7/28/10- Nationals vs Braves (Nationals Park- Day 2)

DAY 2 AT NATIONALS PARK!

And this would be a big day...
Me and my cousin were the first ones in line, and then Erik Jabs, a ballhawk from Pittsburgh, showed up as well. About 15 minutes before the gates opened, they security told everybody to move into one big line. Me and my cousin got as close as we could to the front again.
When the gates opened, me and my cousin raced into the left field seats to look for easter eggs, but the Nationals haven't even hit before that, so there were none, so we both went over to right field for all of BP again. I didn't get a ball from Strasburg, but below is a picture.

Me and Josh both got our first ball of the day from Doug Slaten of the Nationals. Then I got my second ball of the day from a Nationals trainer, I yelled "Can I get a toss up please?" He looked at me and threw directly to me. Then a few minutes after that, I got a toss up from Nationals outfielder, Mike Morse.
Braves BP, was much less crowded than the day before.

After I took that picture, I got my 4th ball of the day, a toss up from Matt Diaz.
Below: Matt Diaz

That was all for BP.
Since it was very hot at this game, Coca-Cola set up this thing below.

Since there wasn't 40,000 at this game today, me and my cousin sat in the outfield instead of our ticketed seats.

Near the end of this game, I took the picture below of ex-Pirate Matt Capps.

After the final out, I asked Jim Lett, of the Nationals, to throw me a ball up, he did, and that was my 5th and final ball of the day.
When I got back to my hotel, I took the 2 usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected on day 2.

Below: Upclose and fancy on my 5 balls.


SEASON STATS
5 balls at this game.
30 balls at 15 games this season.
2 ball per game (BPG)
49 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

But this post isn't done yet!
Below: Everything I collected on both days at Nationals Park.

Also, a video of Livan Hernandez in the bullpen before the game.

7/27/10- Nationals vs Braves (Nationals Park-Day 1)

I visited Washington DC/Gettysburg, PA for a few days, and I was in attendence for 2 Nationals vs. Braves games. I went to both of these games with my cousin Josh. Well for the first game there was a huge crowd at the gates because Stephen Strausburg(did I spell that right?) was scheduled to pitch, but was taken out of the lineup shortly before the game.

Me and Josh got to the stadium around 3:15pm, and the picture below is my first look at Nationals Park.

Me and my cousin both got ball#1 on the day from Livan Hernandez.

When the Braves came out for BP, the seats were crowded, below is my view to my right.

And my left...

Shortly after I took those 2 pictures above, Jason Heyward blasted one into the seats and I picked it up.
Below: Jesse Chavez and Jason Heyward.

After BP, I took the picture below of all 30 teams' logos.

Then me and Josh headed to our seats at the very top of Nationals Park.
Section 405 Row N Seat 30.

I made a video of a Jason Heyward At-bat, which I will put at the end of this post.
When I got back to my hotel, I took the two usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected at this game.

Below: Upclose on the 2 balls.


SEASON STATS
2 balls at this game.
25 balls at 14 games this season.
1.78 balls per game (BPG)
44 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

7/23/10- Pirates vs Padres

I got to PNC Park at 3, it was hot out, I mean extremely hot. Luckily I had water.
I stayed in the shade as much as I could at this game.
When the gates opened at 5, I ran over to section 140/141 to get some balls from the Pirates, but the Pirates weren't out there, they decided not to have BP.
Below: The field

That's why the Pirates are in last place, they don't practice enough.
As you can in the picture above, there are Padres players on the field, they began BP shortly after I took this picture. My first ball, was hit my Adrian Gonzalez, the balls bounced off a rail and I reached under the gate to grab the ball. FYI, Gonzalez blasted balls at BP, that's why he's one of my favorite MLB players.
Below: Gonzalez BP HR ball.

Look at the ball! Its like the perfect ball, no marks or anything. Excellent.
At 5:30, I went over to the bleachers and got Mat Latos to sign the Gonzalez ball.
Below: Ball with Latos' signature with him in the background.

I wasn't over in the bleachers for long, I went up above the Clemente wall. Where I had Padres coach Darren Balsley to toss me a ball up.
That was all for BP.
Durin' the game, I took a picture of Adrian Gonzalez on the scoreboard. Pictured below.

The 2nd ball I got at this game, I got signed by former Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen(I don't know if I spelled that right). Pictured below.

Above his name, it says "cool beans" if you wanted to know.
I left in the 8th, because I was gettin' tired and my legs started to hurt. When I got home I took the 2 usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected.

Below: Upclose on the 2 balls.


SEASON STATS
2 balls at this game.
23 balls at 13 games.
1.77 balls per game (BPG)
42 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

...Wait! This is an update! I got a new glove!


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7/21/10- Pirates vs Brewers

I arrived at PNC Park around 3pm.
Before the gates opened, I went down to the riverwalk outside of the stadium, to look for some balls in the grass. I didn't find any, but there was a young kid around 8 or 9, that found one. When the stadium opened at 5, I raced over to section 140, and quickly while there was nobody around, I saw a ball that was hit to Brad Lincoln, and I yelled his name, he turned around and threw me first and only ball of the day.
Below: Brad Lincoln and Gary Varsho.

The rest of BP was all missed opportunities.
Below: Bleachers at 5:40

As you can see, the bleachers were packed, so I was only over there for a few minutes, before I went back over to center field, the Brewers are good for BP, because they hit well, but they don't throw many balls into the crowd, I only saw 2 balls thrown into the crowd.
After BP was over, I went to the Songwhale stand and I won 2 free tickets to the August 6th game vs Colorado, one of those tickets I put up for sale on Stubhub.
Below: Zach Duke

The other night, when I got my first game HR ball, hit by Rickie Weeks, he is now my favorite Brewer. Here's his picture on the scoreboard.

I left the game in the 8th.
When I got home, I took the 2 usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected.

Below: Close up on my 1 ball.


SEASON STATS
1 ball at this game.
21 balls at 12 games this season.
1.75 balls per game (BPG)
40 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

But this post isn't over yet...
The Pirates offense EXPLODED once again in this game.
The Pirates won 15-3, scored 6 runs in the 4th, had 18 hits, Delwyn Young hit his 4th HR of the season (which I had a chance of gettin' that ball, but it was one of my 4 missed chances at this game) and also Young had 5 RBI's. Pedro Alvarez hit 2 more HR's in this game, and had 3 RBI's. I hope the Pirates offense can stay like this for a while.

7/19/10- Pirates vs Brewers (First Game HR!)

Sorry, to spoil the surprise, but as you see in the title, I got my first game HR at this game.
I went to this game with my buddy Matt, we arrived at the stadium around 3:30, I was the forth person in line. The weather looked shaky, it rained for like 2 minutes before the stadium opened, thankfully the rain would hold off til after BP.
Below: Brewers BP

I only got one ball at BP at this game, it was a ground rule double hit by an unknown Brewer, it bounced up into the row behind where I was, and I turned around and grabbed it. After BP, I did my usual routine. Me and Matt had bleacher general admission tickets (that's the only tickets I buy).
Below: Pitcher for this game, Jeff Karstens.

Below: A little ball that the Pirate Parrot hits into the crowd before the game.

Then, the rain came. Here are 3 pictures of the tarp goin' on the field, then it comin' off, and then the clean-up process.



Okay, well here's the story about my first HR, in the top of the sixth, I was standin' above the lower bleachers, when Rickie Weeks hit a long fly to left, I ran halfway down the steps, when the ball bounced in the 3rd or 4th row, when it bounced some guy without a glove tried to get the ball, but he dropped it, when I reached down and I picked it up. I couldn't believe it at first, I just got my first game HR ball, I ran around and shouted like a little kid on Christmas.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE HOMERUN!

It was Rickie Weeks' 78th career HR.
After I got the ball, me and Matt walked over by section 140, and he took this picture for me, with my first game HR ball.

We left shortly after.
When I got home, I took the 2 usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected.

Below: Close up on the Rickie Weeks HR ball.


SEASON STATS
2 balls at this game.
20 balls at 11 games this season.
1.82 balls per game (BPG)
39 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

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7/16/10- Weather Is Stupid

Weather is the reason that I didn't go to the game tonight (Sorry, I couldn't get a screen shot of the hourly weather), but more bad weather is expected for early next week, but I WILL be at those games next week. I'm actually not that upset about the weather because it is a Friday night game, and also a Pirates beach towel giveaway night.

So, stay tuned for 3 games next week.

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Quick Little Post

Not alot of time right now, so here's a short post.

Sidney Crosby wins his 4th straight ESPY award.

Click here for more information.


Go Pens!

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R.I.P. George Steinbrenner

First off, click here, for the link.

His death hurts alot of people, even me, and I'm not even a Yankees fan. But this is still sad for baseball fans everywhere.

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7/7/10- Warped Tour 2010!

Great day, freakin' awesome!
I decided to make a nifty slideshow, instead of what I usually do to save some time. Not all of the pictures I took are there, sorry about that one. Just hit pause if you don't want to listen to Party Hard.

Video: Sum 41


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