2009 Florida Spring Training Tour, Day 3 (Pittsburgh Pirates)

BY: T.C.

Today was a helluva day for ‘graphing in Bradenton.  I arrived at the Pirates camp at about 8:30 am, which was just in time to catch the guys heading out to the field.  Before practice, a photographer from Topps was shooting a bunch of the players.  The guys were getting some good-natured heckling from the fans because the photographer was making them do some really cheezy poses.  A bunch of the guys stopped to sign on their way in or out from getting their photos taken.  Once practice started, the ‘graphing was still good, as the group of 10-15 graphers was able to get some of the guys to come over in between stations.  During practice, one of the stations was the sliding drill (see pictures below).  It was amusing watching the players slide on the mats and act like they were little leaguers.  It also amazed me that some of the players in the big league camp still don’t know how to slide correctly!

  

After practice, several guys stopped again to sign up some more stuff.  Pictures of the items I got signed are below (click on the image to enlarge).  Altogether, I got 91 items signed by Pirates today, including their big prospect, Pedro Alvarez.