Results tagged ‘ Bullpen ’
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 1st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 4th 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 5th 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 1st 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 6th 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 7th 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
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 1st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 1st 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 4th 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 5th 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. 442nd double, 2515th hit, 783rd rbi, 1565 run.
I snuck over to the dugout to try for pre-game throwing. I got nada, but I rook a 1st 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 6th ball, A-Rod’s 2515th Hit, 442nd Double, Mark Teixeira’s 783rd RBI, and Derek Jeter’s 1565th 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
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
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 1st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 6th row up.
I was the only one near it so I went over, found the ball and picked it up for my 4th 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 5th 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 1st 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 2nd, 3rd and 4th 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 5th 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 6th 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 6th 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 7th autograph.
Paul Janish signed my 8th autograph. And Brandon Philips signed my 9th 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
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 6th 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 1st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 4th 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 1st, 2nd and 3rd 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 5th 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 6th 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 7th 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 8th 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 1st 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 4th 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 5th autograph.
And then Joe Kerrigan was called over and he started signing. I got him while he was standing in the tunnel for my 6th 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 9th 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 8th autograph at the line (I neglected to get a photo of him)
Laynce Nix signed my 9th autograph closer to the dugout (I got a photo of him):
Chris Dickerson signed my 10th autograph in the camera pit (another photo):
And Finally Adam Rosales signed my 11th 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 12th autograph of the night, but it wasn’t my last.
I went over to the foul line and got Wladimir Balentein to sign my 13th 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 10th baseball, the one that broke double digits for the night! The 5th 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 11th 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
7/24/09 Yankees vs. Athletics
I don’t usually arrive at 11:30 AM for a 7 PM game, but this day was different. I would be having an on-field clinic with Nick Swisher. We got a free invitation the day before because we were season ticket holders, there was 1 open space, and we knew one of the people running it. I couldn’t say no, and it would’ve been a mistake had I missed BP or this day in general.
But we even arrived too early for the clinic. I had to go to Gate 8 and get a white wristband. Then we had enough time to go get lunch at the Court Deli Restaurant, and then I went back to Gate 8.
There was a line of 50 kids and I was at the end of it.
Soon we were led inside and they split us into groups. We walked through a closed door and then underneath the stadium.
There were a few things to see, the Worker’s Uniform Pick-Up:
BP Nets:
Oh, and the field where we did our clinic.
I saw Brett Gardner come out of the dugout, but Swisher was nowhere to be een. Turns out that he was scheduled to appear at an event as part of HOPE week at the same time.
But there were also three Yankee Alumni: Oscar Gamble, Mike Torrez, and Joe Pepitone.
The first thing I did was field grounders and catch fly balls with Oscar Gamble. Here are some photos:
Oscar Gamble talking:
Me catching a fly ball:
Me throwing a ball:
They were using real MLB baseballs, including this:
A 2009 New Yankee Stadium commemorative baseball (you can zoom):
Then I pitched to Mike Torrez and Brett Gardner at a point. One of the pitches was a sinker which caught Brett off guard. He smiled and Mike Torrez said “Nice Sinker.” Here are some photos from that:
Mike Torrez talking to a kid:
Me pitching to Brett Gardner:
My sinker:
Then I hit baseballs off a tee, aiming for the short porch in Right Field. I almost hit one out. It hit the very top of the Sony sign in Right Field. Here are some photos from that:
The Sony sign in Right Field and a kid batting:
Me hitting (the ball is to the right of the dugout in the top left hand corner):
Me hitting again (the ball is above the tee, it’s easy to see):
And here are two shots that I like:
So after the clinic we had lunch at the Bleacher Café above the Batter’s Eye.
And then guess what happened? Two A’s took some early BP, but we were confined to the café area.
So I was helpless as I saw employees pocket balls that landed in the seats. But right after the two A’s took BP, two Yankees (Robinson Cano and unknown) took BP. We were confined to the left field bleachers in the last five rows in the section closest to the café to wait for Nick Swisher to show up for a Q&A. I *did* see Cano hit one ball into Monument Park’s nets. After Nick’s Q&A was done (which the only thing to note was a kid asking Nick “Do you have a girlfriend?”) Nick started signing photos. I rushed over there and was second in line.
So I got a Nick Swisher signed photo for my 1st autograph, and it was inscribed “Alex, go Yanks!”
But tucked away in the back corner was Oscar Gamble signing photos. I just went over there and got one photo signed for my 2nd autograph. Nobody cared, I could’ve gotten 20 photos.
Then I checked to see if the ball was still there:
It was! I went into the seats above the black and Monument Park and looked down. There was a security guard there. I got his attention and asked him to toss up the ball. He hit off the net, picked it up, walked over and threw me my 1st ball on the first try (a NY Commemorative Baseball).
I could’ve waited a bit because they were giving us a tour of Monument Park in a minute, but I didn’t wanna take any chances. Monument Park had nothing to note as I already took photos of it before. They gave us a gift bag and a Brett Gardner signed baseball, my 3rd autograph of the day.
The gift bag had a towel, keychain, and a crystal with some dirt.
They gave us the option of going outside and coming back later or a 30 step head start.
I choose the head start even though nothing was going on on the field. I decided to head to Left Field because there were some players in the bullpen.
But they gave me nothing. I waited until the Yankees came out to throw and I went over there. I decided to focus on the duo of Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera throwing. When they finished, Mariano got the ball. I stood up and shouted his name. It worked and he threw me my 2nd ball over the partition and nobody inside of it.
A ball from Mariano Rivera! I didn’t thing that I’d ever get a ball from him.
So BP started and I stayed in Right Field again, and I saw Andrew again. He would be at the New Yankee Stadium for the ENTIRE week because he flew in from California for one big trip. I let him stay in the aisle between sections 104 and 103. I stood in the aisle between 103 and the bullpen. In the photo below 103 is the section below the two Modell’s signs. 104 is off to the right.)
There were two lefties hitting bombs. One of those bombs was hit 3 rows over my head, but un-getable. I still watched the shot and the aftermath though, and I heard someone yell: “Heads Up!”
I looked up and a ball smacked off the wall separating the seats from the bullpen. It rolled slowly right between my legs and after realizing what happened I bare-handed my 3rd baseball off the concrete floor and because of the ball hitting the wall it got pretty scuffed as a result:
That was the same aisle where I got my 4th ball. Another long, un-getable shot was hit, but I didn’t want it to turn out like last time, so I didn’t watch it. I turned back towards the field and sure enough on the next pitch the batter, Hideki Matsui, hit one right in my direction. Everyone else had watched the previous hit, so I yelled “Heads Up!”
But I got the ball. I drifted down a couple rows and made a back-handed catch on the fly right in front of another, glove-less person.
I thought that I was all set to have a monster Yankees BP getting two or three more balls in Yankees BP alone, but the Yankees started winding down, so Andrew and I ran over to where the A’s were throwing.
When we got there the Yankees had finished hitting, so nobody was in the cages, and the A’s kept throwing while the ushers were kicking people out.
It got gloriously empty. I got a ball easily when the A’s finished throwing. Michael Wuertz and Russ Springer had been fooling around with grips on a baseball. When they stopped I asked Wuertz for the ball and he side-flipped me my 5th ball, a NY commemorative baseball (why are the A’s using them?)
Most of the A’s finished throwing a bit later, but I didn’t get anything from them. The bullpen Ron Romanick went over to pick up some cones and there were also two balls lying there. I asked him for the balls, and even though he looked sour, he was nice enough to throw me my 6th ball, another commemorative ball (again why are the A’s using them?)
There were only two pitchers left throwing on the foul line, so we went into the outfield (during which I neglected to take any photos). I asked Andrew where he wanted to be. He wanted to be two aisles from the foul pole, so I went to the third aisle.
It took a while, but I realized the second righty in the group taking their turn in the cage was blasting bombs into the seats. He hit one of those bombs to me. It was a high fly ball two rows down and one step to my right. I moved the distance, got ready, and caught my 7th ball on the fly right in front of a clue-less, eating family, in which someone would’ve been seriously hurt had I not been there. The ball has part of the Rawlings logo faded:
So I put that ball in my pocket and went back to my spot, but right after I got the ball I saw a thrown ball about to land in the row I was just in. I ran down into the row, the ball landed, and I grabbed my 8th ball.
I wasn’t sure if it was tossed to anyone or not, but people protested “That’s two!” I promised Andrew the next ball I got, so I called him over and gave him the ball, which then caused people to cheer.
During the next time the guy who hit my 7th ball came up he hit another ball towards me. I could see it coming, and so did some other people. We judged it, but the ball was closer to a guy next to me. Luckily he didn’t have a glove and he dropped it and I was able to snatch it off the ground for my 9th ball. That caused people to say “That’s THREE!” Nope, that’s nine.
I sat down to label the ball and take notes, but before I could finish BP ended. But two A’s went over to sign at the foul line. Andrew and I ran over there. The first autograph I got was Vin Mazzaro’s for my 4th autograph. My 5th autograph was Trevor Cahill.
I had to photograph the balls first, and then we went over to where the players stretch. We basically went to the same spot as where I got the Orlando Cabrera ball yesterday.
We were discussing what out plan would be when Mark Ellis finished throwing with Adam Kennedy. Andrew didn’t have his glove on, so I went to the first row and shouted Mark’s name. He spotted me and threw me my 10th ball over the partition and everyone in it, another NY commemorative (for the third time, why are the A’s using them?).
Double digits had been achieved TWICE at the impossibly hard New Yankee Stadium.
After that we went over to the same section yesterday. But we grew tired and hungry so we left in the 4th inning.
That Mark Ellis ball was my last of the day, and the ball I gave to Andrew was his last. A great day at the New Yankee Stadium…
Stats:
- 10 MLB Balls Today
- 5 MLB Autographs Today
- 105 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 144 Total Autographs in this Season
- 171 MLB Balls in this Season
- 192 Total Balls in this Season
- 9 BP, 1 Pre-Game
- 6 Thrown, 4 Hit
- Attendance: 46,086 People
- Competition Factor: 460,860
- 5.90 Balls / 1 Game
- 29 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
- 19 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
- 14 Consecutive Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs
7/4/09 Yankees vs. Blue Jays
The Fourth of July. It will be crowded. It will have more people than 7/3/09. Guess how many people were there on the Third?
46,308 people.
How many more until Opening Day’s attendance is in reach?
Well like last time someone was running in the outfield. That someone wasn’t as good as Felix Hernandez. He was Ricky Romero.
But I wasn’t sure what his name was so I just held up my pen and he walked over and signed my 1st autograph
of the day……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
That’s 125 periods, one for every minute of BP I was shoutout for.
But I *was* on the big screen.
But still, I was shutout for ALL of Yankees BP, and well into the Blue Jays BP Somehow the ushers in left field were nice enough to let me stay there for the Mariners BP. One usher who didn’t know me checked my ticket while I was in section 133 or so (I belonged in 130) and he said I was O.K! Even the “evil usher” didn’t harass me! He walked up to me and said:
“Was’ up man, you O.K?”
Amazing!
But I was still shutout for a while because there was a HUGE crowd there. I looked at the time:
12:01
No ball yet.
That ball was caught right in front of my glove (red shirt, under state farm sign.)
By then I knew my streak was going to end, even though the Blue Jays were pelting the seats with Home Runs. Pretty soon one was hit deep. It was going near a State Farm sign, about 8 rows back. And then it landed; it hit off a mom and bounced into my row. I reached down into my row and grabbed my 1st ball.
“Give it to the kid,” a fellow ballhawk “Tony” said.
I looked over at the kid, a sobbing 4 year old girl with a glove. I couldn’t say no, so I handed the ball over to her. But her mom made me take it back.
“It’s you ball, you caught it.” But don’t feel too bad for the girl, she was injured, and B.J. Ryan saw the incident and gave her a ball.
And a cool thing about that ball? It has not one, but two faint bat prints on it. Take a look:
All I can make out is the letters “ENUH”. Any idea on what that could stand for?
Now I know that THAT is the ‘T’ from ‘TPX’, which is on some bats.
So then soon after I convinced Scott Richmond to toss me my 2nd ball. I HAD to engage him in conversation to get the ball.
Me: How about a ball for a Jays fan?
Scott: You’re not a Blue Jays fan. (I think he was eyeing my Yankees wristband)
Me: Look, I got a Jays hat and a Canada shirt.
So then he wheeled around and threw me the ball unexpectedly.
Home runs were being hit left and right. The balls being fielded either went to B.J. Ryan or Scott Downs,
who were tossing them to people many rows back, sometimes a couple decks up. When Scott fielded a ball I went baaaaaaack, but he threw the ball right where I was originally standing.
But Shawn Camp fielded the occasional ball also. So when he got one ball, I asked him, he tossed it, but it hit off my glove and plopped on the track. (Earlier a ball was caught RIGHT in front of my glove.)
“You’re killin’ me man!” Shawn said. He walked over and was about to hand it to the wrong kid, but then he looked over and saw me and handed me my 3rd ball.
Now that was it for BP. But since ALL the ushers had no problem with me sitting there for Batting Practice, I decided to sit there for the game. But I only sat there for the first 3 innings of the game.
And the last 3 innings also. But let’s not cut to that just yet.
When Brian Bruney started warming up I moved over to the Yankees bullpen in the Bleachers in hopes of improving my tally for the day. Pretty soon a fly ball was hit, and I ran down as soon as it was hit, unlike most people who wait until the out is made. Well it paid off because apparently Brian had already finished warming up and Mike Harkey was waiting to give the ball to someone. That someone would be the first person there (me) so I got my 4th ball.
And it was a long game also. I sat in the outfield from the ninth inning and on for one purpose: the Bullpen Line-Up Card.
Finally at the end of the long game I went over to the bullpen. I asked one random coach in there for the line-up card. But he tossed me a ball, which was errant.
But then Bruce Walton came out. I pointed to and asked him for the line-up card. He walked over, took it off, and handed it to me. Yes!
Stats:
- 1 MLB Autograph Today
- 4 MLB Balls Today
- 86 MLB Autographs
- 91 Total Autographs in this Season
- 134 MLB Balls
- 150 Total Balls in this Season
- 3 BP, 1 During
- 2 Thrown, 1 Hand-To-Hand, 1 Hit
- 5.83 Balls / 1 Game
- Attendance: 46,620
- Competition Factor: 186,480
- 13 Consecutives Games with at last 1 MLB Autograph
- 23 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
- 8 Consecutives Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs
6/6/09 Yankees vs. Rays
I arrived early for the first time in eons.
And I saw that. It was sad. But let’s go on!
I went in through the Great Hall just to settle some curiosity. I asked an usher if I could get into the main level now.
“At 11 O’Clock,” he said. “Right now you can visit the Yankees museum on the second level or go to Monument Park.” I started to walk away… “Oh, and you can go into field level.” I choose the later of all the places I could go.
When I went into the field level seats, I waited for B.P. to start. And when it did I went over to the Yankees dugout. Why? Tony Pena, Mick Kelleher, and a pitcher were throwing, in front of the dugout.
I didn’t get the ball, nor did I get a ball from when the Yankee pitchers were throwing.
My 1st ball was a lucky ball. I saw a bullpen session going on in the Yankees bullpen. Some balls were hit there. At the end of one of the two bullpen sessions, I pointed out a ball to Dave Eiland and asked for it. He walked over and tossed it to me. I then had to work it around the corner spot because the ball wouldn’t fit in the opening.
Another over-aggressive adult was here tonight. Let me tell you his story!
I was standing in the front row because Aceves promised me a ball and I was determined to get one. So when a ball was caught by him I asked Aceves for it. He looked at ME and he pointed at ME and then he tossed the balls towards ME (have you gotten yet that it was intended for me?). Well this “adult” shoved me out of the way, and grabbed the ball. Aceves glared at him and what did the “adult” do? Stood right next to me and continued to ask player’s for balls. A ball was hit RIGHT at ME. I didn’t have to me. Well guess what happened. He reached out and bobbled the ball, which dropped onto the field. I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad he didn’t get it. I was going to jump up and deflect each ball in the vicinity of him, and if a ball was thrown to his side I would block him from moving. Well when he stepped out of the first row and I took his spot. I think a 5’7″ kid wearing a 12 ½” glove can deflect balls if needed. Well having the annoyance blocked off I was able to get my 2nd, well-deserved ball from Alfredo Aceves (and 91st on the season), who this time put it into my glove (who knows maybe the adult would grab the ball from Aceves’s hand and say “IT WAS FOR ME!”)
After that I went to left field because Tamp was throwing.
I didn’t get any balls (except 2) because there were too many people. I didn’t get any autographs (except 1) because I was trying for balls the entire time. All the excepts came at the end of throwing, all within 5 minutes of each other. Here is what happened.
Randy and Lance Cormier finished throwing. Randy took the ball, put it in his glove, and started signing. I asked him a couple times, but he said no. So figuring he wouldn’t give me the ball, I hid my face, stuck out my hand, and had him sign two autographs (my 1st autograph).
Well when he was finished he ran off, placed the ball, my 3rd ball, into my mitt, and then ran into the dugout. Then a trainer from a distance got my attention. Tom Foley, him, and Evan Longoria had been doing drills.
I didn’t even ask for a ball, but he tossed me my 4th ball. You wanna know how close the time in between getting the two balls was? When the trainer got my attention I had my 3rd ball in my mitt. Wow.
Then B.P. ended. The Rays weren’t taking B.P. apparently, so I wandered over to the bullpen just to look, and I saw bullpen catcher Scott Cursi.
He tossed a ball to someone nearby and I asked him for one also. He said he can’t, but when he walked back into the bullpen I asked him again. This time he wandered over to his bag (in the back right corner of the bullpen),
took out a ball, and walked towards me.
“See if you like this one,” he said and he tossed me my 5th ball. I liked it because it wasn’t what I expected. What was it?
LAST YEAR’S Yankee Stadium commemorative ball! I only had one other of these (rolled to me across the dugout last year by Alexie Ramirez), but this one is mint, except for a “Practice” stamp.
The other baddest (I know it is not a word) mark is this:
Can you see it? I can barely.
Skip forward to during the game since nothing else happened…
Aybar hit a home run into the Rays bullpen. I ran over there and into the bleachers. I asked the always generous Bobby Ramos for:
“La pelota home run”? How do you say “home run” in Spanish? Well he walked over, picked up a ball lying on the ground, and tossed it to me from a considerable distance, my 6th ball. It wasn’t the home run ball, just a regular MLB Ball.
Now earlier I saw Will Ferrell in the Legends. I read an article previously about him being the worst celebrity signer. It’s true. After some hard work to get over there, he blew me off, along with a little kid right next to me. I didn’t like that. I had to get a stub for section 122, row 25, seat 8 and work my way into the right spot for him. Oh, well…
Stats:
- 6 MLB Balls Today
- 1 MLB Autograph Today
- 95 MLB Balls in this Season
- 111 Total Balls in this Season
- 75 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 78 Total Autographs in this Season
- 4 BP, 1 Pre-Game, 1 During
- 4 Thrown, 2 Hand-To-Hand
- 46,205 People
- Competition Factor: 277,230
- 5.9 Balls / 1 Game
- 16 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
- 6 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
Here is a little picture show for you…
He doesn’t look any different. At all.
5/5/09 Yankees vs. Red Sox
Finally I now have some time. I now can start catching up on my entries. This one will be short.
We arrive late. 30 minutes late. I didn’t expect anything to be happening, but there is. There are some Yankees throwing and a Red Sox bullpen session in left field. When I get there:
“Do you want to take pictures?” an usher asks.
“Oh, well I, uh, there’s a ball down there, and I was wondering if I could try to get it?”
“Go ahead, but come back up.”
When I get there, the only ball I see is Penny’s warm-up ball. But when John Farrell shows him some mechanics, I see another ball. I ask John for the ball, but he just looks up.
But since it is wet out, Penny and Farrell exchange balls, so then Farrell takes the water ball used by Penny and tosses it to me for my 1st ball.
I go over to the area above the black because I see one ball in Center.
When I get there, I see an elderly worker pick up the ball. But there was another one I didn’t see. When I was leaving, I saw a Red Sox walking back towards the dugouts with a ball. Too Late.
And then there is nothing until the Red Sox start throwing.
My 2nd ball came when a guy (bullpen catcher), who looked like Alex Cora, finished throwing. I didn’t know his name, so all I did was hold up my glove and he tosses it to me.
Then Takashi Saito finished throwing. This time I just laid off a bit and I just held up my glove, inside the legends area (I was in the corner spot) and he tosses the ball exactly towards me, and I catch it for my 3rd ball today and my 62nd on the season.
“Aw, come on. I was brave enough to wear a Red Sox hat here,” a fan with an army colored Red Sox hat said after my catch.
“Hey, I’m brave enough to wear a Red Sox hat and a Red shirt here,” I reply.
“You got me there.”
Just then I move over a bit to where Hunter Jones and the no longer on the Red Sox Javier Lopez are finishing throwing. When they finish, I call Hunter’s name. He wants to throw it to me, but there are people around me. I hold my glove low and he throws it at me, but the people next to me knock it to the ground! And I don’t get it.
And then nothing. I try for stretching, but this usher asks me for my ticket. I show him my 130 ticket, but he makes me stand in 130. I can’t move over a couple seats before game time. It’s stupid because you can’t cross and imaginary line he made. I could rant about him more, but I’m tired. Here’s his photo:
I dislike him.
So my B.P. sucks. I get no more autographs. I really really hate that usher for that. But here’s a story to tell you. At around the 3rd inning, I went to the grandstand and saw some elevators. I looked and saw one of the stops was the Legends Seats. When I get on the first stop is the Delta Sky Suite, the best foul ball spot there. I was shocked and I could’ve gone, but I didn’t. The doors close and the next stop is: The area between the Legends restaurant and the gates. There is a woman checking tickets there, so I can’t get there anyway. I would’ve kept going on the elevator, but an usher controlled it. I go back upstairs again. I see the Delta button pushed, but it doesn’t stop there. So I end up back in the entrance and take some photos. Nothing really happening there. On Thursday I’ll try again.
Now the rest is summarized in bullets:
- Get stub for sec 123, Row 18, Seat 6.
- Sit and Hope for a 3rd out ball from the 6th inning on.
- No third out ball, only one ball tossed into area above the partition
- No ball after the game
Not the best day. I am pissed at a bunch of things. I really want Thursday to be good. I may need a little extra help…
Stats:
-
3 MLB Balls Today
-
49 MLB Autographs in this Season
-
52 Total Autographs in this Season
-
62 MLB Baseballs in this Season
-
78 Total Baseballs in this Season
-
3 BP
-
3 Thrown
-
Attendence: 46,810 people
- Competition Factor: 140,430
- 6.2balls / 1 game
- 10 Consecutive games with 3 MLB Baseballs
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