6/2/09 - Dodgers vs. Arizona Dodger Stadium - 4 Balls & Clayton Kershaw autograph

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!!