2010 MLB: May Review

I decided to do this a couple days early, because this is my only chance to do it.

So, as of right now the team with the best record in the MLB is the Tampa Bay Rays (34-17) and the worst record in the MLB belongs to the Baltimore Orioles (15-36)
Division Standings
AL East
Tampa Bay Rays- 34-17
NY Yankees- 30-20
Toronto Blue Jays- 30-22
Boston Red Sox- 29-33
Baltimore Orioles- 15-36
AL Central
Minnesota Twins- 29-20
Detroit Tigers- 26-23
Chicago White Sox- 22-28
Kansas City Royals- 21-30
Cleveland Indians- 18-30
AL West
Texas Rangers- 26-23
Oakland A's- 27-24
LA Angels- 25-27
Seattle Mariners- 19-30
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies- 28-21
Atlanta Braves- 28-22
NY Mets- 26-25
Florida Marlins- 25-26
Washington Nationals- 25-26
NL Central
Cincinnati Reds- 30-21
St.Louis Cardinals- 29-22
Chicago Cubs- 24-27
Milwaukee Brewers- 21-29
Pittsburgh Pirates- 20-31
Houston Astros- 17-33
NL West
San Diego Padres- 30-20
LA Dodgers- 28-22
San Francisco Giants- 27-22
Colorado Rockies- 26-24
Arizona D-Backs- 20-31

Surprises?
Of course, Jose Bautista (TOR) has 16 HR and 41 RBI, well he never did THAT with the Pirates. Also Rockies pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, has an ERA of 0.88! Amazing, he is 9-1. Another surprise, former Pirates closer, Matt Capps, leads the MLB in saves with 17! Also, Capps never did THAT with the Pirates!

Also, Stephen Strasburg is goin' to make his MLB debut early in June.


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2010 Stanley Cup Finals.

This blog is summed up in 3 simple words.

Chicago in six.

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Pat Tillman

First off I would like to say that Pat Tillman is a REAL Amercian. He gave up his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals, to be in the Army. He was killed in 2004. And now he is being inducted into the college football Hall of Fame.

ESPN Link

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5/21/10- Pirates vs Braves

I got to the stadium a few minutes before 4. I was 3rd in line.
When the stadium opened at 5, I went down into the bleachers and I didnt find any balls.
Below: The bleachers at 5:21

I didn't get any balls from the Pirates part of BP, when the Braves started BP, I changed into my Braves shirt, and I went over to section 143 to try and get a ball.
Below: Braves BP from 140

Up in section 143, I got my only ball of the day from Braves pitcher Billy Wagner.
After that I ran back over to the bleachers, and took another picture.
Below: Bleachers again

Below: The view from my seat (Section 142 Row G Seat 22)

Below: 3 Braves players on scoreboard.



Below: Milledge People!

Pirates lost 7-0.
When I got home I took the next 2 pictures.
Below: 6 tickets, 1 ball, US Army and Pirates/PNC Park t-shirts, McCutchen canvas photo wrap giveaway.

Below: Close-up on my 1 ball.

SEASON STATS
1 ball at this game.
12 balls at 5 games this year.
2.4 balls per game (BPG)
31 LIFETIME/25 CAREER BASEBALLS

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5/19/10- Pirates vs Brewers

I got to the stadium around 3:50.
And 10 minutes before the gates opened, I took the picture below.

It was a beautiful day to be a the game.
I got my first ball right as I walked into the bleachers, I found it under the first row, I was happy to be on the board early. After that I didn't get a ball for a while, I didn't want to leave with only 1 ball! There were many balls hit into the stands, I was just havin' a bad day I guess.
Below: The LF bleachers at 5:20.

My second ball came towards the end of BP, I was standin' in the first row of section 143, when an unknown Brewer hit blasted one out, I lost it in the sun, and didn't see it til the last second, the ball landed in the second row and I picked it up.
Below: Brewers BP

After BP, I got some pizza from Diamond club, like always and then I met up with 2 friends, one of them I haven't seen in a while, so I stayed with them for the game, we walked around the stadium and watched a little bit of the game, up in section 303. I was never at my seat for this game, even though I had a ticket for section 139. I stayed at the game until the 8th. When I got home I took the 2 pictures you see below.
Below: My 2 balls from today.

Below: My ticket, 2 balls, and Pirates first pitch book from this game.


SEASON STATS
2 balls at this game.
11 balls at 4 games this season.
2.75 balls per game (BPG)

30 LIFETIME/24 CAREER BASEBALLS

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My Baseball Collection (Update)

If you saw my last post from a MLB game you saw on the bottom that I have 28 career baseballs. But since I became a ballhawk, I have snagged 21 baseballs. From now on when I make a post about the game, you will see something like this below.
(Example: If I snag 4 balls at my next game, this is what you will see.
32 Lifetime baseballs/25 career.)
I'm just sayin' it now so you don't get confused when you see my next game post.

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R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio

Click here for information about it.


The music world hurts from this one.

*By the way, this is my 100th post on this blog.

5/14/10- McKechnie Field (Bradenton,FL)

Well last year, when I was in Florida I went to a Rays game.
This year I went to a Bradenton Marauders game.

First off, I would like to say McKechnie Field is a very nice little stadium, while watchin' the game, it felt like I was at a little league or high school game, and I liked that.

Above: The lineups for both teams.

Above: A band that played before the game, they played oldies/tropical songs.

Above: First pitch

Above: Tony Sanchez! Or as I call him "the future"

Above: All the way down the 3rd base line.

Above: A FSL ball I got at this game, it was thrown to me by a Fort Myers pitcher, it was a foul ball hit by a Bradenton player, it rolled down the line the pitcher came over picked it up and then asked me if I wanted it, I obviously said yes.

Above: View from behind home plate.

Above: 1-0 win for Bradenton, for a while I thought I was goin to see a no-hitter.

Above: Cup, ball, and 5 tickets collected at this game.
The attendance of this game was on 703!

*I will be at the Pirates game vs. the Brewers either Wednesday or Thursday this week, and the Pirates/Braves game on Friday!!!
*More posts soon!

5/4/10- Pirates vs Cubs

Had a great day.
I bought a cheap ticket, and got in line. I went down to the Riverwalk, with 2 other ballhawks. Here was my view from the riverwalk.

There was literally no balls hit there, expect one that bounced about 5 feet in front of me, I couldn't make a play on it, because there was 2 guys walkin' by, and almost hit one guy in the head, he just kept on walkin'.
A fellow ballhawk, Nick Pelescak got me into the bleachers again, just like last game I was at. My first ball was thrown to me John Russell. My 2nd ball came to me, just before 5:30, it was hit by an unknown Pirate, the ball bounced right before the wall, and I grabbed it as it bounced into the first row of the bleachers.
Below: Pirates BP

Below: The bleachers from 5-5:30.

Pretty empty, that is always good.
My 3rd ball was it by Derrek Lee (I think), it went over my head, and I turned around and picked it up. Then I went over to section 140, and I got ball number 4 on the day, it was thrown by Cubs pitcher Randy Wells.

My 5th ball of the day, was thrown to me by an unknown Cubs player.
I found my 6th ball of the day, in the ivy in center field. Check out the picture below.

And below are some pictures of the game.

Below: The view from my seat, Section 303 Row J Seat 10

I was at my seat for like 5 minutes, before I started to walk around the stadium.
Below: The view from the top of the rotunda in Left field.

Below: View from the Hall of Fame club.

Below: Pirates Win! 3-2!

I took a small radio to the game with me, so I could listen to the Penguins game, which the Pens won 2-0, and take a 2-1 lead in the series over Montreal.
When I got home, I took this final picture.

My ticket is the top one.

SEASON STATS
6 balls at this game
9 balls in 3 games this season.
3 balls per game (BPG)

28 LIFETIME BASEBALLS

2010 MLB: April Review

After every month, I will make a post about the month in review, and here is the month of April in review.
I will start out with the division leaders.
AL East - Tampa Bay Rays 17-6 (9-1 on the road!)
AL Central - Minnesota Twins 15-8
AL West - Los Angeles Angels 12-12!
NL East - New York Mets 14-9
NL Central - St.Louis Cardinals 15-8
NL West - San Diego Padres 15-8

Are there any surprises?
Yes, one of the surprises are the San Diego Padres, they are currently in first in the NL West, I did not think that would happen, even though its on May 1, and we have a long way to go this season, the Padres are lookin' good, and I now believe that the Padres can be contenders. Another surprise, the Washington Nationals, all I have to say is that, they will get better when Steven Stausburg(did I spell that right?) is called up to the majors.

And now about my team, the always wonderful, Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates are currently 10-13, thats good in my mind, if the Pirates did not have that 7-game skid, they would have a record above .500. I do not really think there are any surprises on the Pirates, because the bullpen is still playin' the same as years past, and the offense, is good at times and its bad at times.

Best and Worst
The team with the best record in baseball right now, Tampa Bay Rays, as you see above the Rays are 17-6, with a 9-1 record on the road! That is great, I cheer for the Rays, and say that they are my second favorite team, this seems like the year, that the Rays make it back into the playoffs, and head to the World Series, just like in 2008. The Rays' 9-1 road record will help them in the long run, if they continue to play excellent baseball on the road.
And now the worst,
Right now, the worst record in baseball belongs to the Baltimore Orioles. In my eyes, this really does not surprise me(Sorry, Oriole fans.) The current Baltimore record is 5-18. Baltimore's 2-8 home record, is not good for the home fans.

Okay, that is all for the month of April review. Yeah, I know I could have put more, but I think its enough for now, because I am lazy.