For years I've wondered what benefit there is to attending the Friday game of Alumni Weekend. Well, after going to last night's game, I now know... In general, there were fewer Alumni than you see later in the weekend - counting Charlie Manuel and Roy Halladay, there were probably 10-12 that I saw in the stadium.

With no public signings scheduled for Friday, I was relegated to trying my luck in the Hall of Fame club. It was surprising to see that the crowd was about as large as those I usually find on Saturday (was expecting it to be a little thinner). I think the prospect of landing a Halladay autograph lured other autograph hunters, too. But unfortunately, except for a pre-game, private signing in the Press Room, Roy did not sign for any fans - which was a little disappointing.

In general, the Alumni seemed overwhelmed by the crowd and were hesitant to stop. There were a few exceptions - Bob Boone and Mike Lieberthal signed for anyone and everyone. Even Jim Thome eventually stopped for a minute or two and pumped out a few autographs.
Unless it happened out of my sight (which is entirely possible), Charlie Manuel only signed for a few minutes after getting trapped between the dining room and the suite. The mob crushed him - probably the biggest fear for any of these guys.
The best Alumni interaction came early in the night as John Kruk made his way into the Alumni Suite. Krukker had his head down the entire length of the walk, muttering "Sorry", "No" - until a fan reached out with a gift for him. He stopped (though, still never lifting his head to make eye-contact), thanked the guy and signed a print for him. Then (still not lifting his head) asked, "How many people are here?" At that point there were only five or six of us which must have been the magic number - he satisfied all of our signature requests. (Note: I had him sign my 1993 team photo project)

Overall, it was a little disappointing: few alumni on hand, even fewer signing autographs. But, I guess now I can say I know what happens on Friday night during Alumni Weekend...