⏩ ‘I was that kid’: Why Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford misses signing autographs.
As much as any other bigleaguer, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford enjoys signing autographs, especially for kids.
“I do because I was that kid,” said Crawford, who grew up in the East Bay a huge Giants fan. “Going to spring training and wanting autographs and trying to get as many I can, I remember how excited I was when I was able to get one. That’s why I try to do it as much as I can.”
One of many missing baseball traditions during the pandemic is the art of the autograph — fans seeking them, players providing them — including during the relaxed environment of spring training when players are at ease and fans are up close and personal. That’s all on hold.
The Giants open their Cactus League season Sunday at
Scottsdale Stadium, facing the Angels. Usually, that would mean a packed house and fans scurrying to get a player to sign a card, glove, cap, program or even body part.
Instead, with the Scottsdale crowds limited to between 750 and 1,000, the plan will be similar to the end of spring training in 2020 when, because of social-distancing requirements, players were instructed not to sign autographs for fans in the stands.
“Unfortunately,” said Crawford, who regularly had been seen signing before games.
As an alternative, the Giants gave players stacks of cards to sign and handed them out to fans. Crawford recalls signing the entire stack at his locker.
“Obviously, with the league’s restrictions in place with player proximity, we are unable to facilitate inperson autographs,” said Sara Grauf, the Giants’ executive vice president of event strategy and services. “But with the importance of the intimate, upclose spring experience, we want to try to replicate that the best we can.”
The Giants plan to integrate what Grauf calls “surprise and delight fan perks,” which could include occasional concession discounts, pins and autographed items.
Traditionally, members of the community relations department spend the first portion of spring training collecting bundles of autographed memorabilia for community fundraisers and other purposes.
This year, that didn’t happen. Through it all, the challenge is to maintain fan engagement during the pandemic, and the process remains fluid.
“We’re figuring out what we’ll be doing as things continue to evolve,” Grauf said.
No fans were allowed into Oracle Park during the 2020 regular season, so players’ signatures might be a little rusty.
Over the past few months, Crawford has signed some things for charity and other special cases but nothing in person. Like everyone else, he’s hoping normalcy can return so that something as basic as signing an autograph for a kid would be part of his daily life again.
After all, he knows what it’s like on the other end. Crawford, who was born in Mountain View and lived in Menlo Park before moving to Pleasanton at an early age and attending Foothill High School, smiled when referencing a couple of the most memorable autographs he received.
“As a kid, I got Willie Mays,” Crawford said. “He was out here in spring training. That was obviously one of my best. My dad told me to run over and get his autograph.
“I got Ken Griffey Jr. one spring. And a bunch of the Giants. Only a few I remember not getting.”