Results tagged ‘ No BP ’
10/4/09 Mets vs. Astros
Final day of the regular season, and I spent it at Citi Field. We arrived early and since there was time to waste before I though anyone would arrive I went to the players entrance. Joe, from yesterday’s game, was there and he started waving for me to come over fast. I ran over there and saw that a player (Josh Thole) was calmly signing for everyone. I waited on a line and then he signed my 1st autograph.
Joe and I talked for a bit, waiting for another player to come. He was Brian Stokes, he signed my 2nd autograph, and took a photo with me:
Out next stop was the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. We put our bags down and noticed a big guy coming from the subway, walking in our direction. We both thought it was a player, and after thinking for a bit we realized that it was Jeff Fulchino, who signed my 3rd autograph.
That was my final autograph before the game. When we entered the stadium there was no action, and it remained that way for more than an hour. Since there was a lot of time to waste I was able to hang out with a bunch of other ballhawks who were there:
From Left to Right: Connor, Joe, Me, Zack, another Alex, Ross, and Clif.
The first players to come out were 6 Mets players (plus 2 trainers).
I got nothing.
The first Astros to come out were Samuel Gervacio and a random worker.
I got nothing.
So I was seriously worrying at game time. It was crowded as hell by the dugouts, this was even worse than that one game at Detroit by now; at least I had a baseball by this point. My second baseball in Detroit was from pre-game throwing, and that is what I waited for, hoping that I would get a baseball there. That hope went away and turned into relief when Jeff Keppinger tossed me my 1st ball, (I’m in the bottom left corner of the photo, Jeff is on the right jogging towards the dugout):
The game started and I had one ball. I wasn’t leaving with just one, I could deal with two, but not one. So I tried for 3rd out balls and warm-up balls. The Citi Field ushers must’ve said: “Ah, screw it,” because there was an insane amount of competition behind the dugout during the game, and by the time Take Me Out to the Ballgame was played, I still only had one baseball. But one inning later I got my 2nd ball, a pre-inning warm-up ball, from Jose Cruz.
That was the final ball. I didn’t get any game-used stuff myself after the game (the main reason I came), but Clif gave me a batting glove that he got.
Joe, Clif, and I exited and went over to the Astros exit. After waiting for a while, Joe and I (Clif had left) got a random guy to take our hats and baseballs and get them signed by Miguel Tejada, my 4th autograph.
Stats:
2 MLB Balls Today
4 MLB Autographs Today
209 MLB Autographs in this Season
248 Total Autographs in this Season
316 MLB Balls in this Season
337 Total Balls in this Season
2 Thrown
1 Pre-Game, 1 During
Attendance: 38,135
Competition Factor: 76,270
6.45 Balls / 1 Game
39 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
8/20/09 Tigers vs. Mariners
No batting practice here is worse than no batting practice at Yankee Stadium. Shocking right? At Comerica Park you have 90 minutes of time before the game starts, not so strict security, and dugout and bullpen areas accessible. At New Yankee Stadium you have 3 hours of time before the game starts, semi-to-strict security, and the dugouts aren’t accessible, but the bullpens are. At Yankee Stadium the extra 90 minutes gives much more times to get baseballs and the strict security keeps out the not-so-skilled people. At Comerica Park it’s only 90 minutes and security lets people move freely. So there are much more crowds and much less opportunities at Comerica.
Because of the way Comerica is run I only got two balls before the game, and it took a while to get both of them.
My 1st baseball started off soon after the gates opened. After the gates opened I ran inside and saw that the tarp was on the field, but I also saw that two Tigers were running along the foul line. Not good. The people (Armando Gallaraga and a trainer) hadn’t thrown yet because they needed to get loose first (running) so by the time they would start throwing a crowd would have formed.
That was exactly what happened. They started throwing a while later, during which some more players came out to throw also in front of a large crowd with many kids.
Those players were Ryan Perry and a Translator for Tainwanese pitcher Fu-Te Ni, who was throwing with Zach Miner. A loose ball ended up getting away from the Translator, and it rolled to the wall, but somebody scooped the ball from over the wall. And then they finished first and tossed the ball to somebody else. Fu-Te Ni and Zach Miner finished soon after, and since I positioned myself right behind them, they tossed me the ball before they went in (1st ball).
I went over to the Mariners side where some pitchers were throwing, but I picked the wrong place every time. Although after David Aardsma threw I got his autograph for my 1st autograph.
Then when King Felix Hernandez (who suddenly became nice this season) started signing a bit further down the foul line a bit later I got him to sign my 2nd autograph.
There was only one pair left throwing over by the Mariners, but the Tigers had a couple, so I went over there. But before I got to where the people were throwing lets get to some players signing. From the other side of the stadium I could see that Fu-Te Ni, Ryan Perry and Zach Miner were signing on the foul line for an incredibly long time. But by the time that I got over there Zach Miner was no longer signing and Ryan and Fu-Te were in close proximity. I tried getting Fu-Te, but it seemed as though he was only signing for people who had a spot on the wall, so I got Ryan Perry first for my 3rd autograph.
Then I moved about 15 feet to the right of Fu-Te and grabbed a spot on the wall. I was right and he signed for me, my 4th autograph.
Then I moved down to where the pitchers were throwing, but no baseballs were to be had, only an autograph, Fernando Rodney. I don’t get why ALL the kids were calling him “Rodney”. Not “Fernando”, not “Mr. Rodney”, just “Rodney”. Well anyway I got “Fernando Rodney” for my 5th autograph after waiting for a bit.
It was getting right before game time and I only had one ball. It was one of the worst beginnings I’ve had. I had to recuperate and snag a few more baseballs, so when I looked at the crowds on each side I picked the visiting team’s side. It was a good choice; I would’ve had no chance over by the Tigers side, but by the Mariners side? I was the only person there, so I was the only Mariners fan. It was too easy, so when Michael Saunders and Jack Hannahan started throwing where the players stretch the ball was as good as mine. Michael ended up with it, saw my Mariners stuff, and flung me the ball as I ran forward and made the back-handed grab for my 2nd ball.
There were no more pre-game throwing except at the dugout, where Jose Lopez threw with someone I couldn’t remember. But he didn’t give the ball out. So I was trying to think of how to salvage my day. Should I try for third out balls first before the competition gets too intense? What about pre-inning warm-up balls? Should I go for foul balls? I looked at the area behind home plate and noticed that there were no second, third, fourth, etc. deck seats where foul balls would land, so they would bounce down to field level (or land in little openings). And also there was also a cross-aisle running right through the seats all through the seats. It seemed perfect so I had to go for it. It was a good decision. This was my view for lefties:
And my view for Righties:
And my view to my left:
It was in the Top of the 1st Inning, the third batter of the inning. Jose Lopez was batting against Jarrod Washburn, who isn’t exactly a flame thrower. Jarrod Washburn was pitching. He loaded the count with a sinker down in the zone and then two back-to-back change-ups in basically the same spot. Apparently Jose wasn’t given the red light because he swung at the next pitch, a sinker on the outside part of the plate and fouled it off, but not back. But on the next pitch, a fastball up and in, a ball, he did. He basically fouled it straight back. It was going in a high arc to my left, so I ran over there. It landed in the second row of the Tigers’ Den (look at the first photo above) right next to a guy sitting down in a red shirt. But luckily it rolled down in the first row. It came into view underneath a seat and it started rolling towards me, so I stuck my arm through some metal bars and tried grabbing the ball. I pulled my arm out and in it was my 3rd baseball of the day and 2nd lifetime game ball! I didn’t know what to do, so I just held up the ball for a second and then went back to work. I scrapped my arm a bit from the metal bars, and the ball was a little scrapped from hitting the concrete, but I had the ball. Like I said it was scrapped a bit from the concrete underneath the MLB Player Silhouette and the Rawlings text had a bat mark on it, smudging it.
Even though I got that foul ball 3 baseballs wasn’t enough, but I wanted another foul ball. So I would go for foul balls for the first two outs, and when the second out was made I would head to the dugout of the team that would be coming off the field. I didn’t get any baseballs until the game was official. I ran down to the front row when the out was made for the bottom of the 5th. Russell Branyan of the Mariners started jogging in with the ball he used to make the out and looked into the crowd. He looked into the crowd, flipped a ball up in the air, caught it back in his hand, and then tossed it to me, my 4th ball.
There was a light drizzle about a inning later, but soon that light drizzle turned into rain. Rain hard enough to stop the rain and make me wet, but I realized that there would be a baseball that I could get from the Home Plate Umpire coming off the field. The baseballs would be ruined from the game, so he would want to get rid of them, right? But instead of going in through the umpire’s tunnel he went through the home dugout. But he must’ve not been allowed there because he, and another ump, soon came out and headed for the tunnel. I was at the top of the steps at that point, so I ran back down into the seats. He looked up and saw me coming down the steps, pulled a ball out of his pocket and flipped me my 5th baseball and then went in the tunnel.
The Home Plate Umpire turned out to be Dan Iassonga.
Even though I had used up the dugouts I still got higher than my average. You see there are these things called bullpens that usually use up a lot of baseballs during the game. In the 8th Inning I went to one of them, the Tigers’ bullpen. Bobby Seay and Fernando Rodney were warming up in the bullpen.
Bobby was the one to go into the game, but instead of immediately giving the baseball out he put it on the pitchers mound where it laid untouched until I asked bullpen coach Jeff Jones for the ball. He walked over, picked up the ball and tossed it to me, my 6th ball.
And then I moved over to the bullpen to my left, the Mariners’ bullpen. David Aardsma was warming up there. When they were done I asked the bullpen catcher, Jason Philips,
For the ball, but he said hold on a second and gave the ball to John Wetteland, and then he grabbed a ball from the bag and flipped it to me, my 7th ball, the last one of the day.
Long story short, never, EVER go to Comerica Park if there is the slightest chance of no batting practice. It’s horrible, not worth you time. New Yankee Stadium is starting to look very good to me.
Stats:
- 7 MLB Balls Today
- 5 MLB Autographs Today
- 163 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 202 Total Autographs in this Season
- 238 MLB Balls in this Season
- 259 Total Balls in this Season
- 6 Thrown, 1 Hit
- 1 BP, 1 Pre-Game, 5 During
- Attendance: 31,167 People
- Competition Factor: 218,169
- 6.26 Balls / 1 Game
- 38 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
- 28 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
- 23 Consecutive Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs
7/23/09 Yankees vs. Athletics
Is it good when you come to a make-up game because it won’t be crowded, but then it starts raining?
There was more of a crowd than I expected during the game, but at the beginning, these were the 100 or so people waiting to get in at the Great Hall:
It was raining as soon as I got there. I ran up the steps hoping for there to be BP, but I didn’t get disappointed. I looked all across the field until I got to the left field bullpen, where there were a couple players. The players/coaches were Gio Gonzalez, (Brandon Buckley?), Curt Young, and Ron Romanick. You can guess what each guy was doing.
Gio made an errant pitch and it settled on a nearby tarp (the ball’s location is where the black circle is currently in the photo above). I asked Curt for the ball, but he did the universal “wait” sign (holding up one finger). So I waited until after when Curt went to get the ball.
I thought he was going to chuck it over the net so I stepped back about 10 feet, but he instead tossed it in front of the net. When I realized what was happening, I did what I would consider a great play by running up to the net at the last second and sticking my hand under it in the hope that it would land in my hand because I just stuck it through the gap randomly. Less than a second after my hand went underneath it, my 1st ball smacked my hand. Curt watched the thing unfold and gave me a thumbs up.
The Yankees did something which I thought was incredibly neat. Most fans weren’t there to watch Gio in the bullpen, so the Yankees showed the last half-inning of Mark Buehrle’s perfect game on the JumboTron.
But Gio Gonzalez wasn’t the last to throw. Justin Duchscherer came to throw.
He threw for a while and when he finished, he looked towards me and wound up for a long throw, and sure enough he threw it about 1 section long.
It took a couple bounces but since nobody else ran for it, it settled on the ground and I grabbed my 2nd ball, and thanks to the many bounces and wetness it got this weird mark:
With incredible luck, Brian Bruney started throwing as Duchscherer finished so after he finished I ran over to the Yankees dugout where I saw Andrew from last time. Since I had two, I let him (successfully) get that ball AND Joba Chamberlain and Dave Eiland started throwing. Andrew and I ran over there and got there in time. Joba finished throwing and pointed to Andrew. He threw the ball and put a lot of heat on it. I wasn’t sure whether that ball would hurt Andrew or not, but I still reached out and grabbed my 3rd baseball, and then immediately gave it to Andrew. But he was nice enough to let me keep it. All of that happened in less than 1 hour.
There was nothing going on the time so I paid a visited to the Upper Deck, and with it’s open air concourse had a bunch of rain:
And a lot of empty seats:
And provided a view of more empty seats:
Then an a while later after I visited the Upper Deck an A came out in the pouring rain and started signing.
I don’t know why the player would do that (Brad Ziegler), but it was my 1st autograph.
I did get to ask him some questions.
“You going to try to play the game today?” I said.
“Hope so,” he said. “I don’t want a double header!”
“Are you guys gonna throw?”
“We were supposed to 30 minutes ago.”
Not a good sign, but about ½ hour later, 4 A’s came out to throw.
Santiago Casilla threw with Andrew Bailey and Craig Breslow threw with Brad Ziegler.
Since it was wet out, Brad had an errant throw. The ball went off the tarp and settled on the ground. Craig Breslow walked over after he finished, retrieved it, and threw it my way. I timed it and caught my 4th ball on a back-handed catch.
Edgar Gonzalez was just standing there and later started throwing and when he finished, he went over to sign. I rushed over there and was able to get him on two for my 2nd autograph (on bottom).
So this 2 hour and 40 minute rain delay did nothing to get rid of fans. Andrew and I went into the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar and waited 1 hour to get a chicken fingers, hot dog, water, and coke. Way to go Yankees, people love to wait 1 hour for food during rain delays.
But the good was that at 9pm they announced that the game would be played at 9:40! Pretty soon after that, some players came out. They came to stretch and even 4 players threw. Matt Holiday was with Orlando Cabrera and Bobby Crosby was with Mark Ellis.
So then when Orlando finished, I stood on a little piece of concrete on top of Legends. It worked because he spotted me and threw my 5th ball over the Legends and everyone in it.
So Andrew and I worked over to behind the dugout and partition where we were last time. We stayed there for a good 5 innings. I got nothing, but Andrew got a ball tossed to him by Todd Steverson.
Why did we stop then? Well, we got in the Legends by LEGAL means (to anyone who knows, please don’t say or tell). So since we had attracted a lot of attention over by the A’s dugout, we stayed by the Yankees dugout. I only got one ball, my 6th ball, because a specific little boy by the dugout got two straight balls in the last two innings. My ball was the ninth inning Yankees warm-up ball, courtesy of Mick Kelleher.
We rushed over the A’s dugout at the end of the game to try and get something. I got nothing, but Andrew got a ball from the ballboy.
Stats:
- 6 MLB Balls Today
- 2 MLB Autographs Today
- 100 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 139 Total Autographs in this Season
- 161 MLB Balls in this Season
- 182 Total Balls in this Season
- 4 BP, 1 Pre-Game, 1 During
- 6 Thrown
- Attendance: 44,206 People
- Competition Factor: 265,236
- 5.75 Balls / 1 Game
- 28 Consecutive Games with at least 3 MLB Baseballs
- 18 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
- 13 Consecutive Games with at least 4 MLB Baseballs
6/13/09 Yankees vs. Mets
I don’t have much time, so I am just going to type the story, with only a few pictures at the end. Sorry.
I’m optimistic when it comes to baseball. Maybe too optimistic. It had bean raining when I was outside, then it was almost pouring Well when I got in, the tarp was on. I learned from some ushers that minutes ago the B.P. cages were set up. I haven’t had a full B.P. since Texas, and that day was absolutely dreadful.
But out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. I white object. A moving white object. And then I heard the *pop* of a glove. A baseball. It was in the bullpen, so I ran over there. When I got there I saw Mike Pelfrey was throwing to Dave Racaniello, with Dan Warthen watching. I saw John Maine cowering from the rain in the bullpen, and I also noticed that the white moving object was special. It was a Citi Field commemorative baseball.
There were at least 4 balls lying around, and I saw why they were just lying there, in the same spot. When Mike Pelfrey would bounce a ball in the dirt, it would be unusable and muddy, so Dave would toss it aside. Well soon later Mike bounced a ball, but instead of tossing it to the side, Dave made eye contact with me, and from a crouch, he tossed me a baseball. But it was inexcusably errant. It sailed over my head and to the right and landed in the wet seats. I looked for it, and while climbing over a row of seats while looking for it, I banged my knee well on a seat. I still have a bruise from it. Well nobody else got it, because no one else was there. I then saw the ball trickling down a row, so I ran over and grabbed my 1st ball, a Citi Field commemorative baseball, with a really nice logo.
By the end of the bullpen session a little crowd had formed, so when Mike Pelfrey finished, he ended up with the ball instead of Dave or Dan. Unusual, but good because Mike Pelfrey randomly flipped the ball up, and having about 6 feet of reach with my glove, I was able to get my 2nd ball, also commemorative.
I then decided to go over to the Yankees dugout next.
David Robertson started signing in the Legends area, so I asked him for an autograph. He told me to come down into the Legends, I said I couldn’t, and he just shrugged his shoulders. He went out to throw with Phil Hughes and Brett Tomko, and when they got in; I got David’s attention by yelling Phil’s name. David pointed me out to Phil and Phil flipped me my 3rd ball over the Legends (my 103rd of the season).
Nothing else happened for a while as it continued to pour, so I just sat behind the dugout and enjoyed the view. I was kicked out of there at 2:40, so I went back over to 130 and to wait for the Mets to come out. When they came out, I positioned myself by the people who started throwing first, Tim Redding and Sand Alomar Jr. But they took the ball in with them for Tim’s bullpen session. I moved over to the next closest pair of pitchers throwing.
The pitchers, I can’t remember who, bounced a ball in the muddy dirt, so they flipped it to coach Dan Warthen who scanned the crowd for someone to give it. After scanning the crowd for a bit he decided, “what the heck” and flipped it randomly, right to me, and I caught my 4th ball.
The next action was Bobby Parnell. He was running, and after he finished, he came over to sign. After having to move down the line a bit, I got my 1st autograph.
I treid to get into the Delta Sky Club before the game, loosing a view balls as a result. I started in section 232a and worked my way over, but an usher approached me.
I left the main level angry.
Skip to the end of the game…
I asked an usher, the one closest to the visitors bullpen, if I could go down at the end of the game.
“Nah man, you know the rules, I’d get in trouble.”
The usher on the staircase over let me down at the end. So I went over to the bullpen after the game and got a ball tossed by Dave Racaniello, my 5th ball. It was commemorative.
Most Ushers: Good
Some Usher: Bad
But I stayed after this day and tried to get some autographs. I got one, Fernando Martinez, my 2nd auto.
I also got some pictures with people…
Kimberly Jones
Susan Waldman
And John Sterling. In case your wondering, John was turning towards me at the moment the picture was taken.
Stats:
- 5 MLB Balls Today
- 2 MLB Autographs Today
- 105 MLB Balls in this Season
- 121 Total Balls in this Season
- 78 MLB Autographs in this Season
- 82 Total Autographs in this Season
- 4 BP, 1 After
- 5 Thrown
- Attendance: 48,056 People
- Competition Factor: 240,280
- 5.8 Balls / 1 Game
- 8 Consecutive Games with at least 1 MLB Autograph
- 18 Consecutive Games with at least 3 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.
4/6/09 Orioles vs. Yankees
I wanted to arrive in the ballpark early, like 1:30, which is 30 minutes before Eutaw Street opens. I saw on the Orioles A-Z Guide that the gates open 2 hours prior before each game, so since I thought we were early and the gates hadn’t open, I decided to use my camera to see if there was BP. When I took the photo I saw people by the dugouts.
WTH?!
So I scan my ticket (the people said the gates open 3 hours and 15 minutes prior), run inside, and see two Yankees, Joba and another, warming up. So I position myself behind them and when Joba’s done I ask for the ball, but he tosses it to someone else.
Then Jon Albaladejo and Brian Bruney warm-up and they basically warm-up right in front of me. I don’t need to ask for their autographs because two people next to me are trying to get autographs. So, when Jon’s done I call out for the ball, but he tosses the ball to the left. But then Jon comes over and signs for me and I get my 1st MLB autograph of the season and day.
That’s me with the Pinstripe Jersey and Yankees Hat above Jonathan Albaladejo.
Then while asking for a ball from the players a kid next to me says:
“You’re getting no baseballs.”
I’ll prove him wrong.
First, I ask Jose Veras for a ball (in Spanish) and he obliges. But instead of throwing me the ball, he walks over and hands me my 1st baseball of the season to me.
You see Phil Coke off to the right? He makes his way over to me and I get him for my 2nd MLB autograph today. And then Jose Veras is signing a little to the right, so I move over and get him on my 2 autograph baseballs for my 3rd MLB Autograph today.
Phil Coke (top), Jose Veras (bottom) Jonathan Albaladejo
Then after D’maso Marte finishes throwing, I ask him for a ball, and he throws it, but I barely miss it. I know that last paragraph was just condensed, but it all happened really quickly.
I then see someone warming up in the Yankees bullpen, so I throw on my Randy Johnson #41 Pinstripe jersey and rush over there. When I get over there I see A.J. Burnett warming up, with Dave Eiland and Chien-Ming Wang standing next to him.
When A.J. finishes, Dave Eiland ends up with the ball. I call his name and he tosses it to me from the other side of the bullpen. His throw is a little too short and to the left, but I can’t move over because there’s a fence blocking me. So, I have to lean down, almost so I’m balancing on the railing, and stretch my arm out far. I catch my 2nd baseball today with room to spare. When I get up I hear Dave Eiland say:
“You’re good.”
Then it starts to rain again at 3:15. All the fans duck for cover, expect my mom and I with our umbrella and a couple of other poncho wearing fans.
Then some Yankees come to stretch. Nothing happens, so I think that that is the only stretching there are doing, so I go over to the Yankees dugout to try and get Jeter’s pre-warm-up ball. He tosses it to a little kid in the front row though. So I just sit in the second row, and watch the ceremonies for the next 30 minutes. I like the orange balloon arch and carpet in center, but I feel that there are too many fireworks.
They have 2 different types of fireworks after each starting Oriole is introduced, and then they have VP Joe Biden throw out the first pitch, cool.
I should try to get his autograph…
Then after the ceremonies finish I try to get another ball because I need a 3rd, want at least a 4th, and maybe a 5th. While changing sides I switch hats and put on or take off my Yankees jersey depending on the team I’m going to. I am wearing a bright orange Orioles shirt underneath. I experience a lot of Yankees hate from fans such as:
“*&$^ the Yankees!”
“BOOOOOO!!!” a guy trying to scare me.
“We are sorry about the series,” and etc.
There are a lot more Oriole fans than expected. Also, this game is the highest crowd ever for opening day at Camden Yards.
At about the 4th inning I decide to try to get Joe Biden’s autograph. They have about 7 secret service men at the top of the aisle, about 7 more sitting in seats around him, and then two ushers at the top of the aisle, so I decide to go into the other aisle and cut into his aisle. I get an aisle seat on his aisle just before the innings over, and then Joe Biden starts to leave. He signs autographs and take pictures with people, but once he gets to me…
I get both (my 4th total autograph). J So after I get his autograph, I go back to switching sides.
Finally, after switching sides for a bit, I get a ball. It was a foul tip towards first base coach Mick Kelleher. Since he is by the Orioles dugout, I am all in Orioles gear, but I call out his name, he lobs it underhand towards me, and I reach out and catch it, my 3rd ball of the game.
Then I go to the bullpen to try and get a ball from either team, but I get nothing, zip. I decide I’ll try to have my fourth ball to be the Yankees infield warm-up ball, so I go to the inner corner of the Yankees dugout. Guess who ends up with the ball? Mick Kelleher. I call out his name, and he flips me my 4th ball of the game.
I decide that that’s enough for now. I’m not going to try as hard as I did before, so I don’t get anything. I try for something from the Orioles dugout after the game, but I get nothing again. That’s okay. 3 MLB autographs, 1 autograph from the Vice President, and 4 baseballs? I’d say that’s a good day for my first day in the ballhawk league.
Stats:
- 3 MLB Autographs in this game
- 14 MLB Autographs in this season
- 1 Executive Autograph in this game and season
- 17 Total Autographs this season
- 4 MLB Balls in the regular season
- 4 balls/1 game
- Attendence: 48,607
- Competition Factor: 194,428
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