6/13/09 - Angels vs. Padres - 2 Balls

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