MINNEAPOLIS _ After the New York Yankees' final team bus departed for Target Field on Monday, a disappointed middle-aged man holding a folded Aaron Judge jersey left his spot outside the Grand Hotel.
He was too embarrassed to provide his name. He had waited for about 14 hours, since approximately 1:30 a.m., and left without a single Yankees player's autograph.
Approximately 20 people had clamored for Judge outside the downtown hotel as he boarded the bus. Speaking later that afternoon from the Target Field visitors' clubhouse, he said he appreciates the support, but neither he nor his teammates signed a single autograph.
"I don't think anybody else would like somebody else to come up to your front door at one o'clock in the morning or something and say, 'Sign this,' " said Judge, the Yankees' rookie right fielder and a leading contender to be the American League MVP.
Yet the practice persists. For serious autograph collectors and sellers, this is the step beyond showing up at the players' parking lot or batting practice.
Is it obsessive? Or is it ...
"The same thing as fishing," said 15-year-old Cayden Hatano from Cottage Grove.
He and his friend, Noah Acree, spend summer days pursuing signatures.
They get rides into downtown in the morning. They wait outside the visiting team's hotel until two buses depart for the game. They eat at Cowboy Jack's. They go to Target Field to watch baseball. Then they come back to the hotel after the game for another chance at autographs.
There's lots of waiting. There's an occasional payoff.
Just like fishing.
Acree's mother would prefer he get a summer job.
"I tell her I have Twins games to go to," he said.
