fans who spoke to him. I greeted him with a "hello" and he said "hi" back. I asked for a Mr. Clutch inscription, he smiled, signed my ball and handed it back to me. I just thanked him and walked away. The autograph area was a bit of a madhouse so I was looking forward to getting out of there.
Take a look at some of my pics below.
Jerry West checking out a ball
Jerry West signing my official Spalding NBA game ball
Jerry West autograph with "Mr. Clutch" inscription
As I was getting my ball authenticated by PSA, Magic arrived about a half hour early and started signing for fans. An interesting moment took place as I walked out of the expo. Darryl Strawberry walked right passed me with a box of ROMLB balls in his hand. I followed him back into the expo just in case he was going to set up somewhere and sign. I was upset with myself that I didn't have any extra baseballs with me like I usually do. Strawberry walked over to the autograph area and my guess was he was going to have Magic sign a bunch of baseballs for him. I had to get to another signing, so I didn't stick around and left.
I was very happy to finally get a Jerry West autograph. I kept debating whether I wanted a HOF inscription or Mr. Clutch. I even considered a "The Logo" inscription. I obviously decided on "Mr. Clutch" and I'm happy with the results.
True to the Blue!
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