Today was the Clayton Kershaw autograph signing at Living Spaces in La Mirada. Kershaw was scheduled to sign from 10am-12pm. Kershaw is having an amazing season and add to that the fact he doesn't make a lot of public appearances away from Dodger Stadium, I knew this signing was going to be packed.
I arrived at 6:00am and by my estimation there were maybe 200 people in line already. I chatted with some folks in line and listened to my iPod for a bit because I had a long Friday. Later in the morning Living Spaces was nice enough to provide coffee to those in line. As time went by the line continued to grow and grow. As the norm at most Living Spaces signings at around 8am, they began to pass out wristbands. This cuts down on people cutting line with family & friends after 8am out of respect for those who arrive early.
Unfortunately, instead of allowing the Living Spaces staff to place the wristband on their wrist, some people began to snatch wristbands, which in turn cause alot of people to get out of line and rush toward where they were giving out wristbands. After the commotion stopped I noticed people that were only 5 to 10 spots in front of me were now toward the front of the line with a wristband. Also partly to blame were the Living Spaces staff who started giving out wristbands at two different spots in line. I didn't even get a wristband. I won't go on too long about this incident but if everyone just waits in line these things go alot smoother. I've never seen people rush the wristbands before. Crazy.
On to the signing. They moved the line inside the store which left me just outside the main entrance. After about 15 minutes my portion of the line moved just inside the courtyard just outside the front doors. At about 10 minutes after 10:00 am I see a black car roll through the parking lot. I couldn't tell if it was a limo or just a town car. Anyhow, within a minute Clayton Kershaw emerges and makes his way into the store. For the next 45 minutes my portion of the line doesn't move and I begin to worry. Was 6:00 am not early enough?
At about 11:00am, I move inside the store and notice Kershaw is signing autographs at the complete other end of the store. I could be cutting it close. The clock is ticking and the line is slowly moving. At about 15 minutes before noon i'm about 15 people away from being let into the final line. About 10 minutes go by and they let 10 more people in. I don't think i'm gonna make it. Then one of the staff say 10 more people and i'm coming down the homestretch. I get my bobblehead out of my back pack and get ready. As i'm getting closer I hear they let 5 more people in and are probably gonna stop the signing at that point.
I got my bobblehead signed, thanked Clayton and roll out. I didn't stick around to see how much longer the signing went but i'm pretty sure it was about done. My guess would be there were at least 100 people still in line inside the store and another 50 or so outside the store.
Shout out to David P. who once again was at a signing and got a nice sweet spot signature on his baseball with the 2011 All Star inscription. Another shout out to Gabriel Y. who I exchanged texts with but because of all the chaos, we didn't have a chance to meet and again had to put off a trade we are working on. Last shout out to Josh from Dodgerbobble blog who I finally see at a signing but was too far away for me to meet him. Dude, our paths will cross one of these signings!
Despite the craziness I left happy because I got my bobblehead signed. This was my first Kershaw autograph. Take a look at the pics below
Kershaw arriving
Just before signing my bobblehead
Just after signing my bobblehead
My signed Clayton Kershaw bobblehead
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True to the Blue!
