Results tagged ‘ baseballs ’
5/20/09 Yankees vs. Orioles
I wanted to leave and get there before the gates open. Barely missed it. I got to the gates no later than 2 minutes after it opened.
“You leave school early to get here,” One senior citizen said.
“Nope, but I tried to leave as soon as it ended.
This was my first day with the new B.P. rules. Everyone is allowed anywhere in the outfield for the first hour and 40 minutes. After sitting in the seats for about 20 minutes of nothingness, some players came out. I looked at their numbers and saw that they were pitchers. Well after 5 minutes of confusive thought, B.P. started.
Well that’s not it actually started, it’s a bit before.
Right field got crowded early and some other people (Gary, Donnie, Greg) were there, so I went over to left field. Also to show that evil usher that I can walk through his precious section.
Well guess what happened? I stood there for a bit, and then HE came over.
“You gotta stay over here or over there,” HE said in a Caribbean accent thick enough that I could barely understand him.
You have to be kidding me.
Really.
Jokes over.
When are you gonna start acting nice to me and let me sit there with you during the game.
When.
He said that I would bump into, and hurt, little kids because I move so much. I said that I’d be careful and run through empty rows. He wouldn’t budge.
“It’s O.K. with me, but he’s crazy,” said another usher.
So I went back over to the crowded right field. I positioned myself in the first row. A couple balls were hit over there while the Yankees were warming up. I asked Dave Eiland for a ball, but he just nodded. Later when he picked up some balls, Dave tossed me my 1st ball, avoiding an incident like the one of Camden Yards.
Oh and that was my 75th ball this year.
I then moved over to near the bullpen. The Yankees relievers were doing sprints and then catching balls thrown by a trainer, sort of like football. When they were close to finished I asked Jon for his ball when he was done. He nodded. So when he was done he tossed it to me, but a guy reached out, the ball hit his hand, and dropped onto the field. When Alfredo Aceves walked over to pick it up a girl next to me, no wait, a couple feet for me lied; “That ball was tossed to me!!!” Too bad for her though as Aceves can pick out liars, or maybe he decided to toss it to me, but I got my 2nd ball.
I saw someone walking into the bullpen, where a couple ball were hit. I ran over and asked the guy, Ronnie Deck, for one of those baseballs. He has always been stingy, and how many people know his name? Well I asked Rick Kravitz, after Ronnie rejected me, for a ball. He told me to move back and then he tossed it to me, almost missing, for my 3rd ball today.
As you see, there were also two more balls in the bullpen.
So after that I went over to where the Orioles were throwing. I didn’t get anything from them, but one guy had a ball. I was thinking: “Who is that?!” I looked at my roster. Not Guthrie, Not Hendrickson, Not Uehara, Oh Wait!
“Jim!” I repeated a couple times. “Could I have that ball?” He nodded and tossed me my 4th ball.
I also needed an autograph. Chris Ray started running. I asked him to sign when he was done. He nodded and he did sign two for me for my 1st autograph.
The O’s started hitting so everyone was kicked out of field level. But not me. I had the whole left field foul line to myself. Maybe only a couple of other people with gloves. Mostly they were using their hats. I started my no competition by going to the corner spot and asking George Sherill for a nearby ball. He tossed it to me, but it was high and it tipped of my glove. Damn. I was right in the spot that the guy with the Rivera jersey was in.
I moved because he was nice enough to say:
“If I caught that ball I would’ve given it to you because it was thrown right to you.” Wow that was nice. I was decked out in Orioles gear, he was wearing a Yankees jersey.
By then I was playing for fouls. One missed my glove by inches. Another was on the money. It was perfect. I even thought from the start “this is the one.” I leaned over and tried to scoop it up. The ball stopped right beneath me, so I just picked up my 5th ball, and my first hit ball in a while.
Since the wall was crowded except by the pole, I went over there. I thought that some balls would become ground rule doubles. I saw a ball bounce on the warning track in right. It didn’t bounce. Uh-oh.
Well I got a ball. A ball that didn’t bounce. A ball stopped in front of the auxiliary scoreboard in left. Adam Eaton picked it up and scanned the crowd for an O’s fan. He wasn’t listening to the requests. He was looking for orange. Well he saw my bright bird shirt and my O’s hat, and he tossed the ball in my direction. I didn’t know if it was for me, or the woman next to me.
Well the guy next to me bobbled it and it plopped down on the track. I wasn’t sure who he was tossing it to, but when he walked over to pick it up, made eye contact with me, and tossed me my 6th ball. I know that it was intended for me.
So nothing else happened since B.P. ended soon after. I got some stubs for sections 126, 123, and 203. I got scolded at twice at the Yankees bullpen for trying to get a better view, and I didn’t get anything at the dugouts at any point.
I have been extremely over worked as of late. I have so many school homework and projects coming up that I haven’t had time to post. I am sorry for the delay. And just to show you how delayed I am, I transferred this to my computer on June 1st. When will it be posted?!?!
Stats:
- 6 MLB Balls Today
- 1 MLB Autograph Today
- 80 MLB Balls in this Season
- 96 Total Balls in this Season
- 70 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 73 Total Autographs in this Season
- 6 BP
- 5 Thrown, 1 Hit
- Attendance: 43,903 people
- Competition Factor: 263,418
- 6.2 Balls / 1 Game
- 13 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs.
I have decided to leave you with a little picture show…
4/8/09 Orioles vs. Yankees
We go back to the Intercontinental before the game to see some players leaving and try to get autographs. A couple minutes after I get there, I see somebody going out and in the Intercontinental. It’s Brian Bruney. He decides to walk out instead of taking a cab, and it’s only me and another guy there, so he signs 2 baseballs for me for my 1st autograph today.
Bruney is about a foot taller than long.
Kevin Long is doing the opposite, walking down the street into the hotel, and he stops to talk with Bruney. I decide to get Kevin Long on my baseball for my 2nd autograph today.
I count coaches because most of them have had some playing or managerial history. Speaking of coaches, Tony Pena walks out, but he does the old “can’t sign on the cell phone” trick and waves us off.
I wait for about 10 more minutes when Damaso Marte comes out with a guy who we mistake for Melky (because they are wearing almost the same ugly hoodie) and I get Damaso for my 3rd autograph today.
Damaso keeps walking with his friend down the street, until he stops to talk to Jose Veras. I decide not to bother him since I already have his autograph twice and have gotten 3 baseballs from him in the past WEEK.
My mom and I then leave to go back, but who do we see coming outside of a mall called the Gallery? We see Tony Pena. Originally he was reluctant even though I am the ONLY person asking him, and I am wearing a Yankees hat, and he is not talking. He didn’t sign back there because he “doesn’t want this stuff on eBay.” So he signs me my 4th autograph today and we go on our way. After we head back to our hotel, I decide to go to the player’s entrance to get autographs.
That’s the Player’s Entrance.
It isn’t that successful. Koji Uehara arrives, but doesn’t sign. Kimberly Jones arrives, but I don’t ask her. Pretty much no one comes, except for Jeremy Guthrie.
He comes back from jogging, I assume, and he only signs one for me, so I get him for my 5th MLB autograph today and after him, no other players sign or come.
See a little orange at the top of my jersey?
What can I say?
And to make this confusing, one guy at the home plate gat sys that only people with season tickets can enter the gates at 5 o’clock. All other ticket holders enter at 5:30. Whaaaaaaaaaaat??
Since it has been a long drought, we go to the Eutaw Street Gate. It’s good to arrive early because a long line has formed, and then they split lines in bag check and no bags. After I scan my ticket (yes I can go in without season tickets) I run to the Center Field area. I see two players off near the bullpens. One of them is Alfredo Simon because he is the only African-American pitcher on the Orioles. The other is either Danys Baez or Dennis Sarfate. I look at the cheat sheet. If he has a dimple, then it’s Dennis Sarfate, if there’s no dimple, it’s Baez.
A ball rolls to the wall, no dimple.
“Danys, can I have that ball?”
“This ball is for her,” he says while tossing the ball to a lady in the front row.
“Can I have the next ball?” He nods.
The next ball that rolls to the wall, he scoops up, and under hands me my 1st ball today.
The Yankees then start to warm up, so I run over there. When I get there, Dave Eiland is already warming up with A.J. Burnett. When he finishes I ask him for the ball, and Dave winds up and fires the ball. It’s too fast that I can’t raise my mitt up in time and the balls ricochets off and 5 rows up, where it is grabbed by a man who finishes his chips and then grabs the ball.
I remember the gap in Center, and my glove trick. I don’t want to run all the way over there unless I see a baseball, so I climb up the aisle nearest to the bullpen and I see a ball, so I bolt off. When I get there I find not one, but two balls. One of them is tucked under a pipe connected to the wall, so I figure I’ll go for the easier one. That’s one is a couple inches out from the wall. I lower my glove over it once, pick it up, but drop it. A lot of people are looking on. I hear some comments from fans.
“It needs to be tighter.”
“It’s not gonna work.”
“How does that work.”
“How’d you come up with that? Did you see it on T.V?”
1 is the first ball and 2 is the second ball that’s tucked under the pipe.
Eventually I reel it in slowly for my 2nd ball today, and my 1st using the glove trick. I am confident now, and nobody stopped me, so I go over to the other ball. I knock it out from underneath, but it rolls to the other side of the wall, so I knock it back into the perfect spot. All I need now is for my glove to stop spinning. It does, and I reel in my 3rd ball today.
My first two “glove trick balls”, thank you Zack!
After BP ends, and all the Yankees go in, I see someone toss a ball to some fans near the gap, and it drops (I thought) into the gap, so I rush over. When I get there, I see no ball, but there’s one on the warning track. A groundskeeper tosses the ball to some fans, but they swat it back down. This time the groundskeeper tosses the ball straight towards me and I catch my 4th ball.
The Yankees come out to stretch, so I go over to where they are. I learn that a kid there got 3 balls, almost out-snagging me. He wasn’t my age, he wasn’t a year or two younger, and he was 1 year old or so. And he was able to get Johnny Damon to come over and sign his jersey, so I get Johnny Damon and the ball I used at the hotel for my 6th autograph today.
That’s me with the Jersey and a little bit of orange on top.
I want 2 more balls for 10 in the last 2 games, so I switch sides. After a while, I get nothing. I go to the bullpens, nothing. I try for after the game stuff, nothing. So now I need 12 balls in the next two days. I hope Tampa Bay has BP.
That’s it for the day, here are some shots of the empty stadium:
It was amazing. I looked at Camden’s attendence for past Yankee Games, and they all drew at least 40,000 a game, but this had a little more than 20,000! I was really shocked.
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6 MLB Autographs Today
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27 MLB Autographs so far this Season
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30 Total Autographs so far this Season
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4 MLB Balls Today
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8 MLB so far this Season/Trip
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3 BP balls, 1 Pre-Game ball
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2 Thrown Balls, 2 Glove Trick Balls
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22,856 People in Camden Yards
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Competition Factor: 91,424
4/3/09 Yankees vs. Cubs
This time, instead of taking the long, scenic route, I take the short, less-scenic route around the parking garage. We arrive about 30 minutes late (4:30), but it is ok because the tarp is on the field, so no BP and no players are stretching. It is still drizzling so I am the only one in my section. I realize that anyone who brings the glove trick, you probably won’t be able to do it because they have an usher at the bottom of almost every aisle.
At 4:35, 2 Yankees start throwing, but guess where it is. It is in the $2,650 Legends Seats. Then the waiter brings and tells us that we have waiter service. Apparently all of field level has waiter service, and guess some of the prices for food. $6 for a cracker jack, $8 for a medium popcorn, $8 for a small (smaller than 2 baseballs) kids pizza pie and here is something $9 for a cheeseburger. Wow.
And also, the largest popcorn has 2,473 calories, 1/5 of the Michael Phelps diet. You can get your daily dose of food with this, and 13 ½ tic-tacs.
Since no Cubs are throwing, I take some field level photos, here:
The Old Yankee Stadium through the New’s Windows
The Meat Carving Station:
The Great Hall, or something, in Left:
It’s a pain to upload photos.
That thing that only people with field level tickets can be on field level, yeah, not true, unless they build a 50 ft wall of Yankees Ushers at the entrance, or this:
Oh wait, they already have a couple, but they guard the seats.
Finally 2 Cubs start throwing, in the Legends Seats. But all the Cubs come out to throw at 6, 1 hour before game time. First I ask Carlos Marmol, in Spanish, but nothing. Then I ask Luis Vizcaino, and he tosses one, in between a group of people, and I barely miss it. And at last I get a ball, from David Patton, my 1st ball. Nobody else knew, or had a clue to who he was; except me and my cheat sheet.
Now I get some autographs. First Rich Harden walks over, but it is too big a crowd. Then Luis Vizcaino walks over and signs to a smaller crowd. I walk over there and get Luis Vizcaino on two (my 1902nd MLB Autograph), my 1st today. Then I walk over to Rich Harden and get him on 2 (my 1903rd MLB Autographs), my 2nd today. One good thing about the New Yankee Stadium policy is they send you back to your seats about when the National Anthem starts, not 45 minutes before hand.
Top Left: David Patton Ball. Top Right: Luis Vizcaino Autograph. Bottom Right: Rich Harden and Me. Bottom Left: Rich Harden Autograph
I usually go to the players stretching, but the Legends block them off, so I do something I could ne-he-ver do at the old Stadium (miss it still), go to the bullpen for the pitcher’s warm-up ball.
I ask someone next to me who the bullpen coach is, its Lester Strode. I ask him for a ball, but he says wait. He is watching Ted Lilly warm-up. I am trying to get Ted Lilly’s warm-up ball. When Ted finishes I ask him, but he puts his glove down because it is the National Anthem. When it finishes I ask him again, but Lester takes the ball and hands it to me. Problem is, the ball won’t fit under the fence, so I have to work it to the edge and pull it around, which I do. And I get my 2nd ball today.
Afterwards I try to catch the 1st Home Run, like I did in Citi Field. Aaron Miles’ shot in 2nd got me out of my seat, but Cano’s Home Run in the second was the real deal. It lands in the very corner of the bleachers; no way could I get that. I walk up there to see the ball, if it is special. When I get up there, nothing has been done yet and the ball is regular. Security comes a couple minutes later to pick him up and take him off. Some of the fans are yelling “You are a sellout!” If I were him I’d see what they have to offer.
I travel back to my seats until the 5th inning, where I go to Yankees bullpen to try and get a warm-up ball. I ask Mike Harkey, the new Bullpen Coach for one, but he waves. Jose Veras is warming up, so when he finishes I call his name. But Mike Harkey is looking at me and pointing to the catcher, codeword for you will get his ball. Thanks to the obnoxiously large flower bed and Ad blocking my view of the bullpen, I can’t see anything. Mike Harkey tosses up my 3rd ball, but I am not sure if it is Veras’ warm-up ball. It has interesting G-O-O-K (they censored that?!?!).
After that, I give the ball to my mom to hold onto, so I can try to sneak to the dugouts for after the game stuff. I learn that Paul Simon is sitting near the Home Dugout, but I get a ticket about 5 minutes after the game ends, so I get nothing. That’s it. 3 Balls, 2 Autographs. I wonder how tomorrow will be…
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3 MLB Autographs in This Game (1,903 MLB, 2,311 Overall Autographs)
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9 MLB Autographs in This Season
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11 Total Autographs in This Season
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3 Exhibition Game Baseballs
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13 Total Baseballs in This Season
4/2/09 Workout at New Yankee Stadium
This is the first ticketed event in Yankee Stadium, so naturally I had to be there. I drive there with my mom, my dad and brother are already in the stadium. But she drops me off far away and I have to basically go to the other side of the stadium. I was dropped off at the River Avenue Parking garage, but I needed to go to the Gate 4 Legends Entrance.
My dad was able to get us Legends Seats for this, and I thought this was going to be relaxed, less than 50 people in the legends seats, probably less than 4,000 in the stadium. But I was wrong. It had more people, wait, way more people than I expected. But the legends seats made it ok for us.
Just the Left Field line
I walk in the entrance behind home plate to the left in the legends, and it has changed, the dugouts especially. I went on a tour in December of the stadium, and it’s changed. I see somebody signing in the inner corner of the dugout, so I walk over and it’s Andy Pettitte, so I try to get him to sign 2 baseballs (1 for me, 1 for my brother and I do this all the time), but I only get him on one. That is my 1,896th MLB autograph. After he leaves I go to the top of the dugout because the people aren’t allowed in the first two rows of the corner unless someone is signing. Also I recognize a lot of the ushers from last season. It looks like they kept the same ushers they used last season, and they are in the same place also, huh.
While at the top of the dugout I see someone, number 48, just leaning against the railing looking out onto the field. I have my cheat sheet, but I don’t use it. I remember it is Phil Coke (a-cola). I call his name out, he turns around, I toss him 2 balls, and he signs both of them, and then disappears. Cool, 1897 MLB autographs. And then I see Shelly Duncan. I call out his name, flip him the balls and he signs them. 1898 MLB, nice.
After this autograph somebody says “backpack” from behind. I am wearing a Knicks backpack. It is a woman asking me to get her an autograph. I say I’ll try, but 3 autographs is going to be hard. I feel sorry for them. Even though I am in the Legends Seats, I feel this is unfair. They are cutting off the real fans who want to meet their favorite players. They make the first 9 rows for people who pay $600 dollars a game ($100 food credit included). After a while, and no more autographs, I think that this is too much, so I give her the ball back.
By the way, my mom talked a reported into interviewing me, so apparently I will be on 1010 wins in the morning to 7:05 tomorrow, yeah!
So now the workout has officially started, and all the players are out stretching including C.C. and A.J. This reminds me of 9/21/08 when we could watch Yankees BP. Andy Pettitte started signing again down the line, so I got him for my brother. And now I get baseballs. First comes Jose Veras, who I ask in Spanish for it. I get it right over the dugout when he is done throwing. Nobody tries to snatch. In fact, that is the way for each ball.
And then I get Nick Swisher, who I remember getting on the White Sox last year. Same player, two different teams.
And finally I get another ball from a staff member who I see has it in his hand. At first I think he isn’t going to give it to me, but he flips to me right before he goes into the dugout.
Then after that, Johnny Damon comes into the dugout, stands on the steps and signs balls. I only get him once (my 1899th MLB and my 2,307th overall autograph). But I don’t care about getting him once because I have him before. I would say either he and Mariano are the nicest Yankees. Mariano once signed in the rain for 30 minutes or so and usually always signs when asked, and Johnny Damon was told he had to go once, but he kept on signing until he got everyone. Who do you think is the nicest player in the Major Leagues from experience?
And on a side note, the Yankees want NOTHING on their precious dugouts. You can’t lean on them, put bags on them, and sit on them. The Mets on the other hand, have bubbles on their dugouts. And their dugouts are peeling after 1 game. Another thing between the Yankees and Mets, it costs $3.75 for a water at Citi, but $5.00 for a water at the New Yankee Stadium.
Back to the autographs. Joba starts signing so I go over there, but then Nick Swishers starts signing for a group of guys. Nick has a lesser crowd, so I go over to him first, and get him on 1 baseball, which is my 1900th MLB autograph! After I get him, I get Joba for my 1901st autograph, 1 for me and 1 for my brother. I didn’t get anything else while I stayed by the dugout until the end. Afterwards, I went to the bullpen to see if there were any balls to get with my glove trick, but the Yankees had an obnoxiously large flower bed blocking my view. It was at least 4 ft wide, so I couldn’t see the balls, so I couldn’t get any.
I don’t really know what to think about the New Yankee Stadium. I like the old one because it has more opportunities to get stuff there, and I had figured out all the tricks of the trade, but the new one has all this space to explore and my new seats are in the perfect spot, other than the Legends, for autographs. I heard that they had 2 ushers, one at the top of the aisle, and one at the bottom, so I am not sure if I will even be allowed to the front row! I would say I like the old one better for now…
P.S. It took about an hour to get from the garage to the highway. 3 cheers for Yankee Stadium parking!
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6 MLB Autographs in This Game (1,901 Total MLB, 2,309 Overall Autographs)
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6 MLB Autographs This Season
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8 Total Autographs This Season
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3 Workout Baseballs
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10 Total Baseballs This Season
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