Mint Musings: A Most Unusual Autograph Request – Over the course of Mint Condition’s run, we’ve been fortunate to have a number of professional athletes on the show. Whether it’s been Ken Griffey Jr. or Elena Delle Donne, we’ve always asked them what their strangest autograph request has been.
The answer typically revolves around signing a body part, but we’ve gotten some pretty interesting responses over the years. San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith told a tale of how a fan rolled up a full toilet for him to sign while he was in college. Rickey Henderson discussed how he had been asked to sign bullet casings. Delle Donne told us a few weeks ago how a fan asked to have her arm signed, only to have it turned into a tattoo. However, the strangest autograph request of all was told to us by Basketball Hall of Famer Wes Unseld at the National Sports Collectors Convention back in 2012.
We had Unseld for an interview behind the autograph pavilion at the National. When asked the question, he spoke of appearing at an autograph show. At the show, a fan came up to him and asked him to sign a license plate. He grabbed a marker and prepared to sign the back of the plate. Before handing it back, he just happened to flip it over to the other side. It turns out that it was the license plate off of his own car that the fan had stolen.
I’ve heard some good responses to the strangest autograph question over the last few years, but Wes Unseld’s story tops the rest by a good stretch. It never fails to get a laugh or smile from anyone, athletes included, when I tell it. I’ve been collecting autographs in person for roughly half of my life, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone present anything like that to be signed. I’ve seen and heard everything from oversized bats to pizza boxes, but never another license plate stolen from an athlete’s vehicle.
On reflection, I wish I would have asked Mr. Unseld if he contacted the authorities over the matter. Quite frankly, I think I would have been pretty stunned, if not a little freaked out, in that situation. I have to give the fan points for being creative to get what is undoubtedly a unique collectible. I do concede that I would have liked to have known their mindset while taking the license plate. Was it on a dare or was that fan really just that much of an admirer of Wes Unseld?
With the National coming up next week, I’ll continue my search for more unique answers to what has turned out to be my favorite question to ask athletes for the show. No matter what though, I doubt that any of them will top Wes Unseld, our strangest autograph champ three years and running.
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan as the producer of ESPN’s Mint Condition has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on the hobby in Mint Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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