10/3/09 Mets vs. Astros

It's been a long time, I know.

I arrived at the second to final game of the regular season and had time to waste before I would meet my friend Joe ( http://baseballexperiences.mlblogs.com ), so I decided to head to the player's entrance. Before I could get there I saw that the people were crowded near the fence, so that meant somebody was signing.

I ran over there and saw that it was Anderson Hernandez, and he signed my 1^st autograph.

Soon after I met up with Joe. We decided to wait for one more player and then we'd go to the Rotunda. That player was Sean Green, and he signed my 2^nd autograph.

Apparently the Astros had a different entrance because as we were walking to the Rotunda we noticed a player who looked oddly familiar and he was heading to the first base VIP gate, it was Hunter Pence! He signed my 3^rd autograph.

After playing catch for a bit we got on line and went inside.

The cages were up, but nobody was on the field.

So Joe and I passed the time in the Sterling Club. A little bit later the Astros came out and started throwing. I got a spot on the railing next to the foul line and got Brad Moehler to throw me a random baseball lying on the field, my 1^st ball.

Only one pair was left throwing, well trio. They were Samuel Gervacio, Jose Valverde, and Wilton Lopez. I was in the empty Left Field Bleachers, so it was easy to get Samuel Gervacio to throw me my 2^nd ball when they were done.

I started playing for home runs after that, so I noticed that a ball landed on the batters' eye in Center Field. I ran over considering to use the glove trick, but I choose not to when I saw that an usher was coming to get it.

I asked for the ball, and being that there were no other fans asking for it I got my 3^rd ball tossed to me easily.

I moved to the seats in Right-Center field because Left Field was getting slightly crowded. It turned out to be a mistake. There were a couple home runs hit in Left Field, while where I was there were none. I *did* get Edwin Maysonet to throw me a ball he picked up in shallow Center Field (100ft away or so), my 4^th ball. Here is the distance (he is pointed to using the black arrow):

And here is the ball:

That was the last of baseballs for me during BP. I met Todd and Tim ( http://cookandsonbats.mlblogs.com ), who I had met in Chicago on August 17^th. I spent the remaining time with them and Joe before the game started. We started off by the foul pole (where in the photo below Tim is showing off his new baseball):

And then we worked our way to the Astros' dugout. We stood there for the end of BP, and while Joe and Todd got baseballs thrown to them, I got none. We decided to head over to the play area for Tim, and after he took some cuts I said goodbye to them for the time being and headed to the dugout because pre-game throwing was about to start.

But I got no baseballs at the pre-game throwing, Joe did though. He went into the Sterling club as I recall and I waited for the first inning to try for a third out ball behind the Astros dugout. To pass the time I was sitting next to Todd and Tim, who were sitting in a section directly behind the dugout. I sat to their left because most third out balls end up being tossed to the outfield side. But Lance Berkman is un-predictable. When the third out was recorded, I realized that Lance was going in the home plate end of the dugout. I had to cut across Todd and Tim and run down. The problem was that they were in the 20^th or so row, so I could only run down to around the 8^th row, but Lance is un-predictable. He ended up tossing the ball right to me, right as I got there. Since it was the first inning, I was able to catch my 5^th ball before the other people realized that baseballs do get given away.

While walking back up to Tim and Todd, Todd took a photo of me:

And then I examined the spekled dirt pattern on the baseball:

I spent the next while standing behind the plate going for foul balls with Joe, but it was empty. It was raining, and for some reason that I now forget, I went over to the Astros dugout before the rain delay. When the rain delay came, it was POURING. But then I remembered and got an idea.

I bolted to the umpire tunnel, dodging people to get their in time. This pouring rain would make the baseballs the home plate umpire had be waterlogged. When I got there, Joe followed behind me and we both got baseballs from Damien Beal, my 6^th ball.

Being soaking wet we ran into the Sterling Club to dry off. Everything was fine, except for being wet. After drying off we headed in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda and saw Todd holding a crying Tim. We tried cheering him up, but then found out that he was faking it. After Tim was done fake crying, we were able to sneak them into the Sterling club, which is where we spent the next while, drinking free milkshakes and playing catch in the fancy seats, which we were able to do for a couple minutes. We then wandered around, waiting for the game to start. When they finally started taking the tarp off, we went back behind the dugout to look at the middle-game throwing, during which I got nothing:

Joe and I went back behind home plate to try for foul balls, and it was empty. There couldn't have been more than 20 people behind home plate, but not a single foul ball was hit into the Sterling Club. There was one foul ball that sailed directly over my head into the next tier, and that was all the action I got (Joe was luckier). Eventually I went over to the umpire's tunnel to try for one more Citi Field baseball. What happened next was odd.

Damien Beal came in and took the baseballs out of his pouch. He handed one to Todd and Tim (also there), a couple other kids, Joe (also there), but not me. Apparently he had one last baseball in his pouch because he stopped, turned around, and tossed the ball in my direction. The ball fell into the tunnel, just beyond my glove. But then a second or two later my glove wasn't on my hand. One of the other umpires, Adrian Johnson, took my glove off of my hand when I wasn't looking. He took a couple steps in, and then turned around and grinned. This was the chance to get the ball! I pointed to the ball lying in the tunnel, and he turned around, placed the ball in my glove, and handed it back to me. And I had my 7^th ball.

Stats:

7 MLB Balls Today
3 MLB Autographs Today
205 MLB Autographs in this Season
244 Total Autographs in this Season
314 MLB Balls in this Season
335 Total Balls in this Season
5 Thrown, 2 Hand-To-Hand
4 BP, 2 During, 1 After
Attendance: 37,578 People
Competition Factor: 263,046
6.54 Balls / 1 Game
48 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
38 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on October 21, 2009 at 3:59 PM
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Tags: Astros, Batter's Eye, Brad Moehler, Damien Beal, Edwin Maysonet, Lance Berkman, Late, Mets, Rain Delay, Rainy Day, Samuel Gervacio, Sterling Club
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9/30/09 Yankees vs. Royals

There was some blue peeking through the clouds above both Yankee Stadiums.

This was the final regular season home game at NYS, and I had a $0 ticket in the Legends, so I knew it was going to be a good day. That day was helped out when BP started a couple minutes after the gates opened.

There was going to be a lot of BP; I knew I would get at least 3 balls during the day, so when a ball was hit to the wall and I noticed a kid was asking for it a bit to softly, I spoke up and asked the coach to give the ball to that kid instead of me. It worked out because soon after another ball was hit to the wall and the same guy retrieved it. I asked for the ball, and he gave it to me because I "gave the last one away". It was my 1^st ball.

I guess it was a good thing that I let the kid have that first baseball because during the early part of batting practice the batter, Shelly Duncan, hit a home run that was going to land in the 4^th row or so. I got in line with the ball and the home run ended up tipping off the kid's glove and landing in my row. I simply bent down and picked up my 2^nd ball.

The early BP, which consisted of Shelly Duncan, Francisco Cervelli, Freddie Guzman, and a couple other people ended and the Yankees came out to throw, so I went over to there.

I stood in the Legends seats, which had about 3 other people in them, and stood right behind Alex Rodriguez. He was long tossing with someone and there was an extra ball lying on the ground.

At one point he took the extra ball and looked at me like he wanted to give it to me. I took a step back and he tossed it over the large net, so I reached up and it sailed straight to my glove, my 3^rd ball.

Thinking that all the other players had seen me I headed back into the outfield to try for balls during BP. It was tough in Right Field, mainly because I and two other ballhawks (Rich and Tony) were standing on the same aisle, in about a total of 4 rows. So I had to think differently. Like while standing in the outfield I noticed that a ball was hit down the line. They now have nets there, so the ball bounced off the net and settled near the wall. I grabbed my sweatshirt and headed over there. When I was heading over there, another ball hit off the net and settled closer to the wall, and when it turned out I could only get the latest hit ball. I looped my sweatshirt through my glove and threw it out, knocking the ball closer. When it got close, I leaned over the wall, but my fingertips just touched the ball, so a person put me over a bit more and I picked up the ball, my 4^th ball, which will count as a device ball because I couldn't have gotten it without the device (glove on sweatshirt). It was a very beaten up commemorative baseball.

And that was my 299^th ball. My next ball would be number 300, so I paid close attention to who would be the source of that ball. I didn't know the source.

I hadn't gotten my 300^th ball and the Yankees were coming off the field to let the Royals take BP. I raced over to the dugout and got their in time to see that there was one person who had a ball, but I didn't know him. I just asked him for the ball and he rolled it to me across the dugout roof, not the way that I wanted to get it, but a ball is a ball, well that one was my 5^th ball and No. 300. And there it was.

The Royals were now taking their cuts, so I started heading back to the outfield, but I saw a person signing in the Legends. He looked oddly familiar, like he looked like Jim Leritz, but shouldn't he be in jail? Apparently not, as it was Jim Leritz. I don't know what he was doing there, but I got his autograph for my 1^st autograph and continued heading to the outfield.

But nothing came out of it. I got shut out (mainly because I brought my LA Dodgers clothing, not Royals), and had to wait for the Royals to wrap up on BP and then I started heading to the dugout. I noticed that John Bale was walking to two baseballs lying on the foul line, so I turned my cap around and ran over. I got there in time and asked John Bale to toss me a ball. He picked up one of the baseballs and tossed it to me over the netting, my 6^th ball, which I later gave away.

Then I made my way over to the dugout, but before I could get there they started heading off the field, so I started running there (not a good idea with my stitches). I ran and got there in time, but I didn't get any baseballs from the players coming off the field. I saw that the manager Trey Hillman had 3 baseballs in his hand, so I asked him for one, and he tossed me my 7^th ball, and then walked off.

Here is the baseball:

I don't know why but as they were coming off the field some baseballs fell down and were lying against the dugout fence, and none of the Royals players bothered to pick them up.

It happened to be that one of the people I know in the Yankees, Tony, picked them up, so I got him to toss one of the baseballs to me, my 8^th ball.

There was nothing to do before the game started. I didn't bother going to try for the Royals' Pre-Game throwing baseballs because I was going to try and get Derek Jeter's, and I had a pretty good chance. I knew that before I even got it. Why?

I have noticed that some Yankees always throw their baseballs to certain spots. Alex Rodriguez throws it to a spot behind the inner corner of the dugout, and Derek Jeter always throws it beyond the Legends, to the seats above the partition, a corner spot right next to the staircase that leads into the Legends. When Derek Jeter came out to throw, I went to the spot and observed the competition. One big guy on the steps behind me, not paying attention. That was it. I stood down and watched Jeter slowly. He was throwing the ball, too long it seemed. I was getting impatient. But then all of a sudden he finished. He started coming in. And looked into the crowd, right at me. He threw the ball to me. In this (extremely) blurry photo you can see the ball in mid-air, pointed to by the red arrow. My glove is pointed to by the yellow arrow:

It started sailing to me, but my only competition suddenly saw the people. He reached down for the ball, elbowing me in the face. But I reached out, and kept the ball in my mitt, my 9^th ball. It's great when you try for something, and you get it.

I knew that I would make double digits, trying for a third out ball, pre-inning warm-up ball, or umpire ball. But it took me a while, around the 7^th inning to be exact. I noticed earlier that Francisco Cervelli caught a ball that was no longer to be used in the game, and kept it. I didn't think any of it until I went down for the pre-inning warm-up ball that inning and he looked at me. I waved at him, and he tossed me the commemorative baseball that I assume he got earlier, my 10^th ball.

Then my Yankee Stadium record of 11 came into the photo, gotten on 9/8/09. That was the NYS record, I heard of another kid who got 12 on the same day. So maybe I could tie or break that. I would have to try, but when I got to the 9^th inning and I still had 10 balls, I wasn't sure if I could get it. But I got lucky when Rusty Kuntz let the ball sail into the dugout. There were 3 kids trying for the ball, including me. But I was the only one who could see into the dugout, so I was able to get Rusty to toss me the ball, my 11^th ball.

I tried for a ball from the people coming off the field, but I came up empty. I thought all hope was lost for a ball, when I forgot, the bullpen! I saw the players coming in from the bullpen, so I looked carefully to see if any of them had any baseballs. I looked and saw that a Hispanic player, with his first number being 5, was pulling a baseball out of his jacket. I saw and started calling out to him, and when he came in, he tossed me my 12^th ball, tying the record.

Stats:

12 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
202 MLB Autographs in this Season
241 Total Autographs in this Season
307 MLB Balls in this Season
328 Total Balls in this Season
10 Thrown, 1 Hit, 1 Glove Trick
6 BP, 3 Pre-Game, 2 During, 1 After
Attendance: 46,956
Competition Factor: 563,472
6.53 Balls / 1 Game
47 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
37 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on October 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM
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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Rosa, Commemorative Baseballs, Derek Jeter, Device, Double Digits, Final Home Game, Francisco Cervelli, Jim Leritz, John Bale, NYS Record, Random Coach, Royals, Rusty Kuntz, Shelly Duncan, Tony Amelio, Trey Hillman
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9/25/09 Yankees vs. Red Sox

I arrived a couple minutes late to this game. I don't think I should've arrived late because when I entered the stadium there was early batting practice going on.

This was a good thing because I didn't want to get shut out this day. Not only were the Red Sox in town, but I injured my leg and it required stitches, I'll spare you the details, so I wasn't going to be able to move that well.

But I moved a lot. I started out on the Right Field side because that is usually the place to be, but it turned out that Left Field was the place to be, so I hobbled over there.

I noticed that Mick Kelleher had a ball in his hand and a bat in the other, so I called out and asked for a fungo. He wouldn't give me one, I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was something along the lines of:

"I don't need to hit you one, they will." Pointing to the batters in the cage. But I didn't get them to hit me one; I got a translator who had tossed me a ball earlier in the season to toss me another ball, my 1^st ball, who is to the left of the ball in the photo below.

The Yankees pitchers started throwing, so I considered that that was my way to get another baseball. I went back over to the outfield and made my way along the seats in case a ball was hit. I stood above the Legends seats and positioned myself in line with Josh Towers and Mark Melancon, hoping that nobody else would know who they were (the pair on the right).

Nobody else knew who they were, but it would be a difficult challenge to get a ball. I was hoping that the closer person, Josh, would end up with the ball, but Mark ended up with it. He was more than 100ft from me, but I still called out. Mark tossed the ball and gave me a shot, and he threw a perfect throw which I caught for my 2^nd ball.

Normal BP was underway by that point so I moved back out to Right Field. There was only one lefty hitter, Hideki Matsui, so there was no real point to focus except when he was up. He seemed to hit a home run in my direction each time he was up, and one time it deflected off of my wrist. The other time he hit it a little bit to my right. I drifted with it and got in line with it, and a 'hefty' man in front of me reached out to grab it, you can see in this photo from afar the I am the yellow arrow and he is the red arrow, the ball is in his hand.

He deflected it, causing it to land in his row. I tried reaching for it, but it was just out of my reach. He was going to get it so I did the only thing I could've, I just climbed onto the seats and almost fell into the row. I reached down and barely got it, my 3^rd ball.

I got the ball, and only my chest got scrapped up, my leg was fine (well, as fine as it already was). A-Rod and some more righties were in the same round, so I decided to head over to Left Field for him. After taking a minute or two to get there I walked through the tunnel that lead to the aisle in between the bullpen and the seats. And I am telling you; as SOON as I got there a ball was hit that was coming directly to the seats near me. The ball was coming, and this section was fairly empty, and it hit a seat on the end of the 3^rd row. I was thinking, how cool would it be if the ball went directly to me? Well that is exactly what happened, it bounced off the seat and went right to me. I just reached out and grabbed the ball, my 4^th ball.

It was perfect timing. Had I not had my injured leg I may have not gotten that ball. It was weird thinking that an injury got me a ball, only happened once before. And while I was thinking about my luck, I heard a thud behind me, so I turned around. What I saw behind me was another baseball.

The batter (Nick Swisher) hit home runs to the same aisle on back-to-back pitches. There was nobody around so I walked up the steps and grabbed the ball, my 5^th ball.

That was my last ball for Yankees BP, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira failed to hit home runs. I had to wait for the Red Sox to come out. I got an autograph from a Red Sox...I don't have any clue who he is. Here is the body:

And here is the autograph:

Who could he be? He didn't say he was employee or something, so he was a coach? I don't know who he was, but he was my 1^st autograph.

The Red Sox didn't have much going in their batting practice. There were a few home runs hit on the Right Field side, but they were near the foul pole. There was one home run hit into the bullpen,

So I stood by the bullpen waiting for someone to get it. I noticed that bullpen coach Gary Tuck was walking towards the bullpen so I waited until he got in. When he went inside I asked him for the baseball. He held up his finger to indicate "one second" and then he went over to put some stuff down. He went back, picked up the ball, and gave me a toss, which fell short and hit the netting. He then just handed the ball to me through a small opening, my 6^th ball, but since the ball was just a bit too small to go through a police officer tossed it over to me.

Remember how I said the Red Sox were dead during BP? The hit a few balls to the wall, none really out. But some of those balls stayed at the wall when BP ended. I positioned myself about the one that was closest to the wall. I noticed that a groundscrew member was walking right towards the ball, and when he got there he reached down and picked it up. He looked right up, and my glove helped me be the longest one to reach down, so he put the ball right in my glove, my 7^th ball, and last one, of the day.

Stats:

7 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
201 MLB Autographs in this Season
240 Total Autographs in this Season
295 MLB Balls in this Season
316 Total Balls in this Season
2 Thrown, 3 Hit, 2 Hand-To-Hand
7 BP
Attendance: 48,449
Competition Factor: 339,143
6.41 Balls / 1 Game
46 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
36 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on October 1, 2009 at 3:52 PM
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Tags: Bullpen, Early BP, Gary Tuck, Groundscrew, Hand-To-Hand, Lucky Bounce, Mark Melancon, Nick Swisher, Red Sox, Translator, Yankees
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9/14/09 Yankees vs. Angels

It's been about two weeks since the game happened, so I am sorry for the delay. A lot of stuff has been making me busy, so I'll try to get the next game I went to (9/25) up soon also.

This was one day where I knew that I may not be getting a baseball. But I wasn't worried. I was excited for this day. Because I would be going on the field for Yankees BP.

It's a long story, but I'll shorten it. Since I know some people in the Yankees organization we were able to participate in a "feedback" session where ticket holders would go to give feedback on the New Yankee Stadium. Then for giving feedback, you'd get a prize. The prizes were like: $200 gift card to team store, $200 gift card to Hard Rock Café, watch Batting Practice from the field, and etc. Of course we choose watching BP from the field, and this was date.

But I was going to try for a baseball, and autographs. I had to go to a place at 4:30 to be allowed on the field, so I had 30 minutes to snag. I thought that I wouldn't get anything, but I was excited and a bit annoyed when I saw the Yankees only stretching at the foul line.

Why, of all days, did they have to stretch when the gates opened? Couldn't one or two people be hitting? Couldn't one person be throwing? So anyway right at the time they started throwing I had to report to the entrance. They gave me a field pass, and then they led me down an elevator to underneath the stadium. The only other times I was down hear was when I was in the Legends and on the field for the clinic, but I only saw a fraction of it. So now I saw a bunch more things while we were led to the field. This is a blurry photo of the concourse:

A sign to help out the visiting team:

A sign to help the umpires, photographers, and us:

We walked down the hall which had the umpires room, took a right, and then a left, and I could see light. Pretty soon I saw light, dirt, grass, and baseballs, I was on the field.

I took a look to my left:

Then to my right:

And then walked over to the designated standing area.

I was amazed to be standing on the field, incredibly happy. I was there mainly to get autographs and to finally stand on the field when BP was going on, and not get in trouble (when I was younger I fell on the field at Wrigley, they just made me get back into the seats). But I was nervous about asking players for autographs. They told us that we couldn't call out to players, but then, how would they know that we were there for autographs? So after calling out quietly for a couple players I finally got Eric Hinske's attention. He came over to sign for me, because nobody else really knew he was signing (my 1^st autograph).

By then it was about the 2^nd round of batting practice, so Derek, Johnny, Brett, Melky, etc. were gone. But A-Rod, Mark T, and Matsui were out now. But I saw Jose Molina was done with batting, so I called out to him as he was heading back to the dugout. He came over to the area, stopped, and signed my 2^nd autograph.

Remember how I said that A-Rod was out batting? I have had (heard also) of bad experiences with Alex, but this time he went right over to a person on my left and started signing.

So when I saw that it was A-Rod I went over there and tried to get him. It may look like in the photo above that the crowd was intense to get him, but it wasn't. So I was able to get Alex Rodriguez to sign my 3^rd autograph, right under the commemorative logo.

After getting A-Rod, I moved back over to the right edge of the area and waited for other people. But I guess I should've stayed over there because Jerry Hairston Jr. started signing. But again, it was easy to go over there and get him for my 4^th autograph, and then my brother and I got a photo with him:

I saw a player in the Yankees dugout, Number 47. I looked at a list of numbers of the players that I don't know. There was no 47.

"It's Freddie Guzman." My brother said. Apparently he was just called up, and nobody knew him, so when he heard somebody calling his name, he was more than glad to sign my 5^th autograph.

In the photo below you can see two people standing near the designated area, the far one is Francisco Cervelli, and the closer one is Mick Kelleher. I went over to Francisco first and got him to sign my 6^th autograph.

Then I went over to Mick. Not wanting to get shut out I was going to ask him for a baseball when batting practice was winding down. He was talking to people, and when I asked him he said:

"I'll see what I can do."

But before I could see what he was going to do, Rob Thompson started signing right where Francisco Cervelli was, so I went over there. He was talking to some people (people who seemed to know each and every Yankee) so I had to wait until he was finished. And then when he was I got Rob to sign my 7^th autograph.

Then Mick Kelleher showed me what he could do. He came back over to my with a glove full of baseballs. He only handed me one (my 1^st baseball) and started walking away, but then he turned back and gave me two more, my 2^nd and 3^rd baseballs.

"Give some to your friends."

I was shocked I noticed that they were all Yankee Commemoratives, but I didn't care. I gave one of them (ball no. 2) to a little kid who was also on the field, and my dad captured me giving it to him.

He kept throwing the ball away, on the ground, so it got dirty, but it was his ball. At one point his dad told me to give him another baseball and watch what he would, so I did. Apparently he didn't do what his dad thought he was going to do because he kept both ball and refused to give them up. So his dad handed him a camera case and the kid dropped both balls. I gave the second baseball to his dad to hold onto.

I had three baseballs, so at least I knew that my streak of 3 baseballs a game would live to see game 45, so I felt the pressure was off.

The next autograph I got was John Flahrety, who was just wandering around the area behind home plate. I called him over, got his autograph for my 8^th autograph, and got an out of focus photo with him.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Batting Practice was close to wrapping up. Some of the batters were coming in, like Ramiro Pena. I got him for my 9th autograph.

By the time I got Ramiro Pena's autograph, we had been on the field for around 50 minutes, so there'd only be about another 10 minutes left before we had to go. Most of the good batters had done, a lot of the good pitchers were still in the outfield. So I waited for them. One of them was Jon Albaladejo. He came into the dugout and started heading for the clubhouse. I called his name and he looked up. I tossed him the baseballs and he signed them right there in the dugout, my 10^th autograph.

And that was my last autograph before BP wrapped up. They let us stand on the field for a couple of minutes of Angels BP, so I had a bit extra time. I noticed that about 4 Yankees were looking at a life-size photo of some sort down at the other side of the dugout. They were looking at it for a couple minutes. "They" were Alfredo Aceves, David Robertson, Phil Coke, and CC Sabathia. We had to start leaving, but I lingered while everyone else left before me. And it paid off. Right before I HAD to leave the pitchers started coming in, one at a time. The first one was Alfredo Aceves. When he got close enough I called out and he motioned for me to toss him the baseball. I tossed it to him and he signed my 11^th autograph. After that we had to go, so we left.

It was an once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I was incredibly happy afterwards. I didn't care that I got shutout for Angels BP or for the rest of the game. I was satisfied with the 3 balls, 11 autographs, and with standing on the field a few feet from some of the best players in the game.

Stats:

3 MLB Balls Today
11 MLB Autographs Today
200 MLB Autographs in this Season
239 Total Autographs in this Season
288 MLB Balls in this Season
309 Total Balls in this Season
3 Hand-To-Hand
3 BP
Attendance: 44,701 People
Competition Factor: 134,103
6.4 Balls / 1 Game
45 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
35 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on September 26, 2009 at 8:19 PM
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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Alfredo Aceves, Angels, BP, Eric Hinske, Experience, Freddie Guzman, Jerry Hairston Jr. Rob Thompson, John Flahrety, Jon Albaladejo, Jose Molina, Mick Kelleher, On the field, Photos, Ramiro Pena, Worker's Concourse, Yankees
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9/12/09 Yankees vs. Orioles

Would my luck from last game carry over to this game?

When I got my first glimpse of the field I saw that the field was tarp-less, the outfield tarp was lying on the outfield grass, and the grounds crew was working on the field. What was going to happen?

I just waited 1 hour for something to happen. It was a couple pairs of Yankees throwing at the bullpen.

I got nothing from there because of competition, but I saw that Sergio Mitre and an unknown player were throwing at the foul line. So I went over there, to where it was less-crowded.

But the competition made me worry a bit. Forget about the glove-less kid to my right screaming whenever a ball was lifted up, in the Legends was a fully decked out kids in Yankees gear, wearing a glove, and he was younger than me. In the photo below, I am indicated by the Red Arrow, the glove-less kid is the Green Arrow, and the little kid is the Black Arrow:

I was sure that the players would give the ball to the kid there, but then I saw that the kid wanted autographs, he had a baseball! Yes! They would see that he already had a baseball, look at me and toss it to me. And they did toss me the rubbed up commemorative baseball, my 1^st ball.

When they finished I went over to the Orioles bullpen to try for a ball after Jason Berken was done throwing. But then I saw that two Orioles were throwing at the barely crowded foul line.

When I got to the foul line I observed the scene: One ball in use, another ball on the ground, basically no competion.

I would not get the ball they (Dennis Sarfate and an unknown Oriole) were using. But I did get the unknown Oriole to toss me the ball lying on the ground, my 2^nd ball.

The only other Orioles action was in the bullpen, so I started making my way over there, but before I could get there they finished up. They came out of the bullpen door and started walking in my direction. I noticed that Dennis Sarfate was walking towards me with a baseball in his hands, so I held up my glove, but instead Jason Berken pulled a baseball out from his glove and flipped it to me, my 3^rd ball, one that I didn't notice he had.

The people from the bullpen moved over to the foul line, and more Orioles came out of the dugout and headed to the foul line.

Oh, and Dennis Sarfate started signing. I got him for my 1^st autograph.

There were a couple pairs of mainly pitchers throwing by the Legends Seats. I had been watching Chris Lambert and Chris Waters when they were throwing. I waited until they were done throwing, and when they were I held up my glove and shouted "Chris!"

But sort of like the Berken baseball, Jim Johnson turned towards me and threw me the ball, my 4^th ball. Another un-expected, easy baseball (pointed to by the red arrow). My next ball was just the latter.

Jeremy Guthrie finished throwing with a coach. The coach ended up with the ball, and he threw me my 5^th ball over the Legends. The ball, I can't find it. Can you?

It was just as simple in reality and is was in the description. That was lifetime baseball 284.

I am attending at least 4 more games this season, so it is likely that I'll get No. 300. My next baseball of the day would push me a bit closer, and it would also be a special ball. 442^nd double, 2515^th hit, 783^rd rbi, 1565 run.

I snuck over to the dugout to try for pre-game throwing. I got nada, but I rook a 1^st row (excluding the Legends) and tried for third out balls.

I was watching to see if the third out ball was a Hit, RBI, Run, Walk, Strikeout, etc, so when Mark Teixiera hit a sac fly that scored Derek Jeter I watched carefully to see if they would continue to use the ball. They would! But when Alex Rodriguez hit a double that went all over the place I got nervous. It hit the dirt and wall. The Third Base Ump inspected it, and left it in play! I was probably the most excited person when Nick Swisher flew out to Jeff Fiorentino to end the inning. That meant that the first baseman wouldn't switch baseballs. Nobody would understand that they'd have a chance for a ball, so it was too easy to be true. I stood up, had my Orioles cap on, and waved my glove. Jeff Fiorentino spotted me and threw me the ball on a line over everyone in the Legends. And I caught my 6^th ball, A-Rod's 2515^th Hit, 442^nd Double, Mark Teixeira's 783^rd RBI, and Derek Jeter's 1565^th Run. All in one baseball.

That baseball would be my last baseball because I left the area behind the dugout because people started grumbling and complaining, even though I was trying to help another kid get a baseball. I ended the day with 285 baseballs. One Angels game, one Red Sox game, one Kansas City game, and one Houston game? I think that I can get No. 300 in that time.

Stats:

6 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
189 MLB Autographs in this Season
228 Total Autographs in this Season
285 MLB Balls in this Season
306 Total Balls in this Season
6 Thrown
5 BP, 1 During
Attendance: 46,497 People
Competition Factor: 278,982
44 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
34 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on September 19, 2009 at 5:40 PM
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Tags: 6 Balls, Alex Rodgiguez, Bullpen, Dennis Sarfate, Derek Jeter, Double, Jason Berken, Jeff Fiorentino, Jeremy Guthrie, Mark Teixeira, No BP, Orioles, Sergio Mitre, Yankees
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9/8/09 Yankees vs. Rays

I haven't been caught up my blogging lately, I have been busy with school. But I have had some great days recently. And this was one of them.

You know how I got 10 baseballs at Citi Field on September 4? One of the things that makes Citi Field easier than Yankee stadium is that BP is usually started when you enter. This day Yankee Stadium was like Citi Field for a bit.

There was the crowd at the Great Hall:

There was early BP!

The first thing I did was look for easter eggs. I entered the furthest section in RF from home plate and then looked to my left. I saw a baseball lying in a row, just sitting. An usher was walking towards it so I just said:

"I got it." He stepped back and let me pick up my 1^st ball, and also my first easter egg at NYS.

And then I went on a snagging rampage.

I got 4 more batted balls in the span of 9 minutes. It was so quick that I forgot how I got each baseball. None of them were caught on the fly, but I do know that at least for 2 baseballs were ground-ruled doubles and the others were baseballs that landed in the seats and I got them. There were only 2 hitters in early BP; Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, but I don't know who hit each one. All I know is that my 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th balls were batted balls not caught on the fly. I would've had more had another ballhawk named Steve not been there, and he would have had more balls had I not been there. We each snagged around the same amount of baseballs. In the photo below he is the person standing to the left of me, talking on the phone:

And here are the baseballs, numbers 2-5 (Top Left: Ball #2, Top Right: Ball #3, Bottom Left: Ball #4, Bottom Right: Ball #5):

That was all I got in Right Field because after 10 minutes they switched to righty batters. So I moved over to LF.

And also I know the source of my next ball.

I was standing Left Field trying for home runs. One was hit to my right, un-getable, but I followed its path hoping for a lucky bounce. I didn't get the bounce, but on the pitch after that one, the batter, Melky Cabrera, lifted a high one that was going to land in the section I was in. But it was going a couple rows over my head. I ran up the steps, and it landed in a seat in the second to last row, a bomb, maybe 410 feet. I went over to the seat and looked in.

It landed in a seat and with its force it went out the bottom and it stayed on the ground. I picked up my 6^th ball and checked out the ball to see if it had any unique markings.

It did, and the marking was most likely caused by going through the seat with it's force:

Early BP ended soon after. The coaches/players/ballboys picked up the balls lying around, and I saw the big Mike Harkey pick up two balls in shallow CF. I called out to him and he tossed me the ball, but it fell short. I leaned way out and down. He gave me another throw, but it was the exact same result as the previous attempt (FYI I am in the corner spot, reaching very low down).

There were no more balls around me, so he walked towards me and picked up another balls. The next throw was high. I had to step back and leap, but I still caught my 7^th ball, pointed to by the red arrow below.

Early BP ended had already ended and there were no more baseballs to be snagged, so I posed with my haul:

After early BP it was Old New Yankee Stadium all over again. I got no more balls until around 45 minutes later.

Some Tampa Bay Rays came out to the row while the Yankees were hitting. And only a couple Rays, not the whole pitching staff. One of the pairs of players was Lance Cormier and Randy Choate. I positioned myself above a ball that I could've gotten with the glove trick, hoping that when they finished they would pick it up. I didn't get that ball, but I called out to Lance when he was done. Surprisingly instead of tossing the ball to foul territory he tossed it to me in fair territory. My 8^th ball.

I was thinking double digits. It was very likely. But my record of 15? It was possible, unlikely, but I had to try.

By then I figured out that the Rays would not be hitting, only the Yankees. So my record of 15 was more unlikely.

I went back to deep Left Field hoping for a homer from regular BP. I waited and waited and waited until they started kicking people out. It got a bit emptier, good. And pretty soon a fly ball was lifted in my direction. I took a couple steps down and got ready for the ball. I timed my jump and reached out for the ball. There were a couple of people going for it, but somehow I was able to catch my 9^th ball on the fly in the tip of my glove.

There was a new usher who was telling me that I could catch a ball. When I caught the ball he congratulated me, asked where I was sitting and made me over to foul territory. He is indicated by the blue arrow in the photo below.

Some Rays were still throwing at the foul line, and a couple baseballs were lying against the wall. I figured that when they were done they would toss the baseballs up, so I put my Rays' cap on and waited for them to finish. But one of my favorite Yankees was nearby also, Alfredo Aceves. He was talking to someone, so when he finished he walked over to pick up the baseballs. I took off my Rays' cap and asked him for the baseball in Spanish. Even though I think he has recognized me, and he has seen me get multiple baseballs throughout the course of the year, he still tossed me the baseball, my 10^th ball, which broke double digits for the day.

BP was ending and I didn't have an autograph because not really anyone signed. But I saw a Ray sitting on the wall down the foul line, right next to the corner spot. I ran over there and took out a baseball. I saw that he was number 38, so after looking at my roster I saw that it was Fernando Perez. So I went up to him and got him to sign my 1^st autograph, and took a photo with him.

I entered the game with no more autographs and baseballs. I had never gotten 10 baseballs during BP alone at New Yankee Stadium, so I figured that I would be able to get at least one more baseball. So I tried at the dugout, and got nothing. When it was getting late in the game I headed out to the bullpen to try for a baseball. I saw Bobby Ramos, who I had gotten a ball from each time I was at New Yankee Stadium. I shouted his name and asked for a baseball, but he disappeared. I sat down, and then saw a baseball being tossed up and down in the air, almost to tease the fans. But it was too close to the wall. Was it Bobby Ramos trying to give me a baseball? I don't know, but I tried reaching out and grabbing the baseball. I was unsuccessful, but eventually the ball landed on top of the billboard, so I just reached out and grabbed it, my 11^th baseball.

And then people started chanting throw it back. Really? A baseball that I got in the bullpen that I was asking for? Whether or not they were being serious it turned into a big thing, with about 75 people chanting "Throw it back!" and another 50 people chanting "Keep the ball!" I did the obvious and kept the baseball, photographed it, and then went away.

And that would be my last baseball of the night. 11 baseballs set my record at the New Yankee Stadium, but I heard that another person, most likely Steve, got 12 baseballs today. So does anyone know if anybody has gotten more than 12 baseballs at New Yankee Stadium? Who else has gotten double digits at New Yankee Stadium?

Stats:

11 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
188 MLB Autographs in this Season
227 Total Autographs in this Season
279 MLB Balls in this Season
300 Total Balls in this Season
6 Hit, 4 Thrown, 1 Found
10 BP, 1 During
Attendance: 45,350 People
Competition Factor: 498,850
43 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
33 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on September 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
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Tags: Alfredo Aceves, Batted Balls, Commemorative Baseballs, Double Digits, Early BP, Easter Eggs, Fernando Perez, Lance Cormier, Melky Cabrera, Mike Harkey, Moustaches, New NYS Record, Rays, Yankees
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9/4/09 Mets vs. Cubs

Back at a more generous New York ballpark: Citi Field.

I spent the time outside playing catch with Joe, Gary, Clif and his mom, people I knew from Zack Hample's blog.

I ran all the way to LF when the gates opened and quickly checked for Easter Eggs. After finding none I saw a player, who looked like Pedro Feliciano, field a ball in CF, about 125 feet from me. Thinking it was Pedro I called out loud "Pedro" and he looked over at me. I opened my glove and he threw me my 1^st ball.

But now that I think of it the player was Angel Pagan. Joe thought it was him, so then I looked at him as he got closer and it did look like him. This photo is from far away, but he is the player all the way on the right:

Another ball was hit over to the wall in Left Field, and settled right there, about 2 feet out. I noticed it was an All-Star ball, and since I already had one that I got from a batboy I let Joe go for it and moved over to a regular ball about 20 feet to his left. So soon after a player walked over to my ball to retrieve it, but I didn't know who it was. But as he bent down to pick it up I noticed that he was Pat Misch.

"Pat, could I have that ball?" I called out. He tossed the ball up to me, but it was short. He gave me another throw,

which this time I got for my 2^nd ball.

Then a couple minutes later a homerun was hit. It was to my right, and even thought the seat were still fairly empty, I had some competition; Gary and Joe were there. We all started looking for the ball, which bounced of the ground in a row and skipped into the air, landing in the seats. But none of us knew which row, or seat it was in. We looked everywhere for a couple second, and I saw it. It wasn't on the ground, or wedged in a seat. It was wedged in the arm rest, as this recreation shows:

There it was. I saw it had multi-colored seams, and I grabbed it, my 3^rd ball.

This was my second All-Star Ball from 2008 that I had ever gotten, the first was from a ballboy along the foul line. Getting this ball also made me feel guilty considering that Joe got ignored on the previous All-Star Ball he saw on the warning track. But don't feel bad for him, Joe got two special balls courtesy of the source of my next ball: Nelson Figueroa.

Nelson and Elmer Dessens were shagging balls and Elmer tossed one to a fan which caused other fans to ask for a ball. Elmer put his finer to his lips to shush the people, so I said:

"Okay everyone has to be quiet now."

That caused both of them to turn around, smile and then Elmer said:

"Yeah, whoever is quiet for the longest gets a ball."

So that's what I did, be quiet. Well at least with my mouth. I slammed my fist into the palm of my mitt and waved my arms to get their attention. It worked, and on the second ball that Nelson fielded after being quiet with my mouth was the one that he tossed to me, my 4^th ball. AND it was another All-Star Baseball from last year.

This ball seemed different than the other All-Star Ball. It seemed more out of shape than the other. One logo was bigger than the other and one stamp was mis-stamped on the ball above:

And just for the heck of it here is a photo of Nelson shagging baseballs in Left Field.

Even though Citi Field is much less crowded than New Yankee Stadium I got shutout for Cubs BP. I tried to get some more baseballs, and had a few close calls, but it just that it was I picked the wrong places at the wrong time. I saw a ball on the batters' eye, and stood there next to it, but then I went over to the bullpen and saw three balls there, so I stayed over there, and then I saw that the ball on the batters' eye was gone. So it just wasn't my day.

It was 6:08 and I saw a few people signing near the dugout, so I decided that I should head over there. It turns out that the players were Mets. One of them was Lance Broadway, who I got for my 1^st autograph.

I didn't get the player because I wanted to get to the dugout for the end of BP. I had a lot of time it turned out.

I was able to see a ball about 15 feet out from the dugout, so I asked Cubs' Coach Matt Sinatro for the ball, but he said "One Minute," and went to talk to some people. But then a random guy appeared out of the dugout, took the ball and placed it in a random player's glove. What?

That player turned out to be Mike Fontenot. When he came in he took his glove and noticed something inside of it.

"Mike could I have that ball in your glove?"

He opened the glove, took the ball, and tossed me my 5^th ball. You can see me getting the ball at the bottom of the photo, I am inbetween a guy wearing a black shirt and a kid wearing an orange shirt. The acutal ball is two photos down.

Notice the strange purple marking on the ball:

The end of the dugout I was at barely had any players come in it, they all went in the outfield end. Matt Sinatro was still talking to the people. I also noticed that a bucket of baseballs was out. Hmmm...

I position myself behind the bucket (along with Joe and Gary). When Matt Sinatro was finished I got his attention and pointed to the bucket. He walked over, took 2 baseballs out, tossed one to me (my 6^th ball) and tossed the other to a little girl, in pink in the photo below.

I moved to the left side of the tunnel to be prepared in case the players throw where they stretch. I noticed Sam Fuld brought his glove to the foul line, indicating he was going to throw there, so when he started signing I asked if I could have his pre-game throwing ball. He said yes, but there was some other people before him.

A translator for who I assume Kosuke Fukudome started throwing with Jeff Baker. When they were done I started asking for the ball, but they tossed it to Aramis Ramirez. Bad, no wait, that meant Aramis would be throwing! Sure enough he did, also with the translator. And when they finished I waved my arms and got the translator to toss me my 7^th ball.

Luckily I noticed that when I got that ball Sam Fuld was not looking, so when he finished throwing a couple minutes later I got him to toss me my 8^th ball. Two more balls until double digits.

Alan Trammel.jpg I had gone to only 4 games prior to this one at Citi Field without double digits, but I got double digits at my 2^nd regular season game ever at New Yankee Stadium (well 4^th game overall), and New Yankee Stadium is much harder to get baseballs at, so I figured that it was due time for it to happen at Citi Field.

And I got some help in the bottom of the third. Third out baseballs usually have a bunch of competition, but the pre-inning warm-up ball barely has any, if there is competition at all. So that was the case in the third. Alan Trammel got the ball tossed to him from Micah Hoffpauir. I called out for it and he tossed me the ball in a hook shot, which I caught for my 9^th ball. One more ball...

Clif and Gary had the outfield end of the Cubs' dugout, and the infield end of the dugout was used up because Alan Trammel thought Joe was me, and Geovany Soto (who gave Joe a ball) thought that I was Joe. So Joe and I decided to head over to the Mets dugout.

We got there in time for the 7^th Inning. We both went for the pre-inning warm-up ball, but Luis Alicea ended up tossing it to a college girl in the front row. So for the third out ball, we worked out a plan. Joe would run down to the front row and try for it, and I would stand back and try to stand out to see if he would toss it to me.

Bobby Parnell picked the ball, which was rocketed back to him, and then he daniel murphy.jpg jogged over to first base and tossed to the ball to Daniel Murphy. By the time he started jogging over Joe and I were in place. I was standing on a chair in the partially-empty third row and started waving my arms to get his attention. I could see Daniel Murphy was looking around to find someone to toss the ball to. He saw me, with nobody near me. There were some adults in the row in front of me, but he didn't care. He tossed the ball to me. The ball cleared the people in front of me (who were also trying) by about 1 foot and then kept heading towards me. I reach out and started slipping off the chair. I got the ball in my glove, but then I started falling. I fell to the ground, momentarily losing my balance, and the ball was no longer tucked inside my glove. Would it pop out? Nope, it was resting barely in my glove, my 10^th baseball.

Stats:

10 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
187 MLB Autographs in this Season
226 Total Autographs in this Season
268 MLB Balls in this Season
289 Total Balls in this Season
9 Thrown, 1 Hit
4 BP, 4 Pre-Game, 2 During
Attendance: 37,953 People
Competition Factor: 379,530
42 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
32 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on September 9, 2009 at 6:18 PM
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Tags: 2008 All-Star Game, Alan Trammell, Angel Pagan, Armrest, Batted Balls, Bobby Parnell, Citi Field, Commemorative Baseballs, Cubs, Daniel Murphy, Double Digits, Dugout, Elmer Dessens, Lance Broadway, Matt Sinatro, Mets, Mike Fontenot, Nelson Figueroa, Pat Misch, Pedro Feliciano, Pre-Inning Warm-Up Balls, Sam Fuld, Translator, Warm-Up Balls
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8/30/09 Yankees vs. White Sox

I went inside the stadium 3 hours before gametime, waited 53 minutes for BP to start, and then 15 minutes later when Phil Coke was looking to toss a ball into the crowd I asked him for it.

"You get a ball everytime I see you."

True, but dissapointing. I had finally been recongized by a Yankee in a bad way. Alfredo Aceves recongized me from the Glove Trick when the Yankees were at Citi Field, and he tried tossing me a ball soon after at Yankee Stadium, but another guy snatched it. David Robertson recongized me one month after he tossed me a ball, but he still gave me another.

This day was just horrible. Because Right Field was dead I headed over to Left Field. That was also dead. I got nothing for Yankees BP. White Sox BP was just as dead.

I squeezed my way into the corner spot in Left Field next to the bullpen and I got John Danks to throw me a ball that he retrieved, my 1st ball. Shutout averted, now to try and salvage the day.

When the White Sox came out to throw I tried getting the attention of BP Coach Juan Nieves so he could toss me a ball. I failed over there, but back in Left Field I had some luck. He had just finished throwing with a White Sox pitcher so I called out his name and he tossed me the ball from 50 feet away. I was in another corner spot next to a camera well, so I only had people to my left, but they didn't even see the ball coming. So there I had my 2nd ball.

That was it for BP. 2 Balls, the last time I had a BP this bad was Texas. In fact this day was basically June 2nd all over again. But I guess this was worse because I got no autographs at any point while I was inside the stadium. The day was basically just unlucky. One time a ball was coming at me, so I moved down two steps, but the ball ended up sailing 5 rows over my head. I stayed behind the dugout to try for third out balls, but I ended up leaving around the 4th inning. Guess where next inning's warm-up ball was tossed? Right where I was.

I moved into the bleachers to try for a warm-up ball from Mark Salas, the bullpen catcher, the one in the photo below:

I went to an area right in line with Mark Salas, took some abuse from other fans because I was wearing White Sox gear, and then in the 7th Inning or so got a ball from Mark Salas, my 3rd ball.

Game ended. Nothing more. I had one streak end already (25 Consecutive Games with at least 4 Baseballs), but I didn't want another to end (30 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph). So I stayed after the game and headed to Gate 2 to try for autographs, just one. And I got one. Ron Darling came out and I approached him and he signed two for my 1st autograph. Nobody else knew who he was, and with that I left Yankee Stadium.

Stats:

3 MLB Balls Today
1 MLB Autograph Today
186 MLB Autographs in this Season
225 Total Autographs in this Season
258 MLB Balls in this Season
279 Total Balls in this Season
3 Thrown
2 BP, 1 During
Attendance: 46,664 People
Competition Factor: 139,992
6.29 Balls / 1 Game
41 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
31 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph

Posted on September 5, 2009 at 2:54 PM
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Tags: Being Remembered, Bullpen, Corner Spot, Horrible Day, John Danks, Juan Nieves, Mark Salas, Phil Coke, Ron Darling, Streaks, White Sox, Yankees BP Sucks
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8/23/09 Pirates vs. Reds

I wasn't sure whether there'd be batting practice considering it was a day game after a night game. From the Roberto Clemente Bridge I could see that the nets weren't set up. It wouldn't matter if there was no BP when the gates opened, I would only be allowed on the Riverwalk for the first 30 minutes, or as I have heard on Sunday for the first hour. I believe that the Left Field Bleacher area is the only outfield section opened for the first hour, so I waited outside the area that connects the Riverwalk to Left Field. I was standing right above the Pirates bullpen where some pitchers were throwing.

And from that area I could see that BP cages and nets were being put into place:

The first person to throw there was Charlie Morton. He finished his bullpen session and started walking in. I asked for the ball and he tossed it over the fence which was about 2 feet taller than me. But I reached up with my glove (which extended beyond the fence) and grabbed my 1^st ball. It took me a bit to realize that it was my 250th baseball of the season, so when I did I posed for a photo:

That was about 10 minutes after I got there. Another pitcher threw in the bullpen, but Ballhawk Nick from yesterday got that ball. Then Erik showed up a bit later and got a ball from Ross Ohlendorf who came into the bullpen. Every ballhawk had gotten a ball, and a little bit before the gates opened Jeff Karstens finished up his session with Herberto Andrade. I called his name and he tossed the ball over, which bounced off Erik's head and landed on the ground, which I picked up for my 2^nd ball.

By the time the gates opened BP wasn't going on. But the Pirates pitchers were throwing at the foul line.

There were about 10 people in the stadium when it opened (as apposed to the about 2,000 people in New Yankee Stadium when it opens). So there was basically no competition where the Pirates were throwing. It was basically a guaranteed ball. There were maybe 5 in use, but I got distracted by watching other players finishing up first. So I got distracted when the pair I was focusing on, Steven Jackson and Chris Bootcheck, finished up. Chris Bootcheck was the player further from me and he ended up with the ball. There was no noise, so I called out and got Chris to throw me the ball from 100 feet or so away. I leaned down, scrapped my ankle, and caught my 3^rd ball.

That was the only ball I got from the Pirates pitchers. A little bit later the Pirates fielders started throwing. I caught up on some notes and then started walking over there. I had taken a couple steps pass the pair of Jason Jaramillo and Brandon Moss when I saw Brandon throw a ball low. The ball hit of the warning track and had an extremely high bounce into the air. It ended up skipping over Erik (who was positioned directly behind them, a bit to the left of the trashcan in the photo below) and landed past the handicap seating and it landed in about 6^th row up.

I was the only one near it so I went over, found the ball and picked it up for my 4^th ball.

After I got that ball the Pirates started taking some cuts, so I went over to the Left Field Bleachers.

And it was dead. There were few balls hit out there during BP. The other Ballhawks pretty much had the area covered, except over by the foul pole, so I played closer to there. Pretty soon a ball was hit over there and I made a nice play on the ball.

Well I guess it was more luck. That ball was hit by Lastings Milledge and it was hooking towards the foul pole. The ball hit off a bench before I got there (I was about 10 feet away) and then it took a bounce towards me, well right towards me. In fact it was heading exactly for my glove. The ball hit off the bench so fast that I barely moved my glove at all and the ball was wedged in my glove. That ball was my 5^th ball and unfortunately that was my last ball from BP, or BP wrap-up. It was incredibly sucky. There was a round of all lefties, so I went over to Right Field, but I couldn't get anything up there. It is extremely hard to get baseball up there. I went back over to Left Field after that round was finished and along the way I stopped at Manny's grill and got him to sign a ticket for my 1^st autograph.

Now while I was stuck in the dead bleachers my brother was over at the Reds foul line (where they were throwing) and he got some autographs for me, Daniel Ray Herrera (who is the first major leaguer that I am as tall as), Justin Lehr, and Kip Wells for my 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th autographs respectively. That was it until about 10 minutes before the game started, autographs or baseballs.

At the dugout Kevin Barker started signing, so I got his autograph for my 5^th autograph.

And about as soon after he signed that autograph for me Jonny Gomez started signing over by the foul line, so I ran over and got him for my 6^th autograph of the day.

From the spot that I got Jonny's autograph I could see that Paul Janish had a ball that he was going to bring out to play catch. I asked him for the ball when he was done and he said "Sure".

He kept his promise and he tossed me my 6^th ball. I turned around and saw a little kid that I almost bumped into. He had a glove and couldn't have been more than 6, so even though I got the ball tossed to me I gave him the ball thinking I would get another baseball during the game, it would give me 80 for the trip, a number that I was shooting for.

But just my luck I didn't get another ball during the game or after the game. I did get three more autographs where they were stretching: Scott Rolen's signed my 7^th autograph.

Paul Janish signed my 8^th autograph. And Brandon Philips signed my 9^th autograph.

I was mad, mostly at myself for giving away the last ball that I got on this trip. But at least I got the line-up cards from Dusty Baker after the game...

Stats:

6 MLB Balls Today
9 MLB Autographs Today
185 MLB Autographs in this Season
224 Total Autographs in this Season
255 MLB Balls in this Season
276 Total Balls in this Season
5 Thrown, 1 Hit
5 BP, 1 Pre-Game
Attendance: 21,209 People
Competition Factor: 127,254
6.375 Balls / 1 Game
40 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
30 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
25 Consecutive Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs

Posted on August 30, 2009 at 9:05 PM
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Comments (3)
Tags: Brandon Philips, Bullpen, Charlie Morton, Chris Bootcheck, Daniel Ray Herrera, Given Away, Herbie Andrade, Jonny Gomez, Justin Lehr, Kevin Barker, Kip Wells, Lastings Milledge, Lucky Bounce, Manny Sanguillen, Overthrow, Paul Janish, Pirates, Reds, Scott Rolen, Steven Jackson
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8/22/09 Pirates vs. Reds

This was just an amazing day all around. I could tell you just the highlights right now, but I think that it is better to start from the beginning.

My first stop for this game wasn't inside PNC Park, it was the walkway outside the stadium. Some balls land there, maybe 5 or 6 during the entire batting practice, and most of them land in the Allegheny River. The walkway is in front of the river, then there is a grass hill, then a part of the stadium known as the "Riverwalk", and then the seats. There were 3 other Ballhawks out there, Erik, Nick, and Bryan (Nick is a member of the Ballhawk League and Erik is the founder).

Nothing came over so with 10 minutes to spare we went to the gate.

I was the 6^th one inside and all the ballhawks had either the foul line or the Lower Bleachers covered, so I decided to go into the Upper Bleachers. And lo and behold in the first row was an Easter Egg, which I took a photo of it before I picked it up:

And then I picked up the very scuffed ball for my 1^st ball.

Then I went down to the un-crowded Lower Bleachers. If you ever want a sure fire ball then a scenario would be:

A) The seats are fairly empty

B) It's still early.

C) A ball is caught right in front of you on the warning track.

D) You know the (unknown) guy's name.

That was about the scenario for when Joel Hanrahan caught a ball in front of me. There might be another person who would know the guy's name, so then you have to hope Joel picks you out. Another kid asked for it also, and Joel turned to throw it to him, but then he turned back to me and tossed me my 2^nd ball.

Two balls landed on the warning track, and I could've done the glove trick on them, but Denny Bautista retrieved them. I said to Denny:

"Leave it there, I can get it!" But he didn't. He started walking back towards the bucket, so I thought that all hope was lost, but then he randomly turned around, looked at me, and threw me my 3^rd ball, which had an incredibly off-center practice stamp.

I guess part of this "amazing day" was due to the fact that I could get anywhere in the stadium for all of BP, while on other days I would be confined to Left Field. I used that to my advantage when I noticed a ball lying on the dirt at the third base foul line (which I neglected to take a photo of because I was in a rush).

I thought that I could glove trick it, so I ran out of the left field bleachers, up the escalator, down some steps, into a cross-aisle and then down some stairs into the handicap seating area. I took out some string from my glove and tossed it out, but I realized that it was too little string. So I pulled my glove back and threw it out again. It landed beyond the ball, so I pulled the ball closer a bit. I pulled the glove back once more and this time I got it right behind the ball and pulled it back as hard as I could. The ball rolled right to the wall and I reached down and grabbed my 4^th ball.

Now I wanted to maximize my total baseballs for the two games at PNC because I wanted to get 80 for the trip, so I gave my brother baseballs to get autographs when I couldn't. And he did, he got me three Reds: Jared Burton, Carlos Fisher, and Drew Stubbs for my 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd autographs respectively. And I will say this every time he gets me an autograph to avoid complaints; an autograph is different from a baseball.

There was no other action on the foul line, and the other ballhawks pretty much had the outfield covered, so I moved down to the dugout. What I saw was about 9 balls lying within 15 feet from the dugout's top step. Here's a bit to the right, 5 are on the tarp:

Here's to the left, 3 baseballs are RIGHT there:

This is a time where I wish I was at the Metrodome, the seats were on top of the dugout. Some players picked them up, like Tony Beasley. He picked up a ball at one end of the dugout and I was at the other end of the dugout. I called out his name and he tossed me the ball, my 5^th ball. It had an odd black mark going from one section to another, and it's speckled a bit. I had gotten other balls similar to this, but it was a solid, darking black line, so I have no idea what gave the ball this.

I forgot how long this happened after Ball No. 5, but I saw one guy walk a couple rows back and look in the seats for something. I also saw Ballhawk Nick running towards my area. I asked the guy what happened and he said:

"A ball was hit into the seats." He looked for about 10 seconds and then he gave up, but I looked until I found the ball, which was resting on the ground about 2 sections over. I went over and picked up the ball, my 6^th ball, an unexpected baseball acquisition.

No here is one of the weirdest baseballs that I have ever gotten. I asked Brandon Moss (who was batting) for a ball that he was near. He picked it up and tossed it to me, which I easily caught for my 7^th ball. Now this is where it gets weird, I didn't noticed this until later that it had a commemorative logo. A very faint and scuffed up logo, not from this year.

But before I tell you, how often is it that you get a ball from a year ago? Maybe it common at Citi Field, but not so in other places. How about a ball from two years ago? Maybe once in every thousand or so balls given out. Five years? Maybe in every 20,000 balls given out this year. What about 7 years ago? I'd say that is extremely unlikely. The ball I got was from 2002. And this is where it gets weirder, the ball wasn't even used by this team, or any team that the Pirates or Reds ever played. It wasn't even used by any Major League Baseball team, Minor League Team, or Independent League Team. Heck, it wasn't even used on this continent, or any piece of land connected to North America (I.E. South America and Central America). The only way you could get to this island is by air or sea. Know what ball it is yet?

It was a baseball from the 2002 All-Star Series, held in Japan! Ohmygod. I didn't even know that these even existed, let alone were still around. This is like getting a ball from the All-Star Game in 2002, wait it's even rarer than that. It's like getting a ball from the 1996 All-Star Game. The commemorative logo says: "All Star Series {MLB Hologram} 02" in case you can't read it in the photo above. In the photo below I can barely read it:

"*Official Ball*

2002 Japan {something} Series

{Somebody's unknown signature}".

Can anybody get me a photo of this ball that you read what I can't? And have you ever gotten a ball this random? I was clueless when I first read it. I thought it was a promotion for a video game, and then I thought it was for the All-Star Game, and then I knew it was from Japan. So crazy stuff, back to BP.

I got one more ball at the dugout before the end of BP, it was from Gary Varsho. It was too easy. There was not a single other person asking for baseballs. I called out for it, and he tossed me my 8^th ball.

I did catch one more thing at the dugout before the Reds started hitting, when the Pirates were coming in. Don't blame me because it hit the dugout before I could get it. Jason Jaramillo came in, made the "are you ready to catch it" symbol by faking a toss, and then he tossed it to me. It hit the dugout roof because I wasn't prepared, but I still got my 1^st game used item of the day, his bat.

Jason Jaramillo BP Bat. This was one part of the amazing day, and the most amazing part of it! I was expecting not to get a ball this year, the first year since 2004. It was luck, and so is most of the bats I got. Remember how I wrote that bat entry earlier? 4 of the times I didn't ask for a bat, and one time I knew he was giving it to me. But on the other 3, the best tips I can give you are to:

1) Be at the dugout, especially the visiting team's dugout.

2) Remember who breaks their bat.

3) Use past experiences. Who have you heard stories of being incredibly nice?

4) Focus on getting one late in the season when they no longer need as many bats, and a few broken ones may be lying around.

At first I couldn't figure out why he would give me the bat. There were no obvious signs of disrepair, but after a little while I saw that one piece of the bat splintered a bit.

It was his BP bat, he could've just taped it up, and I mean it was a small break. But I guess he did want to risk injuring anyone in batting practice. So here are some photos of the bat, a "C271" bat:

Apparently it is the 125th Anniversary of Louisville Slugger:

And apparently this bat became the property of Jason on March 26 of this year:

I got my bat and then set my sights on double digits, but I didn't care if I got that because it was amazing to get a bat. But when the Pirates came in a couple started signing, so I got there autographs. The first person I got was Brian Bixler. He started signing towards the home plate edge of the dugout, so I waited until he pointed to me and he signed my 4^th autograph. Then Princeton graduate Ross Ohlendorf started signing down the foul line where some players and coaches go in through a tunnel. I got over there and had him sign my 5^th autograph.

And then Joe Kerrigan was called over and he started signing. I got him while he was standing in the tunnel for my 6^th autograph. Here are the three Pirates' autographs:

Top Left: Brian Bixler. Bottom Left: Ross Ohlendorf. Bottom Right: Joe Kerrigan.

I headed back towards the outfield and gave my brother back the baseballs and then got an amazing bounce on a ball hit out there. I was standing in the middle of a row when a ball was hit to my left. I knew it was going out, so I ran to my left through the row that now has a kid walking with a red shirt and jacket on his shoulder:

The ball was going into the bullpen, specifically a part of the bullpen that forms a triangle.

I was about 1 ½ sections from where the ball landed, and by the time it land I was ½ a section from where it landed. Most of the people had given up because they saw it land in the bullpen, but I was running full speed still and I kept running. The ball bounced off the floor, off the back wall and back into the seats. ("Never has a ball bounced out of the bullpen," Ballhawk Nick said). It landed right where I was, and I caught it on the move and on the fly for my 9^th ball of the day.

I wouldn't have gotten the ball had I not had the empty row to run through (which in the photo below has a kid walking through it):

That ball was my last of BP. I failed to make it to the dugout for the end of BP, but I was in RF and saw some Reds signing at the foul line, so I ran over there.

As I got there I got a couple autographs:

Jay Bruce signed my 8^th autograph at the line (I neglected to get a photo of him)

Laynce Nix signed my 9^th autograph closer to the dugout (I got a photo of him):

Chris Dickerson signed my 10^th autograph in the camera pit (another photo):

And Finally Adam Rosales signed my 11^th autograph a bit to my right (I got a photo of him):

There was nothing to do, so I waited until there was some pre-game action. I had seats at the dugout because I didn't know how crabby or strict security would be (they were). But that allowed me to get the autograph of one of my favorite pitchers who was signing at the dugout: Micah Owings. I got him for my 12^th autograph of the night, but it wasn't my last.

I went over to the foul line and got Wladimir Balentein to sign my 13^th autograph when he came over to sign for some college girls.

I also got a baseball tossed to me.

Paul Janish brought out a baseball to play catch with Adam Rosales at the foul line. I have been noticing recently that sometimes the baseballs used to play catch with belong to the player it was brought out with. But that didn't happen. Adam was farther away from me and he ended up with the ball. But that didn't stop me from getting it as I easily got him to toss me my 10^th baseball, the one that broke double digits for the night! The 5^th time this season.

Remember how I said security was extremely strict? I had seats in the middle of the row on the wrong end of the dugout, so I couldn't go for baseballs over there, and the competition was intense as it seemed that about 15 little kids had aisle or first row seats. So yeah it was extremely difficult. I was shut out or the first third of the night. The kids at the other end of the dugout ended up with the balls. Then I was shut out for the second third of the night. Billy Hatcher ended up giving up about 12 balls through the night, but I didn't get a ball from him. And then the final third of the night came. What did I get? A ball!

Jared Burton struck out Garret Jones (strike out a meaner person next time) and then Craig Tatum walked in with the ball. He pointed at me, flipped the ball in the air to his other hand and threw me a strike for my 11^th ball.

That was my last baseball. I was hoping to get another, but it wasn't meant to be. 7 of the 11 baseaballs had a practice stamp on the sweetspot.

I did get enjoy KC & The Sunshine Band for longer than an hour.

So the night ended with a little music at a baseball stadium, the second time this year for me.

Stats:

11 MLB Balls Today
13 MLB Autographs Today
1 Game Used Item Today
176 MLB Autographs in this Season
215 Total Autographs in this Season
249 MLB Balls in this Season
270 Total Balls in this Season
7 Thrown, 2 Hit, 1 Found, 1 Glove Trick
9 BP, 1 Pre-Game, 1 During
Attendance: 32,570
Competition Factor: 358,270
6.39 Balls / 1 Game
39 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
29 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
24 Consecutive Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs

Posted on August 26, 2009 at 5:47 PM
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Tags: Adam Rosales, All-Star Series 2002, Allegheny River, Ballhawks, Batted Balls, Brandon Moss, Brian Bixler, Bullpen, Carlos FIsher, Chris Dickerson, Craig Tatum, Denny Bautista, Double Digits, Drew Stubbs, Easter Eggs, Erik, Game Used Bat, Gary Varsho, Half-Glove Trick, Japan, Jarod Burton, Jason Jaramillo, Jay Bruce, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Kerrigan, Joel Hanrahan, KC & The Sunshine Band, Laynce Nix, Lucky Bounce, Micah Owings, Nick, Paul Janish, Pirates, PNC Park, Roberto Clemente Bridge, Ross Ohlendorf, Scuffs, Tony Beasley, Warning Track, Wladimir Balentein
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A look at a kid in NYC collecting everything from baseballs to autographs to game used stuff, and adding to his numerous autographs and 288 MLB Baseballs. Don't believe him? Read about his collecting life to see him prove it.
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