I am back on Twitter @MLBallhawk ( http://twitter.com/MLBallhawk ) . Now that I have learned to update it from the web and not by text I might be able to make it work.

I am looking for more of my readers to make a pledge for my BASEBALLS 4 MADD campaign. 100% of all money raised goes directly to MADD! You make a pledge for each ball that I catch this season and at the end of the year MADD will send you information on how to make the final donation. It is even tax deductable!

I hope to get out to a game this weekend either Friday or Saturday or possibly both. I am not sure if it will be Anaheim or San Diego but I should get to at least one of those places! It has been over 2 weeks since my last game!!

The final note is that I will be interviewed later today for a newspaper article in the midwest. I will have further details after the interview is done!

I am back on Twitter @MLBallhawk ( http://twitter.com/MLBallhawk ) . Now that I have learned to update it from the web and not by text I might be able to make it work.

I am looking for more of my readers to make a pledge for my BASEBALLS 4 MADD campaign. 100% of all money raised goes directly to MADD! You make a pledge for each ball that I catch this season and at the end of the year MADD will send you information on how to make the final donation. It is even tax deductable!

I hope to get out to a game this weekend either Friday or Saturday or possibly both. I am not sure if it will be Anaheim or San Diego but I should get to at least one of those places! It has been over 2 weeks since my last game!!

The final note is that I will be interviewed later today for a newspaper article in the midwest. I will have further details after the interview is done!

I am back on Twitter @MLBallhawk ( http://twitter.com/MLBallhawk ) . Now that I have learned to update it from the web and not by text I might be able to make it work.

I am looking for more of my readers to make a pledge for my BASEBALLS 4 MADD campaign. 100% of all money raised goes directly to MADD! You make a pledge for each ball that I catch this season and at the end of the year MADD will send you information on how to make the final donation. It is even tax deductable!

I hope to get out to a game this weekend either Friday or Saturday or possibly both. I am not sure if it will be Anaheim or San Diego but I should get to at least one of those places! It has been over 2 weeks since my last game!!

The final note is that I will be interviewed later today for a newspaper article in the midwest. I will have further details after the interview is done!

As many of you know this season I am raising money for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) through my Ballhawking. Pledges are made for every ball that I catch between the World Baseball Classic in March and the World Series in October. So as you see below I have already caught 50 baseballs this season between the WBC, Major League Games and Minor League Games. So as I pledged $.50 per ball my total pledged to MADD so far is $25.00.

100% of this money will be collected and go directly to MADD! When you fill out the pledge form it goes directly to MADD and then they send me your name, pledge amount and website/company for me to put on my website and here in my MLBlog.

Right now it has been kind of tough getting out to games because of my real job. Hopefully in after the 4th of July I will get back to going to 2 games a week.

If you read this blog please take the time to make a pledge even if it is only a Penny! Every little bit helps!

As many of you know there is a new website for Ballhawks that helps us keep track of our insane hobby. Alan Schuster put together MyGameBalls.com and at first you had to have all the information on each ball caught for it to be counted. After many of the older Ballhawks that simply count the balls caught and don't write down every detail asked him to create a way to post our stats without every ball being input. Mr. Schuster did just that and now all I have to do is adjust the totals to what I have caught at each stadium. So now my stats are updated and I am simply working on getting the totals adjusted for each stadium that I have caught baseballs at.

Here is what it looks like now:

Ok so this was a day that I honestly did not even intend on going out to the ballpark. The wife was in Vegas with her sister and I was just going to relax at home but at the last minute i decided to head out to the game.

I got to the park just as the gates opened and had to wait in line for a ticket. I was frustrated when after a 10 minute wait I finally got my ticket and got in. When I got down to my usual spot in right field there was already someone there. I did manage to get into my spot after about 5 minutes but through the last 15 minutes of Angels BP there was nothing. I decided to head out to the right field pavilion to catch a few balls instead of my usual scooping them up down the line.

I got out there and saw TC and PadreLeigh already running after baseballs. TC made a couple of nice catches and had about 7 balls that were close enough for him to get. Anyway, I got out to right field just as the Angels were about to head off the field. There was a ball in centerfield and I yelled at one of the Angels players, "How bout' one for the big kids?" He  turned and made the absolute WORST toss up attempt that I have ever seen. He wasn't trying to miss me or toss it short on purpose he genuinely missed the target by 15 feet. The bad thing was he was only 25 feet away from me! The ball fell into the centerfield gap and the usher from the LF pavilion came around and tossed it up to me. BALL #1

The Padres stepped in to take BP and it was pretty uneventful. Adrian Gonzalez hit the only other ball that I grabbed. I was over a section and a half away when he hit it but I had a completely unobstructed run to the last section in right center field. I ran over and picked it up! BALL #2

These two balls make my season total 36 MLB balls caught and got me to 50 overall with Minor League balls and WBC balls!

Now the bad news, because of my "real" job I will be working the next 11 days straight and will not be able to get to any games unless I hit the Dodgers / Angels game tomorrow night. Although I guess if the wife is really ambitious we could go to San Diego since I think they are in town.

Anyway, I will be fixing up my website and trying some new things on here as well! It should be an interesting week or two so check back and see what's new after JULY 1!

I will also be updating my BASEBALLS 4 MADD charity work! Check it out on my website www.mlballhawk.com

Tonight was my wifes birthday and since sheis friends with a pitcher on the Orange County Flyers (an Independant Minor League team) we decided to go to their home opener. The Flyers play at Goodwin Field on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. This is also the ballpark that the Cal State Fullerton Titans play in. Here is a shot of the field from the street as you walk up. Notice the backside of the scoreboard with the message board that hasn't worked in at least 10 years! This is left field and as you can see even though there is a net it can still be a Ballhawks paradise! When a ball hits the net it generally falls straight down and is easy to grab.

The right field side backs up to the Fullerton Aboretum which can also be very nice for a ballhawk. It was back in 2006 when a few of the World Baseball Classic teams worked out here and I did quite well grabbing 38 baseballs in 3 days! That haul included 11 from Ichiro and 7 from A-Rod!! Here is a look over the right field wall from the Arboretum........

Batting practice started around 4:30 which only left about 15 minutes where if a ball was hit into the arboretum that someone could go in and get it. Of course while the gates to the arboretum were still open no one hit a ball in there. Then about 10 minutes ater the gates were close ........ you guessed it ....... someone hit a ball and there it stayed!

The little white speck  on the path just under the tree trunk is the first baseball that was hit into the Arboretum. Here are the first 3 balls that I grabbed via video and a photo at the end of all 8 balls. It will keep this post to a minimum for sure!

The game itself was not very exciting other than back to back home runs by Flyers catcher Nick Guerra and former Major League All-Star, from the Detroit Tigers, Robert Fick.

It was the night where the Flyers got their Championship Rings. It was a complete fiasco because as has become a custom at Flyers games the staff was completely UN-ORGANIZED. The game was slated to start at 7:05 and they didn't even start the ring ceremony until 7:10. The game finally got started at 7:45 and ended around 11ish with Fireworks that I am sure the surrounding neighborhood was not happy with on a Tuesday night.

In the 7th inning they had someone from some lifetime series sing "America the Beautiful" and because of technical difficulties she had to start the song over after missing her entry point the first time.

I guess they are trying to film some "reality" show for TV based on or around the Flyers. They were again unprepared for opening night with the PA announcer trying to get his stuff set up just before game time. Fortunately for him it was not his fault because he had evidently asked for it to be done the night before which obviously it didn't.

The concessions prices are ridiculous, the atmosphere is simply not fun, the between inning promotions are mediocore at best and no one seemed to be on the same page with some of the on field stuff causing a delay of the game.

Oh well I guess that is just INDY baseball for you ........... the one thing that was not cool was the fact that the teams GM, who is also the owner, was sitting in the stands drinking a beer!

• 8 Balls tonight bringing my MiLB ball total to 1130
• 4,916 Baseballs at Professional Baseball games over 33 years

A defense attorney on Monday entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the man charged with killing Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others in a drunk-driving crash in April.

I have read quite a few message boards with some comments from people concerned about Anthony Gallo getting a fair trial??

Are you kidding me?? What is fair about a kid that is 22 dying at such a young age? What is fair to not only his family but the families of the other victums having to bury their own children, brothers or sisters?

It is a closed case! 3 x's the legal limit, running a red light, 3 people dead and one critically injured!

What we really need is for people to volunteer for non-profit groups like MADD (mothers against drunk driving) so that we can help try to put an end to this ridiculous crime of Drunk Driving!!

As you know this season I am catching "BASEBALLS 4 MADD"! By clicking on that link you can make a pledge per baseball that I catch this season. So far I have caught 40 baseballs and we have raised close to $100. That is a far cry from my goal but with the word now getting out about my quest to raise money for MADD that will start rising quickly!

Official Baseballs 4 MADD press release - click here - PDF

The Angels were nice enough to offer tickets to a game and I have also been talking to a few other teams about the same sort of help. Hopefully we will see their names on the donor list as well!

I lost a friend to a drunk driving crash as a kid and it was hard on me. How much worse must it be for the families that are affected by this tragic crime!!

Please make a pledge, even if it is a penny per baseball! All money goes directly to MADD. When you sign up to make a pledge the info goes directly to them and all they do is send me your name and pledge amount along with a company name or website name to put on my websites donor page. I will never see or collect a penny of this money!

100% of this money goes DIRECTLY to MADD's ORANGE COUNTY Chapter!!

....................    from May 24th, 1990.

The Dodgers were at Wrigley Field on that day and the wind was blowing in from centerfield. I was out on Waveland Avenue with some of the other ballhawks pretty certain that no game home runs would come out.

In the 4th inning Juan Samuel cracked a home run deep to left field that went into the bleachers. Of course we all know of the Wrigley Field tradition of throwing Home Runs back on to the field if hti by an oppising team. That is exactly what happened with this ball.

But that is where it gets a little crazy.....

One of the regulars in the bleachers just missed the home run and came to the top of the stands by the fence to give us an account of what happened. As he was telling us he pointed up towards the left field family section. Shortly after that I heard a ball hit and I ran after it and scooped it up. I yelled up to him "What the He** was that?" He replied with "The guy just threw the ball back onto the field, 3rd base umpire Doug Harvey picked it up and hurled it out of the ballpark and you got it!"

WOW ...... I got a home run ball and it was thrown out of the stadium by the umpire. I am pretty sure that is a Wrigley Field first! I think what is really impressive is that an umpire had an arm that good!

Harvey was one of the best umpires ever to wear the blue uniform and over the past 9 years has missed getting voted in to the Hall Of Fame by the veterans committee by only a handul of votes in 3 different years! He definitely gets my vote!!

I headed out the front door today just before 10am so I would make the 10:18 train into LA. I should have waited for the 12:58 train because I ended up at Dodger Stadium at 2PM. Gates for the game don't open until 5:10pm. Thankfully at Dodger Stadium you can go into the Top Deck and just hang out and watch what is or isn't going on in the stadium.

As I walked towards the field I could see what was going on and it was what every Ballhawk loves to see....... the groundscrew on the field setting up for BP!!

In this picture below you can see the people hanging out just sitting around watching whats going on in the stadium.

Around 2:30 or so Arizona came out and took some early BP. They launched at least a dozen balls into the left field pavilion where I would be sitting later in the day. For some reason however I did not take any pictures of Arizona's early BP. That might have been because I was on the phone with my wife and my mom during most of that time.

As it got close to 4:15 the Dodger Pitchers were in the cage and the rest of the team was stretching down the left field foul line.

Here are a few other random photos that I shot between the time I got there and the time I went down to the Left Field Pavilion when the gates were opening.

Top left is a pic of Downtown LA from the top deck. Top right  is a pic of the scoreboard and the Think Blue sign. Bottom right is the players parking lot and then the pic on the bottom right has a little story. As I was standing out in dead centerfield (again no pic of this area today for some reason) I saw a ball hit towards the right field stands. Since some of the doors are open occasionally there is the chance it goes under the seats and rolls to the fence and you have a chance of getting it. Well this ball somehow bounced into an area where the AC units are and that is where it stayed.

Ball #1  of the day came when I was standing out behind the centerfield gate waiting for the LF Pavilion seats to open. Mark Loretta launched a ball deep to centerfield that made it past the fencing that is set up for fans to stand against during BP. Since the gates were not open the gate to get into the centerfield area was still closed. I was standing just behind it talking to the security guard as the ball came out. It took a nice bounce and rolled right under the fence to me!!

Then it was time to go into the stadium. After seeing early BP and knowing of all the balls that were hit into the stands early I thought there was a chance that there would be a ball or 2 just sitting in the stands. There were only 5 of us that were there at gates opening and we all ran in looking for "Easter Eggs". I had my eye on one spot and ran to it and grabbed BALL #2 of the day. I thought I heard a ball hit the seats while we were all looking but I wasn't sure. As O was telling a guy where I found the ball that I got I looked up there and there was another balls sitting about 2 ft from where I picked up the first "Easter Egg" and that was Ball #3

So now I had 3 balls and I was just in the stadium ..... could this be a day I set a season high for baseballs?? Abolutely NOT!! The Dodgers were absolutely PATHETIC during BP only hitting about 5 balls into the stands and NOTHING close to me. The one good thing that happened during Dodgers BP was the fan that called Clayton Kershaw over to sign a picture. After he signed the picture and a ball for a woman I asked if he would sign a ball for me and he did. Here is a picture of Kershaw standing in the outfield with Kuroda and my boy Brent Leach! The other picture is of the Kershaw autograph that I got on a ball caught last week!

So as I told you the Dodgers side of BP sucked however Arizona pelted the stands with a shower of baseballs however the only problem was none of those shots were anywhere near me either! I noticed Chip Hale chasing down balls in left field and as it got close to the end of BP I decided to do something I rarely do........ BEG for a baseball. So as Hale came over to a ball that was basically right in front of me I said ,"Chip, may I PLEASE have that ball?" Almost the second that he heard me say please he looked up and tossed the ball right at me. Then all of the sudden this little punk (about 20 or so) jumped in right next to me bumping me and causing the ball to go off both of our gloves and falling into the gap between the seats and the fence. I ran down the ball and then launched a short tirade against this jackA$$!!

This guy was unbelievable, not only did he do this to me but there was a player in the left field corner trying to give a kid a baseball. He threw at least 3 balls to the little kid (5 or 6 years old) that the kid missed. This guy grabbed at least 2 of them and others around were telling him the balls were for the kid and he ignored them and kept the balls. He also basically raped a guy trying to get another ball that came out on the fly. The guy did hold his ground and made a nice catch and then the guy that caught the ball said "if he does that again I will deck him!"

This isn't the first time at Dodger stadium that there has been some jacka$$ acting like that and it definitely will not be the last time I am sure!

As for the game itself, here was my view from my seats in the 305/307 aisle. Justin Upton launched a Grand Slam in the 2nd inning to my spot but just one aisle over in the 307/309 aisle. One of these days I will pick the right place to sit for an easy home run catch!!

• 4 consecutive games with 3 or more baseballs
• 3 consecutive games with 4 or more baseballs
• 17 balls in last 4 games

Game Summary and Season Stats from MyGameBalls.com

Does not include 6 WBC balls in the above season stats from MyGameBalls.com