Results tagged ‘ Double Digits ’
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 1st 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 4th 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 4th 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 299th 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 300th 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 5th 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 1st 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 6th 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 7th 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 8th 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 9th 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 7th 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 10th 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 9th 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 11th 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 12th 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
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 1st 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 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th 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 6th 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 7th 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 8th 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 9th 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 10th 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 1st 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 11th 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
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 1st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 4th 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 1st 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 5th 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 6th 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 7th 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 8th ball. Two more balls until double digits.
I had gone to only 4 games prior to this one at Citi Field without double digits, but I got double digits at my 2nd regular season game ever at New Yankee Stadium (well 4th 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 9th 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 7th 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 
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 10th 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
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
5/17/09 Yankees vs. Twins
Normally I am lost in the sea of people wishing to get into the Legends Seats, but today, as a present for a special occasion, I was among the chosen ones, sitting in the Legends Seats.
See that white thing in my glove? More on that in a bit.
When we got into the Legends there were only 2 other people in the seats. One of them was a kid who I recognized from last season and he was always in the secluded area behind home plate (and he recognized me as getting a Derek Jeter Wristband from 2 YEARS AGO), and he ran over to the Twins dugouts. I followed him and when I was there, I saw Francisco Liriano walking over to sign. I got him on two for my 1st autograph so far. Now as in my last entry, I forgot to upload my small camera pictures to the computer, so not everyone or thing is captured on a camera.
There was no other action, so I went back over to the Yankees dugouts. What sucks is that you can’t go into the corner of each dugout at ANY POINT unless you have tickets there. So I waited, along with other, as close as we could get.
There were only Yankees whose autographs I haven’t gotten: Mark Texieria, Francisco Cervelli, and Ramiro Pena. Make it two.
Ramiro came out of the dugout, talked to some people, and then came over to sign. I was able to get him on two baseballs for my 2nd autograph.
I stayed over there until there was some action in front of the Twins dugout, but I did get some more autographs over there. Robinson Cano came over and signed two for me for my 3rd autograph that day and my 56th MLB autograph on the season.
Now after that, at 10:59, Derek Jeter started bunting. B.P. was underway. That B.P. policy wasn’t only the first hour of B.P. It was the entire Yankees B.P. Well I went over to where some Yankees were throwing in hopes of getting a ball. Even though there were maybe 4 balls in play in the Legends area, and my only competition was a father-son team with a pen, I only got one ball. I got rejected twice by some players, but then the always generous, but not the best, Jose Veras came along.
I asked him for a ball when he finished. He looked at me and wanted to throw it, so I pulled up the netting beneath and stuck out my glove. That convinced him and he tossed me my 1st ball of the day.
Now nothing else happened Yankee-wise for me because I was over by the Twins dugout. They were dumping balls into the bucket, and I was looking for some twins commemorative baseballs. I maybe saw a couple of them, but what amazed me was the dozens and dozens of Yankees commemorative. Then two coaches took a ball from the bucket and started throwing. While throwing, I could see something on the ball (it was being held by Steve Liddle), it was a NYY commemorative. Here we go…
Steve is the one with the 9 on his back, right next to the bucket.
Well I must’ve blanked out for a bit because when I snapped back into reality Steve wasn’t holding a baseball, but he was still there.
“Steve can I have the ball that you were using?” I asked.
“Where ‘ya from?” he asked me, looking at my Twins hat.
“I’m from New York,” I said while nodding.
He then took a ball from the bucket, looked at it, put it back, and then looked at and picked up another one.
“Take a look at this one,” he said and tossed me my 2nd ball. When I looked at it,
it was a Yankees Inaugural Baseball. Essentially Flawless. Only 1 small mark. Wow. It was a thing of beauty, but I also wanted a Twins commemorative.
I asked a nearby coach, Joe Varva, specifically for a Twins commemorative. What does he do? He looks at and takes a ball in the bucket and rolls me my 3rd ball across the dugout roof. It wasn’t a Twins ball, it was a Yankees ball, my 3rd one of those this year.
This was the worst I could find on this ball:
Do you see it? It is that barely noticable brown mark.
The Twins started throwing, so I went over there. Jose Morales came over to sign, so I took out some baseballs and got him to sign my 4th autograph.
Melky Cabrera then came over to sign, and I got Melky’s autograph for my 5th autograph. I got him on one inaugural baseball and two of that day’s give-a-way, bats.
I wasn’t able to get any of the balls being thrown around, so I went back to the dugout. There were a couple people who came and were just standing there trying to get Denard Span’s attention. I got Denard’s attention for them, and they got his autograph, so I tossed Denard a ball also and he signed me my 6th autograph. That was it for during Twins B.P.
Carlos Gomez is on the right, Denard Span is in the middle, and Jason Kubel is on the right.
At the end of B.P, when everyone was coming off the field, I got 3 more autographs.
The First One: Michael Cuddyer was walking in. I got his attention and tossed him a ball and he signed my 7th autograph. He took some time to write his good signature, and I got antsy because standing close to him were about to be a former M.V.P. and Rookie signing: Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.
The Second One: Justin Morneau was just about to go in, but I tossed him only one ball. He signed my 8th autograph and then went inside. I then ran over to get the last Twin signing, Joe Mauer.
The Third One: Joe Mauer was gladly taking his time, but he was about to go in. Luckily he saw my Twins hat and signed two for my 9th autograph so far.
(that took like 7 tries to load)
After they left, I went over to the bucket. I asked for a ball from the guy emptying it, but I got nada. I recognized coach Jerry White and I asked him for a ball. He looked up and tossed me a Yankees Commemorative ball for my 4th ball. Every ball, except the first one, has been a Yankees commemorative, and all the further ones I get will be so also.
And now I break double digits in autographs. I went over to where the Twins were stretching. I asked Matt Tolbert to sign after he was done. He walked over and signed me my 10th autograph of the day, and then continued to sign for a couple more people. I have now broken double digits in both balls and autographs at the New Yankee Stadium.
Since I thought the Twins side should be reserved for third out balls, I spent the pre-game throwing at the Yankees Dugout’s inner corner. A-Rod came out to throw and I knew who was going to end up with it… Well when A-Rod came in he tossed me his pre-game warm-up ball, and my 5th ball, a NYY commemorative.
Game Time!
I decided to try for a 3rd out ball from each side, on the outer corner first. I got a commemorative ball on the Yankees side, but it wasn’t a third out ball, it was most likely a foul ball.
While at the Yankees side, Mark Texieria ended up with the ball, a groundout. He tossed that to someone else, but I noticed a guy beneath me in the dugouts had a ball. I asked him for it, and after pondering it for a bit, he flipped the ball to me, my 6th ball and 73rd on the season.
Since it was commemorative, rubbed, and had a big black mark on it, I assumed it was most likely a foul ball rolled towards the dugout. So since I had gotten a ball at both sides of the Yankees dugout, I went over to the Twins dugout.
Time: End of the Bottom of the 4th.
Location: Outer Aisle of Minnesota Twins Dugout
Person Holding Subject: Justin Morneau.
Subject: A Commemorative Third-Out Groundout Ball Retrieved by Justin Morneau.
When Justin Morneau ended up with the ball I rushed down to the front row. It was easy. Justin spotted me and tossed me my 7th ball, and my final ball of the day.
Yes final.
I got nothing afterwards because of the unexpected, but enjoyable, walk-off home run by Johnny Damon. He is one the nicest players in baseball, so I am glad he hit it, and not a jerk.
Here is my final haul from inside the stadium:
Inside
But wait! Don’t go! There’s more! Since we had nothing to do, and it was a day game, we stayed after for autographs. After waiting for a while, Paul O’Neil came out. He went to the other side of the barricade almost immediately, but he still signs. I rushed over there and got him for my 11th autograph of the day.
Then we saw Blyleven. Since I didn’t have the balls out, and the ones that I did weren’t related to him at all, I got Bert on two tickets for my 12th autograph that day.
“Pull my finger,” he said, finger as in the pen cap.
After waiting a bit more, some Twins players come out. They are Carlos Gomez, Jose Morales, and someone whose name in on the tip of my tongue. After Carlos skipped me (intentionally?) a couple of times, he finally signs me my 13th autograph. That player whose name I couldn’t remember, I looked it up and it turns out it was Luis Ayala, so I asked, and got him, to sign my 14th autograph so far.
A lot of people have left, but others, my family included, are waiting for somebody: David Wells. You see, May 17th, 2009 is the 11 year anniversary of his perfect game. So when people started running off somewhere, it was to David Wells (and Cone).
I got David Wells on the bat for my 15th autograph and then I got David Cone on the baseballs for my 16th autograph so far.
That was it for the day. My next game will be a Baltimore Game.
Stats:
- 7 MLB Balls Today
- 74 MLB Balls in this Season
- 16 MLB Autographs Today
- 69 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 72 Total Autographs in this Season
- 90 Total Baseballs in this Season
- 3 BP, 2 Pre-Game, 2 During
- 7 Thrown
- Attendence: 44,804 people
- Competition Factor: 313,628
- 6.2 Balls/ 1 Game
- 12 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
(P.S. Just to tell you, the Legends isn’t much better than the outfield. It’s not really that much of a difference on the average number of balls a game.)
4/18/09 Yankees vs. Indians
Today, since it’s the weekend and a 3:40 game, we arrived 40 minutes before the gates open. I decide to take the long route and look at all the gates. Here are some shots:
The long wall between Gates 6 and 8. I head towards Gate 6 I think, and I see Zack Hample and a huge crowd there. I talk to him for 10 minutes or so and then head back over to Gate 2.
A very empty Gate 4 about 10 minutes before gate opening. Look in the background.
What’s that? They had trouble opening the gate at Gate 2. It kept jamming. It would close fine, but then it would jam when it got there. Gate 2 is not a very well crowded gate. There are 5 scanners, and there were 25 people there in total, but then security made everyone into one line. That’s o.k.; I was about 3rd or 4th.
Anyway, I head inside and go to my seat. The BP cages are set up, but nothing is happening. My seats are in the perfect place. In the area behind our section, there is a gate, a bathroom, multiple concessions, we have in seat service, and the pitchers warm-up right in front of us. So I go to get a Johnny Rockets because they gave out free shakes today, but they aren’t open yet. They say to be back in 10 minutes, but of course that ten minutes disappear when two Indians start throwing.
I put on my Indians cap, and walk down into the corner spot between the bleachers and the field. One of them has an injured arm, and I think that the other is the bullpen catcher Brian Wallace. They start moving in, so when they keep walking closer, but they stop throwing…
“Can I have that ball?”
The guy with the injured arm circles his arm once and then throws the ball over to me. It bounces twice, and then the usher grabs it. I said right before it came near us “I got it,” but the usher got it anyway. But it is o.k. because he hands the ball, my 1st ball, right over to me. My first ball 3 hours before game time, cool.
That I think is Wallace on the left.
Then the Yankees start taking some lazy swings. I was over by right field, so I run back. When I get there, there are about 3 balls in the corner. A guy, who I think is one of the older Yankees ball boys, picks up the balls. I ask him for the ball, and he flips it up to me, my 2nd ball today. It is only about 165 minutes before game time, and I already have 2 balls!
Then, when the Yankees have slowed down hitting for a bit, an usher goes down the aisle about 3 aisles away from me. There is about 20 people in the outfield, but *POOF* there is now about 6. I talked with an usher near me. I do have to admit, the ushers here are much nicer. This usher said that the usher over there was checking people’s tickets and taking their names. If they were caught again, they would be ejected.
Wow.
So then the Yankees start heating up again. The Yankees are hitting balls, so I move over into a spot. I hope he doesn’t kick a kid out. Another ball rolls to the wall, and that ball is almost in the spot where my previous ball was. A guy, who I think, no wait, I know is A.J. Burnett walks over to pick it up. I ask him for the ball and he flips up to me my 3rd ball today. I just got my New Yankee Stadium average in less than 40 minutes.
And check out this cool marking?
How did that get there?
After A.J. leaves, someone takes his place. That someone? Melky Cabrera.
Originally, Melky starts fielding one ball after another off the wall. I am asking him for the baseball, and all the while wondering how so many balls are hit to near the same spot repeatedly. Only then in the distance do I see a coach hitting those balls. Oh.
When he finishes, some people call Melky over to sign, and he signs for them. I go over there figuring Melky is a good autograph, so I get Melky on two (oh, so now you sign two?) baseballs for my 1st autograph today.
It’s about 1:40 and here is an observation: the Yankees aren’t hitting any baseballs into the left field stands. All the meanwhile I can see Zack running around and making high jumps in right field. Since nothing is coming my way, and there aren’t really anybody near to the corner to just run over there for any old baseball, so I walk over to the bullpen. I see Carl Willis, who is a good ignorer, and Aaron Laffey. I also see a baseball.
See it?
They are talking about pitching mechanics, so when they finish I ask:
“Aaron can I have that ball over there?” while pointing to the ball. He gladly walks over. I have my hand under the railing and he is about to hand it to me.
“But wait this ball won’t fit under.”
He thinks for a second and then says “Over.” I back up and he tosses it over, and I catch it easily, my 4th ball today.
A couple steps away from me are two Indians ball boys who are playing catch. They have been shagging and playing catch on and off for the last couple minutes, so when a ball rolls to the wall I ask for “a ball for an Indians’ fan?” He looks at my hat, laughs, and tosses me my 5th ball. Wow. 5 balls and the Indians haven’t even thrown! 5 balls before the visiting team bats.
This is almost as good as Camden. But now the Indians come out to throw. Also at this time, I see a familiar face that was kicked out of right field. Same side of the field, hope we don’t get in each other’s way.
Rafael Perez is again throwing a ball against a wall. Same spot also. So I go to the same spot as before and I ask him for the ball. When he finishes he doesn’t toss me the ball. He tosses it in an arc, and the ball lands in the second row, wedge in an ultra-padded seat. A man is sitting right behind the seat, but I scurry over there and get it for my 6th ball today.
Small type of ball Rafael Perez used in back-to-back days.
Then when some of the pitchers finish, Carl Pavano is standing around with some other pitchers. He comes over to sign, so I get him on one, for my 2nd MLB autograph today, my 1946th MLB autograph of all-time, and my 2356th total autograph of all time.
Since only Rafael Perez is throwing, I go back to fair territory.
Can you spot Zack in the picture?
Masa Kobayashi is running up and down the outfield wall, and a ball rolls to the wall. Masa walks over to pick it up. I ask him for the ball (in English), but as fate would have it, Zack saw that and got over there. He asked him in Spanish. Masa looked at me and then him. I was a kid wearing an Indians hat and I asked first, but Zack asked in Japanese and is wearing an Indians hat and shirt. Mass decides to toss me the ball, my 7th ball today.
This is REALLY beaten up for just the 3rd game at the New Yankee Stadium.
Another ball rolls over there, so I move to a different spot, but still close to the wall. I ask Cliff Lee for the ball, but he must’ve seen my pen. He takes the ball, and kicks it into the 4th row. He kicked it. Then another ball rolls over there. It was just in front of the Canon sign.
I ask Zach Jackson, who I sometimes mistake for Carl Pavano, if I could have that ball.
He finishes talking and picks up his glove. There is a ball in that. Is that my ball? Nope. Two more balls roll to the wall to make it three. Is ball number 1 my ball? Nope. What about ball number 2? Nope. He takes the ball I asked for, walks about 10 feet over, and under-hands me my 8th ball.
I kinda space out, but a couple asks me to take their picture. I snap back in. And I take their photo. I stay there and I talk to them for a bit, but it is interrupted by a “HEADS UP”. I look up in time and see a ball barely in the sun-light. If I had to say, it was about 150 feet away. I lost it but I stick my glove out randomly. I don’t know what made me put my glove in that direction, but I did. I barely have it out; it is not even fully extended, before my arm is yanked down. I look at the outer wall of my pocket and don’t see a ball. I am thinking that I dropped it, but I turn my glove over and open it to find my 9th ball sitting there happily. After I see the ball in my glove, there is a bunch of applause and then I get a lot of “Nice Catch” through the rest of BP.
I tried rotating it, it wouldn’t work.
Then an usher, the one who was asking for tickets approaches me. He said that I should give a ball to a kid, who couldn’t be more than 7, in the front row. I see that he has a glove on, a plus, but I tell the usher that I will help him get one. I go over to the kid and say:
“Did you get a ball yet?” I ask him.
“Nope,” he replies.
“Well I’ll help you out.” I let him use my Indians hat and get the player’s attention. The usher is two rows behind me. Some balls roll to the corner, so I position him in the front row and when a player comes to get the ball, I help him get it. After I get the kid the ball and walk back over, a guy approaches me. He says that an usher, probably the one I just did a favor for, told him that I average 6 balls a game here. I tell him that that is not true, and that it is only 3 a game. But he asks me if I could give a ball to his wife up there. I tell him that I like to keep each ball I get, and he is ok about it. He doesn’t badger me. That is good.
So after that, another ball rolls to the wall. Standing right next to each other are Vinnie Chulk and Cliff Lee. They look very similar, except Vinnie has bushier eyebrows. So I ask Vinnie for a ball and he walks backwards and throws me my 10th ball. 10!!! DOUBLE DIGITS!
Wow. It took 1/3 of my games are double digits.
Down part…
Remember that usher? He walks over to me. He points to an older man sitting far back, without a glove. He says that I should give him that ball. I say I would prefer not, but he takes the ball out of my mitt and walks over and hands him the ball.
“But he caught it, it should be his,” the glove-less man said on my behalf.
“He caught it for you, right?” The usher lied.
I told the truth saying I didn’t and the old man gives me the ball back.
Older man=good
Usher=BAD
Did I mention that that usher kept asking me for a ball?
I dislike that usher.
I want to file a complaint.
I want him gone.
Anyway, BP Ends soon after, and I have to leave for a Bar-Mitzah, so I watch an inning (the only good inning) and then head outside to be picked up and driven there. That it a very good day.
Here are some shots of the scoreboard:
That thing is a door that opened in the scoreboard. Must have a nice view.
Yes 14 runs. FOURTEEN. In the second inning. I had the joy of hearing it while stuck in traffic on the highway.
Look at that score! It took about 2 hours and 30 minutes to get from the 3rd inning to the 9th inning. I was at the Bar Mitzvah by then.
That’s double digits at Yankee Stadium for the 3rd game ever there. I wonder how it will be for the 6th game ever there…
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