Results tagged ‘ Safeco Field ’
6-15-2011 Safeco Field
Today was going to be a busy day. I had an interview with the Snohomish Tribune at like, 4pm today, Zack Hample was still in town, and I wanted to get to the stadium kind of early to talk to him. Plus I was waiting on a very important phone call from someone that was going to set up a time to photograph my baseball collection for the newspaper. Oh, and then I had to snag a bunch of baseballs. The good thing was, I had on my lucky socks. So I knew everything was going to be okay. The phone rang about 4:15pm but I was totally fine with that because the crowd to get in the stadium was light, and for the first thirty minutes of batting practice I really didn’t expect much. Although, I’m setting a new goal for myself. I’d like to reach 200 baseballs before the All-Star game. I literally have about 7 games to do that in. The Mariners go on the road after they play the Phillies, and that following weekend I’ll be in San Diego for two games at PETCO Park, and then the Mariners come home to face the Marlins, Braves and Padres for three games a piece and then hit the road again. The problem with that is, its all inter-league baseball. Safeco will most likely be jam packed. Bad for snagging baseballs.
Anyway. Back to the interview. I talked with the reporter from the Snohomish Tribune for a good twenty minutes. It was a really awesome interview and I was pleased with my answers. I didn’t want it to sound like the only reason I come to baseball games is to snag baseballs, but that’s partly true. I do sit and enjoy the game though. Sometimes. A lot of the times I’m looking for that opportunity to catch a home run ball. But yeah. I do enjoy the game. I love baseball. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t go to the games. The phone interview didn’t last much longer because we got disconnected. Perfect timing anyway because the gates opened up at that very moment. I ran in to the center field standing room only but I was still trying to get a hold of the Snohomish Tribune to finish the interview. Later I receieved a voicemail with the final question and they graciously gave me the option to just hit them back on email. Awesome.
Greg Halman was the first to toss up a baseball. And I was trying to get Jason Vargas to toss me another one like yesterday. But instead I got the attention of a security guard.
…and I was on the board with one baseball just like that. I don’t know why he singled me out but I made sure he heard me thanking him. There are probably two very awesome security guards in Safeco Field and he is one of them. Most security guards are very bias when it comes to giving baseballs away. And the right field guards that sweep through the rows during BP acting like they’re wiping down seats pick up any loose baseballs and put them in their pockets. I watched it happen twice yesterday. But then some security guards will tell you that they aren’t allowed to touch the baseballs at all. “Just leave `em where they lie.” I overheard one guard say. I guess the rules are different throughout the stadium.
I stood at the staircase for ten minutes answering trivia questions from the security guard that was standing there. He’s a really nice guy and I’ve told him all about my charity. I even hooked him up with a business card. Have you seen my business card yet?
…how could you not want that? Its true beauty. The trivia questions really made me think. The first one he asked was when Major League Baseball registered all the players names by alphabetical order, who is the first baseball player on the list? I guessed Hank Aaron. It was David Aardsma.
Question two: What player was the first to ever sign a million dollar contract? I didn’t have an answer. The answer was Nolan Ryan. He signed a $1 million dollar contract in 1979.
Question three: What former Mariner drove in 141 runs in 1996? I said Omar Vizquel. The answer was Alex Rodriguez.
And the last question: In 2004, Ichiro broke who’s all time hit record? I said George Sisler. And that earned me a Tino Martinez baseball card. He had two of them and I didn’t want to take the Griffey cards because not only did I already have those but I wanted to make sure to let other fans get the good ones.
5:10pm. “Safeco Field is now open!” That’s what can be heard over the loudspeaker when all the other gates open up at 5:10pm. I used to stand at the right field gates like a dummy waiting for the gates to open. But an extra 30 minutes of BP by entering the center field gates? How could you NOT? I found two baseballs in the empty rows as I ran down in the third base area. I picked one up and when I found the second one I noticed a young Mariner fan walking slowly through the rows trying to find a baseball. I nodded to him and then pointed at my feet. Just then I remembered I needed to get the ball in my possession to make it count so I picked it up and handed it to the kid. That was number three on the day. I wanted to average four baseballs a game which would put me two passed #200 on the last game before the All-Star game. At this point I needed just one more.
BP was absolutely dead again today. Jared Weaver was the only Angels player to stay long enough for me to even have a shot at catching my fourth ball on the day. But this family with two little kids rolled up next to me. Even after I got Scott Downs to toss me one, it fell short and the Dad made sure to block me out. He gave it to his kid and then kept on about how he needed to catch one more baseball for his other kid. And if that didn’t happen then they could just go home and play with the dozen of baseballs they have at the house. And wouldn’t you know? When Jared Weaver got done playing catch he tossed his warm-up ball to them.
After that I really didn’t have a game plan. There weren’t any good spots that were close enough to any players to ask for a toss up. So I just wandered into the left field bleachers for a while. Here’s what I saw.
Can you see it?
But it was way out of reach. Zack, the book author I’ve been telling you about for like, two days, tried to use his crutches to get the baseball. But apparently there is a small gap where the baseballs can slip through and fall underneath the manual scoreboard. I don’t know where exactly they go, but they go somewhere. And not within reach anymore. That’s for sure. So after hanging out there for about 15 minutes asking for baseballs, and waiting on a BP home run, I ran down to the dugout to wait for some action there.
I thought I could get Tom Gregorio to toss me one but he wasn’t throwing BP today.
When BP finally ended I got the attention of Mike Butcher, and he hooked me up with my fourth ball of the day. Mission accomplished.
Here is the group of Ballhawks after our successful BP session. I’m pictured with three baseballs because I gave one away. From left to right; Max, Ben, me, Zack, Luke, and Hannah. Luke and Hannah are Max’s brother and sister and Ben is a friend of Max. They all have user names on www.mygameballs.com. If you haven’t checked out that website you should. Plus I just got an article published on there. I’m a monthly columnist. If you want to read my article you can click here.
I sat front row during the game and they were pretty awesome seats. I don’t normally buy seats that expensive or that close to the field because I’m going for a home run ball this year but I wanted to try my luck during the game for foul balls. Unfortunatly, nothing was hit my way. But I did witness Ichiro Suzuki swiping his 400th career stolen base and Mariners rookie Greg Halman went deep for the first time in his career. So it was a really memorable game. And to top it off? The Mariners won. Carlos Peguero hit a grounder that bounced off second base that scored two runs. Then of course the Halman bomb made it 3-1. Great game.
Game; June 15th 2011 Los Angeles Angels vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Four
Attendance; 19,321
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $80.05 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $29.25 this
season
6-14-2011 Safeco Field
This is the crowd 20 minutes before the gates opened at Safeco Field today.
That’s Josh standing up and I’m sitting against the wall by my blue backpack. After the gates opened up maybe 15 more people filed in after us. And it didn’t take long for the whole ‘Pen area to fill up. But not to like, full capacity or anything. But that’s the normal crowd here at Safeco Field. Here’s me wearing my favorite shirt.
The whole story on Barry Bonds and his steroids issue might be old news. But this shirt always gets me plenty of attention at the ballpark. And I love it. I always have people coming up to me asking me where I got it and how cool it is. I have two other ‘Roids shirts too. But one of them is kind of small so I don’t like wearing it that often. Once we got inside it was pretty dead. I somehow got Jason Vargas to look at me by constantly waving at him. And finally it paid off. He launched a high, arching throw in my direction and I had to take a couple of steps back to get in line with the baseball. And even then it still carried further back. I was worried that I might run out of room on the tiny centerfield standing room only platform and the baseball would tip-off my glove and end up in the clutches of an evil security guard. But no such thing happened. At the last moment I kind of bunny hopped to make the catch.
Jason Vargas is standing by the Keybank sign on the outfield wall. That’s how far he threw the ball to me. I was actually pretty impressed with the throw and how well he got it to me. I’m not saying Vargas is a bad pitcher I’m just saying that’s quite a distance to throw and to hit your mark on top of that? Nicely done.
Soon after one of the Mariners hitters started dropping bombs on us. Well, not entirely. They barely reached the warning track and one baseball bounced up into the crowd, hit a dude in the chest and dropped down into the gap behind the wall. I was trying to play the bounce hoping it would go over everyone’s head and land in my glove. But the gap won this round. And being that Zack Hample was in the area, the baseball didn’t stay in the gap for long. Here is a video of how he retreieved it.
It’s a fairly simple trick to accomplish for baseballs that trickle down into gaps behind walls at stadiums. All you do is stretch a rubber band over the tip of your glove, prop the glove open with a pen or something, have some string already tied onto the glove, and lower it down over the baseball. The rubber band will stretch over the baseball and there you have it! Reel up your baseball glove and you’ll have a baseball! Not only that but fans around you will more than likely have never seen that and will applaud your efforts. It’s worth a shot.
Once the rest of the stadium opened up I ran down into the third base area and scooped up my second baseball of the day in one of the empty rows. Batting practice was pretty dead. Nothing was really hit into foul territory and I was starting to lose interest in my position. So I ran up into the left field bleachers to see if I could get one of the Angels to throw me a baseball.
That was the scene on the field from foul territory. I’m telling you. It was dead. The Angels seemed to ignore all the fans and the hitters in the cage were just hitting lazy fly balls to center field. Boo!
Once I got up to the left field bleachers, Ervin Santana, Bobby Abreu and Dino Ebel came out onto the field. Dino Ebel was hitting some fungos to Abreu and Santana was kind of just shuffling around. There were a group of college kids to my right and Zack Hample was to my left. I was pretty much sandwhiched in the middle of competition. But I didn’t give up hope. In fact, I just let the college kids do all the work. They were desperatly calling out to Santana and Abreu for a baseball. And by the way. When a player is fielding fungos from a coach he isn’t going to toss up every ball he catches. He has to return that baseball to the coach so he can keep practicing. It got real annoying that these college kids kept calling out to Bobby Abreu everytime he caught one of the baseballs hit to him from Dino Ebel. Anyway. After about five minutes of them shouting, Ervin Santana reared back and launched a baseball in their direction. I just had a funny feeling these group of young men were going to miss the baseball. I slowly started to make my way over to them while the ball was in mid-air and as soon as it tipped-off all of their finger tips I ran in and scooped it up. The ball landed one row behind them and it didn’t go anywhere. I thought it was going to roll down the rows but it didn’t. And the five college kids standing there just kind of stared at each other. So I ended up with the ball.
BP ended and I got some photo opportunities with Zack. If you are now just following my blog and you don’t know who Zack Hample is you can read all about him from my previous blog entry of yesterdays game.
This guy is really awesome, and really easy to get along with. So if you’re ever out and about at a Major League game and you see some guy running around trying to catch baseballs or standing with people holding up a book, that’s probably him. Go say hi and see if he will help you catch a baseball.
This was my view during the game.
And this was my row. If any foul balls came remotely close to me they would be mine. Sadly, nothing came remotely close.
But I did get Peter Bourjos’ autograph AND a picture with one of my favorite Angels, Erick Aybar. Check it out.
During the 8th inning on my way to the dugout to snag more baseballs I passed up a kid with his dad that was kind of looking bummed out. I knew he was bummed about not getting a baseball, but he still had his glove on. I could tell he really wanted a baseball and since he was wearing the same Angel gear as me…
…I hooked him up. Thanks to his Dad for giving me a non-working email address so I couldn’t get the picture to him. Oh well. Maybe I’ll run into them at Angels Stadium or something. The Angels are coming back to Seattle in a month or two so maybe I’ll see them then. Anyway. It was awesome to hook that kid up with a baseball. His face instantly went from sad, and depressed to excited and happy. He thanked me like three times. So that felt good.
The Mariners lost 6-3 and I wasn’t able to get anything after the game. I quit trying the umpire tunnel just because I’ve been having absolutely no luck there. I feel it’s a wasted opportunity when there is so much going on at the dugouts after the game.
Game; June 14th 2011 Los Angeles Angels vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Three
Attendance; 20,238
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $67.45 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $28.25 this
season
6-13-2011 Safeco Field
I was really looking forward to this game. For a couple of reasons; the Los Angeles Angels were in town for a three game series and I absolutely love to watch Bobby Abreu play baseball, and Zack Hample made the trip out from New York to come to Safeco Field. This is his tenth stadium he has visted this season. If you don’t know who Zack Hample or Bobby Abreu are then I will graciously enlighten you. Bobby Abreu is the Angels DH and left fielder. He is also a career .296 hitter with 277 home runs and a bunch of RBI’s. He’s also know for his plate discipline.
Zack Hample is the author of three books that I have read cover to cover. (One of them twice!) He wrote How to Snag Baseballs at Major League Stadiums, Watching Baseball Smarter, and The Baseball. You don’t really need to buy his first book because the other two books have brief chapters of how to snag your own baseball at a game but the second two are a must buy. Watching Baseball Smarter is my favorite because it’s like Zack pulled the curtain back on Major League baseball games. Have you ever wondered what is said on the mound between the catcher and the pitcher? Or why all the infielders come in sometimes to catch the conversation between the catcher and the pitcher? And why does the umpire join them as well? Why does the base coaches never stand in the designated box that they’re supposed to stand in? Zack goes in depth of the who, what, whys and hows of the game and answers just about every question you’ve ever dreamt up. Its amazing. And his third book, The Baseball is basically about the eveolution of the baseball. How it came to be what it is today. He even made it inside the Rawlings factory. The media isn’t allowed there but somehow Zack Hample made it in.
That’s Zack Hample posing next to his infamous pyramid of baseballs. Pretty amazing, huh.
Those are his books. So check them out. They’re totally worth it. Even if you’re not a geeky baseball nut like me you should at least check them out so you’ll have a better understanding about the game.
So that’s why today’s game was going to be so awesome. My two favorite people under one …er..open or closed dome. (Safeco Field joke)
I arrived at the stadium around 1pm and I wandered for quite a bit. But on the centerfield side of the stadium you can peer into the stadium and kind of watch batting practice. I found it odd that the Angels, well some of them, were out hitting baseballs at 1pm. So I stuck around and watched. I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if a baseball was hit to me while I was standing here outside the stadium?” And sure enough. I don’t know who hit it but it was launched and I watched it in the entire way. It smacked off the pavement and bounced in my direction. Unfortunatly, it clanged off some stair railings and then bounced off the brick wall beside me. Some Roots Sports guy was walking around and he almost got hit by the ball. I quickly perked up thinking I have a chance to get the ball from him. All I had to do was ask. And he hooked me up with it. Time check; 2:45pm. The gates were set to open at 4:40pm. Wow. I managed to get a baseball OUTSIDE the stadium nearly two hours before the gates opened.
In the picture above you can see the Root Sports guy yapping on his cellphone after he hooked me up with a baseball.
And here you can see the baseball as it kind of got stuck underneath the gate. It felt really good to snag that baseball and I actually hung around trying to find more. Usually the cardinal rule when it comes to baseball players and hitting BP home runs is that they get into a groove and launch maybe one or two more. But maybe this one was just extra special.
When Zack finally arrived at the stadium it was about 4:30pm. Since his leg is all busted up from spraining his ankle a couple of weeks ago, him, myself, Josh and his girlfriend were all permitted to enter the stadium via the handicap gate. I felt bad for Zack because he couldn’t move like he wanted to, and I could tell it was very frustrating. Plus the pain he must be in. But I give him his props because he is one dedicated dude. He’s not just shagging baseballs for himself. He’s doing it for the charity foundation he is involved in. It’s called Pitch in for Baseball. Just go to www.ZackHample.com and you’ll find out all you need to know. Once inside it was kind of every man for himself at that point. We all hung around the centerfield area for a while, and Josh got Greg Halman to toss him one but at the same time someone launched a deep drive that nearly made it over the fence. Josh nearly got drilled so he didn’t end up getting the toss up from Halman. I didn’t see the baseball either but neither of us really expected it because the Mariners rarely go deep with any BP home runs into the center field area.
After the staircase was open we ran down into the third base area to find any loose baseballs. There were a couple but I got beat out by some kid. So I took my routine spot at the third base protective fence. It was easy pickins’ down there too once the Angels came out onto the field and started taking some cuts in the cage. I had to sprawl way out but I caught a slow roller that made it just passed the fence and into my glove. I didn’t hang around the area too much longer because BP was about to end plus there were a lot of kids that were starting to wander around me. I didn’t want someone to get hurt because I either missed a baseball or because I moved for one and someones’ kid was underneath my feet. It happens. So I moved up to the foul pole area.
I caught another one up there on the fly. It was hit directly at me so I had a pretty good bead on it. I didn’t really have to move to my right or my left but I bashed my knee pretty good on the fencing when I leaned over the railing to make the beautiful catch.
After that I quickly made my way down to the dugout to see if I could get any toss ups from the Angels pitching staff but it was slim pickins’ down there. Lots of kids, and a few Angels fans. Plus I really wasn’t in a good position to catch anything. After BP ended we all huddled up for some photo opportunities with Zack.
I know. I probably could have smiled more. But I wanted to look tough. From left to right; Ginny, Josh, Zack, Max and me. Between the five of us we snagged nearly 20 baseballs. And of course Zack outsnagged us all. But that goes without saying. He’s been at this for like, 20 years.
We stood out in the bullpen for the majority of the game and it nearly paid off. I almost caught a Vernon Wells home run. The ball carried deep into the bullpen, and I thought it was going to land on the grassy part. But it didn’t. It landed on the dirt mound and took a wicked hop towards the fans. Of course nobody had a glove on so it got passed everyone. I had a shot at it too but I misplayed that bounce so badly I ended up taking a bad route to the baseball. Once the baseball squirts loose it doesn’t last long before someone gets it.
The Mariners lost the series opener 6-3 thanks to Vernon Wells hitting TWO home runs.
Game; June 13th 2011 Los Angeles Angels vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Three
Attendance; 20,238
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $65.50 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $27.50 this
season
6-3-2011 Safeco Field
Tonight at Safeco Field was “Go Green Train Night”. I heard from the grapevine that these trains were a huge hit and very sought after. I knew I’d have to arrive at the stadium with my game face on and most importantly, I would have to be early. I even changed up my game plan a little and entered the stadium via rightfield. Here is what the giveaway looks like in case you have no idea what “Train Night” was all about.
Like I said. They’re absolutely loved and people came out to get one. Since there are actually eleven others this would make twelve. But I’m not sure if that completes the set. Probably not.
As soon as I entered the stadium security told us to walk. So everything went kind of in slow motion. Since I like to abide by the rules and not give security any reason to target me, I “walked”. Which cost me like, four baseballs. It was kind of frustrating at first but I still had an entire hour and a half left. I ran all the way to the other side of the stadium and posted up at my usual spot. Well, not my usual spot. But a spot that’s been working for me. I’d play the outfield more but it seems there are an equal amount of overthrows from players as there are home run balls hit into the stands. I’m just playing the odds or at least what’s been working.
The Tampa Bay Rays started to filter out onto the field and I figured if I didn’t get something hit to me I could always count on Jeremy Hellickson to toss me one. The last time I got a toss up from Hellickson was on my birthday at Kauffman Stadium last year. It took him two tries but eventually he got it to me. During BP Hellickson tossed up quite a few baseballs. He’s a great guy (not just for that). So anyway. As the Rays were coming out onto the field (I’m not sure who hit it) a sharply hit line drive was hit right at me. It took a few bounces on the grass, and another off the dirt and I was able to lean over the short padded wall and scoop it up. I could hear a couple players yelling “heads up!” like they always do and I also heard Jeremy Hellickson kind of give out a surprised “Whoa” when I scooped the ball up. The baseball hit me square in the palm of my glove. Not quite in the pocket and it literally jarred my shoulder back a little bit. I was a little surprised at 1.) I got my glove down in time and 2.) to have come up with the ball. Usually those sharply hit grounders would eat up a Major Leaguer let alone a guy like me reaching over the wall for it. There was no applauding like there was yesterday when I snagged that liner. But it was still fun. If you want you can read about the memorable snag here.
After that nothing else came my way. I tracked a few baseballs that were hit over my head into the seats but they were quickly scooped up my eager fans. I did get a few pictures of the Tampa Bay Rays as they came out onto the field. Take a look.
And then this guy walked out onto the field. He is my hero forever. And you will know why in a minute.
That’s Bobby Ramos. He is probably the most friendliest coach I’ve ever met. Not to go off on a tangent but one time at Busch Stadium I asked Coach Price, the pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds, for a baseball while he was setting up the bullpen after BP. There were a few baseballs lying around from batting practice and when I asked he abruptly told me no. It was a very unpleasant experience. But Bobby Ramos? He gives high fives, fist pumps, and handshakes to anyone and everyone that asks. He is very friendly and sociable. So if you’re ever at a Rays game and he walks by feel free to engage in some friendly back and forth. I told him he had a nice hat on and then pointed to my own Rays hat. He is also very loyal to Rays fans. The rest of the team was a little more reserved today and I think that had a lot to do with the loss yesterday.
Before the game started Mike McCreedy from Pearl Jam played the National Anthem. It was very good and earlier when I was outside waiting to come inside the stadium he was doing a sound check. It sounded just like Slash when he did the National Anthem last year at Dodger Stadium. Of course I couldn’t get close enough to take some quality pictures because security does what they can to keep me out of the sections I don’t have a ticket for. So I had to get creative. Here’s what you get.
It must be awesome to be a rockstar. Seriously.
I spent nearly the entire game down in the bullpen area. I stood behind the Rays bullpen because I figured if I was going to get a baseball from someone it would have to be from the Rays. Right? Well, not only was I hoping to get another baseball but I was also hoping I’d get a home run baseball. I think it was during the fifth inning when Miguel Olivo hit a deep drive that landed right into the Rays bullpen. I was hoping that the baseball would bounce off the facade that hung over the players on the bullpen bench but no such luck. If that would have happened, (which I’ve seen many times during BP) the baseball would have shot back into the bullpen area where all the fans stood like a bullet and it would have been every man for himself. But the ball did not do any of that. It landed on the grass and died. No bounce. No nothing. It just stopped. And the one man I was praying wouldn’t pick it up….picked it up. Mr. Juan Cruz. He’s a relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays and it seems he has a very negative attiude.
Now I dont want to pass any judgement but I was at a Royals game one time during the summer when the Tampa Bay Rays where playing at Kauffman Stadium, Juan had graciously tossed a baseball up to some fans. Well, an adult ended up with the baseball and I think Juan was trying to get it to a kid. The kid he was trying to throw it to already had six baseballs. The guy that caught the baseball was trying to communicate that to Juan but Juan wasn’t having any of it. He insisted that the guy hand the baseball over to the kid. He was a real jerk about it and that was my lasting memory of Juan Cruz. Fast forward to now. Cruz holding the ball and taunting the Seattle fans with it. It was pretty funny and I knew Juan wasn’t going to throw it to anyone. In fact he just tossed it down the stairs that led out to the outfield from the bullpen. It made my stomach turn that the home run ball was that close yet so far away. Finally the police officer that patrolled the bullpen picked the ball off the stairs and handed it to a kid.
Around the eight inning Bobby Ramos was coming back into the bullpen after playing catch with Sam Fuld. He placed his glove on the stair railing and walked towards the fans with the two baseballs. I knew he was going to throw them to us but to who? And where? I had to be ready. He tossed one to my way right which was way out of reach. And then he tossed one high and to my left. I reached way out and snagged it on my tippy toes. It was awesome. Bobby Ramos hooking up the fans during the game. Quick game note; he also hooked up my buddy Josh that goes to every game I go to. If you want, you can check out his www.mygameballs.com stats here. He has a really awesome picture of him with Zach Britton. You know, the guy I tweeted with a few games ago? Yeah, that guy. Anyway. So This guy turns to Josh and apparently asked if he could have the baseball that I caught. The guy inquired if Josh and I were friends and Josh told him yes. The guy was pretty persistant and made a big stink about Josh and I ganging up on the bullpen to snag two baseballs and we should show the love. Josh just pointed out that he should bring a glove next time.
Game; June 3rd 2011 Tampa BayRays vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Two
Attendance; 24,492
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $62.25 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $26.25 this
season
6-2-2011 Safeco Field
As soon as I walked into Safeco Field there was a deep drive hit by one of the Mariners that was headed towards the Mariner’s bullpen. The ball actually cleared the bullpen and landed inside the ‘Pen area. It took a nasty bounce off the walkway, ricocheted off the back wall near the team store and then started rolling towards the stairwell that led up to the rest of the stadium. Since the ball was rolling away from me I really didn’t have a chance. My buddy Josh, who also has an account on www.Mygameballs.com , was trying to run it down. I watched the entire thing play out and it looked like some stadium employee was going to beat him out. I was kind of shocked to see a stadium employee trying to chase a baseball while a fan was trying to get it. But in the end, Josh got the ball. So it all ended well.
When I was premitted to enter the rest of the stadium I was racing down the sections towards the front row and a sharply hit line drive nearly took my head off. It bounced into the seats and bounced right back to me. I made the easy catch. It kind of reminded me when I was at AT&T Park and a ball smacked off the seats right back to me. If you want to read about that you can here. I’m really enjoying those lucky bounces.
This the view of where I stood to play foul balls. It was a really good spot and there were hardly anyone else at the stadium during BP. So I pretty much had the whole front row to myself.
See that security guard standing there? He’s a new guy. And he totally sucks at being the new guy. More on him later though. Here is a closer look at him.
Within the next twenty-minutes a bullet was hit right at me. It took one bounce on the dirt and I was able to snag it off the bounce. It came in so fast and smacked right into my glove. The small crowd behind me started to clap and I gave them a quick curtain call. It was kind of cool. I figured after that catch people would start to filter down beside me. But no one really came over. Then Jeremy Hellickson missed a throw from his throwing partner and the ball sailed into the seats. Some guy with his son picked it up and then Jeremy started yelling into the infield for someone to throw him another baseball. The guy offered the baseball to Hellickson but I didn’t see him throw it to him. So I offered my baseball as well that I had caught earlier. Hellickson told me he would throw it right back to me. So as I was pulling the ball from my bag, Jeremy tossed me one. I bare-hand caught it because I took my glove off to get a baseball from my bag. After I caught the ball I thanked him but I didn’t realize it belonged to the guy next to me. He started to put up a fuss and I asked him if it was his. I immediatly gave it back to him and he extended his hand for a handshake. I was a little embarrased for him because of how he overreacted and I explained to this adult that I wasn’t trying to take his baseball away from him. As the conversation took place a baseball was hit towards us and it bounced off the screen into the first row. I was able to bobble it enough to keep it in front of me and scoop it up. I wanted to give the ball to his son but because of the nasty attitude at first I decided to hold on to it. David Price came out of the dugout and tossed him one anyway. And then later during BP they got another one tossed to them by Jeremy Hellickson.
Josh and I decided to stand near the dugout towards the end of batting practice. Josh got J.P Howell’s attention and even got him to toss a baseball towards us. I thought Josh was going to go for it, and Josh thought I was going to go for it. It kind of reminded me when an outfielder and an infielder are both chasing after a towering pop-up and with all the crowd noise, and running towards it, both calling for it, and then at the last moment we both hit the brakes and it plunks down in front of us. That’s kind of what happened. The ball bounced off the padded wall and rolled back onto the field. And wouldn’t you know. Remember that security guard I showed a picture of earlier? He came over, picked up the ball, gave us the evil eye, and tossed it to some autograph hound. I.Couldn’t.Believe.It. J.P Howel was cool enough to toss us another one and I made sure Josh got it this time.
I wanted to get a couple pictures with some Tampa Bay Rays. I was really surprised when David Price stopped to sign autographs. So I took that opportunity to meet him and get a picture with him. He was really cool about it while laughing and joking with the crowd. Here’s the pictures that I got with David Price. (Courtesy of Josh)
Here are a couple pictures of David Price signing autographs with me trying to get into position for a picture. It was hard because there were like a million people trying to get his autograph. So I had to just be assertive otherwise it wouldn’t of happened.
Here’s one more.
Those are kind of some “behind the scenes” pictures for your viewing pleasure. After BP Josh and I headed out of the stadium to get some gormet hotdogs. If you ever come to Safeco Field make sure you get one. We got the Edgar Dog but they also have Buhner Dogs, Griffey dogs, and Felix dogs. They’re so tastey. The hotdog stand is located out in front of Qwest Field. And those tastey numbers look like this.
That’s just the basics the hotdog comes with. They have a whole table full of things you can put on your hotdog. From hot sauce, to spicey mustard, to ketchup, relish, and pickles. The list goes on and on. There is no extra charge for the goodies either and the hotdog is about $4bucks. While we were eating Josh showed me the baseball that he caught after it took a nasty bounce off one of the seats. Here’s the result of that.
Yeah. That’s a small hole that somehow the seat put into the baseball. I don’t know where the ball hit on the seat but that is pretty amazing.
The Mariners went deep four different times. Jack Cust went deep, Justin Smoak went deep and rookie Carlos Peguero went deep twice! With all those home runs not one came even close to me. The Mariners dished out 8 runs and Felix Hernandez struck out 11 to beat the Rays 8-2. It was a pretty awesome game.
When I got home I made sure to thank David Price via Twitter for the autograph. Here is his response.
 David Price (@DAVIDprice14)6/2/11 11:17 PM No problem! 1.2.3. Cheeeese RT @MLBwayneMLB: @DAVIDprice14 Thanks for the picture today at #SafecoField I sincerely appreciate it. |
Game; June 2nd 2011 Tampa BayRays vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Three
Attendance; 16,376
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $50.95 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $25.75 this
season
5-31-2011 Safeco Field
Today’s game marked my 100th game that I’ve ever been to. I wanted to make today’s game as special as possible and definitely one to remember. So let me rewind to a day or so ago. As you all know this past weekend was Memorial Day weekend. I traveled to Coors Field in Denver Colorado for the first time to see that awesome ball park. You can read all about it here and here. Needless to say I wish I picked a different stadium but I’m glad I went because Coors Field marked my ninth stadium I’ve snagged a baseball in. Anyway. Most of you that read my blogs know that I served in the United States Army for ten years. So I qualify for veteran status. I also have a Twitter account. (You can follow me @MLBwayneMLB) Well, Zach Britton of the Baltimore Orioles was giving his thanks to veterans via Twitter. Here’s the conversation we had.
 ZachBritton (@zbritton) 5/30/11 7:24 AM A special thanks to all who have protected our freedom, past and present! |
And of course here is my reply.
Wayne
Peck (@MLBwayneMLB)
5/30/11 8:23 AM
@zbritton You’re welcome. I will see you guys at
the Safe tomorrow. #LoveMyO‘s
Wayne
Peck (@MLBwayneMLB)
5/30/11 8:25 AM
@zbritton oh, special request to you Zach. Would
you like to play catch with a vet at the stadium tomorrow? I’ll look for you. 
And to my surprise I got this reply within the hour.
| Zach Britton (@zbritton) 5/30/11 9:22 AM @MLBwayneMLB Look for me out on the field before the game. |
The problem I faced was it was 9:30am in the morning. The game I was going to attend to play catch with Zach Britton wasn’t until the following day. Nearly 24 hours later. Would he even remember? I made sure to send him a couple more tweets in the early afternoon the day of the game to try and keep things fresh. I mean let’s face it. I had my doubts. He’s a big league ball player and has a ton of things on his mind. Although he wasn’t starting in the next couple of games so the pressure was off. But still.
When I got to the stadium it was all I could think about. How was I going to get his attention? Did he even remember? Should I have brought a sign with me that said something like, ” Im the dude that asked to play catch.” or, ” Army Veteran Tweeter.” Something. Anything to get his attention. But you know what? I didn’t have to do any of that. Because he did remember. Well, let me tell you how it all happened.
I ran inside the stadium when the gates opened and I immediatly lined up at the stairs and waited until 5:10pm. Once the horn blew I raced up the stairs, ran down into the seats and quickly searched for any loose baseballs. Nothing. (The ushers now place them in the cupholders to make it harder for myself, and my buddy Josh to get them) I ran over to the dugout to see if I could find Zach Britton (he wasn’t wearing a BP pullover) and I easily spotted him in the crowd. Here’s the picture I took and see if you can find him.
Do you need some help?
Once I found him I kind of just followed him along the third base line to make sure I would be able to line up behind him while he played catch on the field. My objective at this point was to allow him to get whatever he needed to get done without being too overly obnoxious. A lot of these pitchers have routines that they follow before every game, and then they go shag baseballs in the outfield. So I had to wait until he was all done.
After Zach Britton was done warming up, his catch partner wanted to throw some pitches. So Zach ended up being kind of the “baseball guard” for him. Any baseballs that were hit towards that area Zach would scoop up. Here is a picture of Zach on guard.
I knew at this point that I had limited time and I would have to get his attention somehow. Every once in a while Zach would look over his shoulder to look at the pitches and then he would watch the batter in the cage. I counted the seconds inbetween everytime he looked and then looked back to the batter in the batting cage. He only looked over his shoulder a few times but it was roughly about 8-10 seconds in between looks. So after the second time he looked over his shoulder I counted down from ten. When I reached one I held up my glove and sort of flapped it at him. At that very moment he looked over his shoulder and noticed me. He nodded his head in acklowledgment and fielded the next baseball that came his way. Since he was throwing all the other baseballs into the infield that he caught, I knew he had remembered when he hung onto the recent baseball he snagged. And before I knew it, Zach Britton was enroute towards me.
When he was walking over I turned my camera on and clicked it to video. I pressed “record” and asked this dude that was sitting next to where I was standing if he would please record our conversation. This is the video he recorded.
He recorded the dialogue but I guess he didn’t hear me right or understand what was going on or maybe it was the fact that he was already two beers deep and just sat there like a dope. I’m not sure what happened but he ended up just pointing the camera at his pants the whole time.
Basically some fan wanted to play catch with a baseball player and ended up getting hurt by the ball. Zach explained to me that since they’re filing a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, the players aren’t allowed to play catch anymore. But he did hook me up with a baseball and I thought that was pretty much the end of things.
I played the front row for any slow rollers or line drives and I came up with one more before batting practice ended. As the Baltimore Orioles were walking off the field I decided to try and get a picture with Zach Britton before he walked off the field. I waved him down and as he was walking my way he was telling Brian Matusz to come over and meet “someone”. (That someone being me) They both came over and this was the outcome.
I got to shake hands with Zach Britton (again) AND Brian Matusz. It was such an awesome experience. I had so much to say and so many questions to ask them both but I just couldn’t find the words. I mean, I didn’t just stand there like an idiot. It was just so overwhelming though. Zach stared at me like, “Hey, man. This is your time to ask us whatever you want.” But all I could come up with was, “Where can I send this picture to? The Baltimore fanclub?” I felt like such a dope. By that time fans were coming down to try and get autographs from them so that kind of diverted their attention away from my dopey-ness. It was so awesome to meet them.
I spent the rest of the game in the ‘Pen area and at the end of the game I was denied a baseball from the police officer that patrols the Orioles bullpen. A few baseballs were left behind and I was beat out by some old dude that asked for it first. The Mariners ended up winning due to a Justin Smoak home run that landed deep into the right field seats. Had I been sitting there? I probably would have ended up with the baseball. But security was being extra cautious due to five fans running out onto the field during the Mariners/Yankees series. So I wasn’t about to try and sit where I wasn’t supposed to. Not for a while anyway.
Game; May 31st 2011 Baltimore Orioles vs Seattle Mariners
Rockies
Gameballs; Two
Attendance; 11,692
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $46.00 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $25.00 this
season
5-19-2011 Safeco Field
When I was walking down the sidewalk towards the stadium I noticed a huge crowd outside the third base gates. I was hoping they were just lining up to buy tickets. (It was Franklin Gutierrez fly-swatter day) But as I got closer the large crowd was getting their bags checked, their tickets scanned, and they were all receiving a fly-swatter. I sprinted down to the right field gates to make sure people weren’t entering the stadium there (They weren’t) and then I sprinted back to the third base gates, got my bag checked, ticket scanned, and got my fly-swatter. You’re probably saying “So what?” But not “So what.” It was 9:30am in the morning! The gates weren’t supposed to open for another 40 minutes! And here I am…inside already! I didn’t bother to ask around or hassle security with a “What’s going on” question. I just followed the crowd.
It turns out that the large crowd was a high school field trip from the surrounding Seattle high schools. The sixth annual Deca-Day at Safeco Field.
I figured that this crowd alone would drastically cut down my chances of getting a baseball. Since there obviously wasn’t going to be any batting practice (12:40pm start time) because of the early game and now a heaping load of high schoolers were my competition… It would be tough for sure.
Deca-Day promptly started at 9:45am and lasted right up intil 10:40am. And since it took place at Safeco Field you can probably guess what the speakers talked about. Yes. Getting a job at Safeco Field and what positions were available. Basically you get to start out as a “fielder”. Thats a fancy name for grounds crew member. Its a minimum wage job that is aimed at high school and college aged people and normally the application process begins in February. People used to be able to contact the Mariners and request applications to get onboard but in the last few years they have changed that. Now you have to contact an advisor in your school, then they will contact someone on the Mariners hiring staff and send your advisor a recruiting packet. You will it out, (Include cover letter and a resume) send it all back in and then you might get a phone call. After that comes the interview process and all the other hoopla. There was quite a large turnout for this as well.
And then this happened.
While the guest speakers were going on about what they do for the Mariners some Los Angeles Angels came out to start throwing the ball around. I had three guards around me so I didn’t want to get up and walk down to the front row. (Even though I should have done that from the start) It was about 15 minutes before the center field ‘Pen gates were set to open so I still had some time to burn. I quietly excused myself and headed to the bathroom. I figured I could run the clock out there, switch to my Angels hat and no one would be to the wiser. My plan actually worked. After 15 minutes of course. I came out of the bathroom and as the high schoolers were being excused one section at a time I simply strolled down to the front row. The center field gates were now open.
All 1 million high school kids seemed to have disappeared. I pretty much had the entire third base line to myself. And any high schoolers that did come down immediatly talked each other into going to the Mariners side of the stadium. So things weren’t as bad as I had once predicted.
Fernando Rodney, Scott Downs, Ervin Santana, and Tyler Chatwood all came out to stretch and toss the ball around. My buddy Josh (who I mentioned about in my last entry ) lined up behind Rodney, and Santana. I lined up behind Scott Downs but I had the most obnoxious fan standing beside me constantly calling out for a baseball and beating his glove with his fist. I could tell that Scott Downs wasn’t playing into his little game and declined just about everyone in the front row a baseball as he finished up playing catch. He had about four baseballs in his possession and when I realized he wasn’t going to throw one to me I quickly climbed a few rows of seats and headed towards the dugout. I stripped off my backpack, pulled off my jacket and tucked it down into a nearby seat and waited. Scott Downs was busy talking to a security guard that was on the field and as soon as he got done talking to him he started towards me. I knew this was my one and only chance to get that last baseball from Downs. Below is a picture of the annoying fan that caused me to work so hard for this baseball. He’s the short guy with the long, black hair.
Scott Downs slowly approached the dugout and I was the only one (with Angels gear on) standing there with my glove held high. I nodded to him and he tossed me the ball. At first it seemed like he was throwing it to someone behind me. But later I confirmed with my buddy Josh that there wasn’t anyone around me within twenty feet. The ball was all mine. I felt pretty good about that and I also felt pretty good at getting Scott Downs to throw me the ball. He isn’t the most personable guy in the Major Leagues.
Later I scooped up Fernando Rodney’s autograph on my ticket stub and talked with Ervin Santana. Some fans were asking him if he was going to make the All-Star team this year and he just laughed. I think that’s why I enjoy these games that are early in the afternoon so much. There isn’t the chaotic-ness of batting practice and millions of people trying to catch a baseball. I can sort of sit back, relax, and soak up the atmosphere at the stadium and usually get one on one with some of the more outgoing players.
After all that went down it was rather difficult to get another baseball let alone stay down in the lower box level. Security turned on their nazi-mode and started checking tickets. I was told to take some “quick pictures” and return to my seat by one guard. I blew him off though and kept taking pictures. It’s interesting to see just how far I can push these guys before they start getting tough. Normally they just ask a second time and 9 times out of 10 people comply.
One thing that was pretty awesome at the game was that some old dude brought a bag full of Hank Conger bobbleheads from when he was in the minor leagues. He gave the entire bag to Hank and he took them into the dugout to sign them I guess.
Above is a picture of Hank Conger sticking his head up while fans requested his autograph. He was very polite and pretty much obliged everyones’ request. I thought that was pretty awesome of him.
The Mariners won in walk-off fashion too. Carlos Peguero hit a deep fly ball to outfielder Torii Hunter in the bottom of the ninth inning with runners on, and Hunter ended up losing the battle with the sun, lost the ball, and didn’t catch it. It was sort of ironic because I was talking to Josh about how I love extra inning games and the Mariners have had only one extra inning game this year.
Game; May 19th 2011 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs Seattle Mariners
Gameballs; One
Attendance; 18,374
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $30.80 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $13.00 this season
5-18-2011 Safeco Field
Game one of the the two game series versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim started today. I was pretty excited because I really like to watch Bobby Abreu play ball. He is such a diverse player. Its pretty unbelievable. And going into this game Abreu only needs two doubles to catch Lou Gehrig. The Iron Horse is 32nd all-time on the doubles list and Abreu is behind Todd Helton, and Ivan Rodriguez among active players on that list. To watch Abreu catch Gehrig at Safeco Field would be awesome.
Today wasn’t as disappointing as Monday’s game. When I ran inside I noticed I had forgotten to insert my USB card in my camera again. This would be the second time that has happened in the five years I’ve been running down baseballs. I think I should create my own list. How many times I can forget my USB card for my camera. I’m so far the only one I know. So I’m leading that list of all-time. Congratulations to me. What that means for you? This blog entry will have no pictures for you to look at and admire. And let me tell you; this was a good game to take lots of pictures.
My first baseball came after about ten minutes of waiting around for a home run ball to reach the centerfield bleachers. I started to walk through the bullpen area and some old dudes were calling out to Jack Wilson for a baseball. I kind of hap-hazardly posted up inbetween them thinking I had a chance if Jack Wilson could see me with my glove raised. He was also pre-occupied talking to some teammates and pump faked a throw a few times before he finally let loose. It was probably the easiest catch I have ever made. After that I lined up at the stairs and waited for the infamous horn to sound. When it did the race was on.
I was able to seek out one easter egg. Thats pretty decent since there were probably three total laying in the rows. My buddy Josh got the other two. You can check out his stats on www.mygameballs.com . Anyway. I played the hot corner for a little while but nothing really came my way. Torii Hunter sent a bullet towards Josh and I and I don’t think either one of us were in the right position to field in properly because it took a wicked bounce and deflected off both of our gloves. Somehow it ended up in left field and there was no helpful baseball player within reach to give us a little help. And of course you can’t rely on security guards to help out. They just stand there like mindless drones daydreaming of their dream shot of the day some unruley fan launches out onto the field so they can beat the ever living snot out of them. What a job, I tell you.
Inbetween batters I took the time to score Dan Haren’s autograph on my ticket stub. He has a very elegant signature and he even added his number too. I thought that was pretty awesome. After that I got Brandon League to toss me one, and I also caught a Brandon League overthrow that some kid missed. I do count that because no one had any possession of the baseball after the throw until I picked it up. I did, however, give it to the kid that missed it and he thanked me. I made sure to tell him I appreciated him saying thank you too. But if it were an adult that missed that throw I would have kept the ball. No doubt.
After BP ended I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out to the outfield. I made the mistake of moving one section too far towards centerfield and I was promptly booted. The guard wasnt a jerk about it. He made a comment about upper management really beating down their backs about people sitting in sections they don’t have a ticket for. He told me I could come back around the 5th inning. So I met up with Josh and we sat more towards the foul pole in the right field seats. We had a good time watching other people get the boot closer to the foul pole. The guard over there acted like she enjoyed kicking people out. And she kicked A LOT of people out.
The Mariners beat the Angels 3-0 behind a Jason Vargas strong outing. He struck out nine batters in 7 innings and Brandon League recorded another save. ( 10 ) I hung around the bullpen area looking for an opportunity to either get another baseball or possibly a lineup card or something. But neither happened.
Hey, if you’re bored you should follow me on Twitter. My handle is @MLBwayneMLB. I tweet a lot about baseball and other stuff too. Plus, I’m on Facebook. Check me out here; https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wayne-Peck/111399878936587.
Also to get involved in my charity project make sure you visit my charity page at Crowdrise.com. Just search for Snagging Baseballs for Puppies. It will link you right to it. Thanks!
Game; May 18th 2011 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs Seattle Mariners
Gameballs; Four
Attendance; 16,992
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $30.40 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $12.75 this season
5-16-2011 Safeco Field
I figured today would be an awesome day at the stadium. But everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The only thing that I did right was getting to the stadium early enough to be the first one inside. After that I missed a baseball sitting underneath some tables and then when I went to line up at the stairs there were like 5,000 old dudes in front of me all with enourmous bags full of stuff they wanted to get autographed from the Twins. So as I slowly climbed the stairs behind all these people I could literally feel all the opportunities slipping away.
Then when I was finally free I sprinted, and I mean I sprinted, towards the third base sections only to be beat out by ONE guy! He gobbled up all the easter eggs and I tried to put up a fuss about him taking all of them and not leaving one behind for anyone else hoping that he would toss me one but it didn’t work. He gave me an evil grin and continued towards the dugout. And then as I made my way back towards the concourse to continue looking some kid held one up in victory. It was nearly towards the end of batting practice that I was able to snag one. I dont know who hit it but it was a shot right to me. I had to lean over some seats to catch it and of course I banged up my knee doing so. It was a very disappointing night at Safeco Field that’s for sure.
I took some pictures of batting practice. Im not really going to go indepth of the entire BP time of me misplaying baseballs and basically looking like a dope running around the stadium trying to capitalize on catching one. So here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure instead.
Also take note that MLB just converted their blogging site over to WordPress. It’s supposed to be better and so far it’s pretty awesome. But I’m still trying to get the hang of inserting pictures and whatnot so consider this a trial run blog. The next ones should be better. Anyway. More pictures.
Here is a close up of Justin Morneau. He came wandering over to meet up with some family members. So I took a quick picture of him.
The Mariners played really well and won the game 5-2. Adam Kennedy went yard and then Carlos Peguero hit one out. It barely made it too. And Im pretty sure it was a foul ball but the Twins skipper didnt contest it. It stood as a home run.
Game; May 16th 2011 Minnesota Twins vs Seattle Mariners
Gameballs; One
Attendance; 14,859
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $28.80 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $11.75 this season
5-7-2011 Safeco Field
You will not regret getting a bagel from this place. Its right between the Mariners team store and the leftfield gates. I tried the cheddar, chive, and garlic hot dog bagel and it was amazing. Also if you want to get a soft drink but you don’t want to pay the ridiculously high price of one inside the stadium, I would suggest buying one from here. They cost $1.97 and you can buy them inside the stadium. Right inside the leftfield gates just hang a hard right and you can use the walk up window.
Once I got inside I saw this.
And I saw this.
I asked a nearby security guard why the Chicago Whitesox were already on the field taking BP. They had no idea. One nearby fan explained to me that it was little league day and batting practice would be ending in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes??!! So I had about fifteen minutes to get on the board or my chances were pretty slim. With that being said I noticed a baseball in behind the centerfield fence down in the batters eye area. Unfortunatly there wasn’t a security guard that would go get it. Fortunatly a deep drive was hit towards centerfield and both the Whitesox athletic trainer and one of the players were in hot persuit. They even ran through the open fence to get the ball. I quickly held up my glove and called out to the athletic trainer that ended up with the ball. He nodded to me and lobbed a high arching throw that missed my glove and bounced over to some fans that had no idea what was going on. Plus I had some guy right on my hip pocket yapping in my ear and encouraging me to jump the fence and go get the baseball in the batters eye area.
To make matters worse? Here came security. One of the security guards started telling me not to jump down there because I could get ejected. I explained I wasn’t going to and that I knew the ground rules of the stadium. She insisted to explain to me the importance of not jumping down there. And I continued to insist that I wasn’t going to do such a thing. Finally a security guard came out of no where and lobbed me the baseball. It somehow ended up squirting out of my glove and dropping back down. So I had to hear another earfull from the security guard of how important it was not to jump down there to get the baseball. In the end I got the baseball. So I suppose it was worth it.
When we were allowed to explore the entire stadium I wandered over to the first base side. When I arrived it wasn’t much longer when a foul ball came my way. It went over my head and landed in the middle of two sections. I was the only one within twenty feet of the baseball so I had an easy grab. Plus the ball didn’t bounce around. I was pretty surprised it stayed where it did. After that batting practice came to an end. Since it was little league day this was how it went until the game started.
Hundreds of people walked the entire field. About the only cool thing that happened was Paul Konerko came out to talk with some close friends or family members. I approached him for an autograph but he said he wasn’t signing right now. So I just took some pictures instead.
When he jogged off the field I told him I was going to catch his 400th career home run. He kind of laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I hope!” he said. I told him to not worry about it because it was going to happen. After he went into the dugout Edwin Jackson poked his head out and I got him to sign my ticket stub.
He was a little stand-offish at first but eventually with enough beggging I got him to sign an autograph. It was the ultimate experience.
The Mariners on the other hand simply got rocked. By the fifth inning it was already 3-0 and the Whitesox never looked back. Chicago won 6-0. I sat most of the game behind the rightfield foul pole. Those seats aren’t as heavily guarded as the other ones so I really didn’t get harassed by security. I might make those seats my normal seats during large crowds. The outfield gets too packed which makes it hard to catch any home run baseballs.
Game; May 7th 2011 Chicago Whitesox vs Seattle Mariners
Gameballs; Three
Attendance; 26,288
Snagging Baseballs for Puppies has raised; $28.00 this season.
Snagging Baseballs for Relief in Japan has raised; $11.25 this season
Wayne
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