Results tagged ‘ taking home a piece of the game ’

My Book, Charlie Sheen and an Almost EPIC Shoutout!!

Last week I got the crazy idea of sending one of my books to Charlie Sheen. I sent a copy of “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” to Charlie at his “Sober Valley Lodge”. As I tracked the book and it’s travels online via USPS I got a bad feeling in my gut. It was out for delivery and then was back at the sorting facility in Santa Clarita. 

I had sent the book to the address with Los Angeles as the city and not Beverly Hills. So I figured that in a couple of days the book would be returned to me and I would have to resend it. So I waited for the book to return but it never came back. Getting worried I went online to check USPS.com and see where it was and to my amazement it said DELIVERED on Sat. at 9:17am.
Ok so now I knew that my book had been delivered and the main reason I sent it was in an attempt to get an interview with Charlie for MyGameBalls.com. So I spent the next day and a half waiting for the phone to ring or for an email to pop into my gmail account. While I had my hopes set high I knew that more than likely nothing would come of it. 
Then on USTREAM comes Sheen’s Korner with the first night being live. On Ustream you can Tweet in and ask questions etc but it was so unorganized (Sorry Charlie) that it was unlikely that my questions of him getting the book would be read or even seen. If I got really lucky it would show up on his desk that first night but to no avail.
So on went the Charlie Sheen solo blast’s and Torpedoes of Truth and no sign of my book or anything. Then came last nights FINAL EPISODE of Sheens Korner. Charlie went on his rant about the execs that fired him and everything else and at the 7:06 in the show (recorded on Ustream) Charlie lights up a cigarette and takes a drink of water. I looked at over and over and over again because there was something next to his printer that caught my eye. It was a book and it looked pretty damn close to my book.
I have looked at the photo (below) over and over again and still am not 100% positive that it is in fact my book but it looks a lot like it. Anyway, you can click on the picture to get a larger view and for those of you that have a copy of my book, you make the decision.
Takinghomeapieceofthegamewithcharliesheen
After a full night of no sleep wondering if in fact that was my book I decided to try to get to the botton of the mystery. I sent an email to someone involved with the Sheen’s Korner production and who is also a friend of Charlies. I simply told him that I was not as crazy as the email sounded but I had to know if that book was in fact the one I had sent Charlie just a couple days before
This guy was really cool, we sent a few emails back and fourth and he has said that he will mention it and find out if #1 Charlie did get my book and #2 if that was it next to his printer.
Ok, so you would think that this is the end of the story but it is not. 
In the last email he sent me he added this, “look up roz wyman (my mom) if you are a baseball fan you will be impressed”

It turns out that his mom Roz Wyman was instrumental in getting the Dodgers to leave Brooklyn and head to LA!! That was very cool to find out! He then sent me a couple clips of his son interviewing some Major Leaguers and I returned my 1990 Levis commercial. So if nothing else I have made a friend with a guy that is as much of a baseball fan as I am. He also likely has just as many if not more stories about baseball!

So you might think this now is where the story ends but it doesn’t end there either!

About 25 minutes after talking via email to this guy I was just goofing around on Twitter and I checked my @MLBallhawk mentions and saw this (see photo) 

sheenshoutout.jpg
I was really excited about seeing this but evidently my eyes didn’t catch the obvious at first. I wrote this story and the original ending was about a cool shoutout from a Warlock and how cool it was but AFTER FURTHER REVIEW look VERY CAREFULLY at the photo above ….. What’s wrong with it?? ………DAMN TROLLS!!!

Check this out!

As many of you know Zack Hample and I are friends. We have a fun rivalry when it comes to chasing balls. We kindly argue our ways of getting baseballs etc. We were just featured in the Sports Illustrated article “Flight of the Ballhawks”  as well.

So today I was checking out the page on Amazon for my book “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game’ and what do I see??? 
Check it out! 
zackjohn.jpg
No there is no problem buying these two books together!! lol
You can buy both of our books together for $15.57 plus shipping!   
Just check out the link to my book on the top of the page here!

TWINS??? How bout QUINTS???

Tonight was my first trip to the ballpark of 2010. I got to the ballpark early to try to get some autographs and that was pretty much a wast of time. There were only about 3 Angels players that signed and it was the same 3 guys that have signed almost everyday over the past 3 years!

Finally around 5pm the gates opened and I headed in to the corner. Just as I got down to the corner one of the Angels pitchers had a ball and looked right at me. I held up my glove and he said “hang on a second”. Um ….. Ok …. I will be here for a while anyway I thought to myself. So a couple of minutes passed and Hideki Matsui hit a ball into right field, this unknown pitcher picked it up and tossed it to me for my 1st regular season ball of the year.

Just after I was thrown ball #1 Matsui stepped back in and hit a shot into the corner. I moved to get into position for the bounce and just as I looked to see where the ball was it bounced in front of me, I stuck up my glove and in it went. Ball #2

Ball #3 of the day was the typical slow roller around the wall that rolled right to me. It was an easy snag and oddly the one security guard that I hate was right there and didn’t say anything. Hmmmm …. maybe he’s becoming nicer??? NAH!!

So in the first 20 minutes of BP I had 3 balls. The next 10 minutes was uneventful but then I got ball #4 again on a richochet around the wall on the field and about 1 minute later another ball took the same path and I made the snag for ball #5.

WOW! It was going to be a great BP, 5 balls and the Twins were just getting into the cage. Then I woke up!! There were only 2 balls hit close and I only had a slim chance to get one of them. The bad thing was the fact that the one ball I had a slim chance to get was a BRAND NEW TWINS commemorative ball.

Oh well ….. I will definitely not complain about 5 balls! I am not sure when I will get to another game, probably not for a while so this was definintely fun!

I am now just 8 balls away from 5,000 total baseballs caught at professional baseball games over the past 34 seasons!! I am also just 75 balls away from 3,000 regular season MLB balls and 151 away from 4,000 total MLB balls including spring training!

 

2010 Regular Season MLB Totals

  • Games Attended = 1
  • Hit Balls caught = 4
  • Thrown Balls caught = 1
  • TOTAL BALLS CAUGHT 5
  • BPG ave.  = 5.0

 

A Great Christmas Gift for any baseball fan – MY BOOK!!!

Product Details
Taking Home A Piece Of The Game: A Fan’s Guide On How To Get Cool Stuff At A Major League Baseball Game by John Witt (Paperback – Jan 15, 2009)
Buy new: $4.95
 
5 new from $4.94
2 used from $7.72

YOU CAN STILL GET IT BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!
 
If you want it autograped once you receive it then just email me at jwitt@mlballhawk.com and I will give you info and I will make that happen for you!!

Grab a copy of my book “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” for just $3.70!!!

Get a copy of the revised edition for only $3.70 + shipping!! 

You must use the following link to purchase the book through my CreateSpace.com online store https://www.createspace.com/3360721

Use coupon code XAQCG83P at checkout and you will get $1.25 off!!

 

The Boys Are Back!

Today is the best day of the new year, well other than yesterday which was my anniversary!

Anyway, baseball is officially back with the first games of the spring. I really can’t wait to fire up the computer at work this afternoon to hear all the announcers calling games.

 

Speaking of announcers calling games let me just throw this in here. I am not a huge hockey fan but this guy , Randy Mohler, is the Florida Panthers announcer. He has some of the greatest and most random calls after a goal is scored. Could you imagine if Vin Scully through some of this stuff in after a Dodger Home Run??

 

http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?id=34229 - Check Randy’s calls out here!

 

More than anything I just want the baseball season to get here so there is finally a chance to get out and go back to the obsession that I call “Ballhawking”. I might actually get out to a couple of spring training games if I can get my work schedule adjusted to fit!

 

As many of you know I wrote a book that came out in October called “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game: A Fan’s guide to getting cool stuff at a Major League Baseball Game”

My book helps the everyday fan get baseballs, autographs and game used items every time they go to a Major League Baseball Game! It even has been revised with a section that will help fans get cool stuff at Spring Training games!

 

The best part of it is the fact that my book was originally priced at $8.95 and the revised version is now only $4.95! So check it out!

 

 

World Baseball Classic Championship Ticket Package & “Ballhawking 101″

For those of you that are new to my MLBlog ……..WELCOME!!

I have put together a package that includes tickets to the World Baseball Classic Championship game and a day of fun for you as a “Ballhawking 101″ client!

Over the past few years I have received numerous emails from fans wanting to go to a baseball game with me so that I can help them with getting autographs, catching baseballs and acquiring their very own “Piece of the Game”. In fact I received so many emails that I even published my first book called “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game”

I started taking fans to games and showing them the in’s and out’s of Ballhawking and autograph chasing in 2007. To begin the 2009 season I have now put together a great package for the World Baseball Classic Championship game!

The package includes:

Your ticket to the World Baseball Classic Championship Game at Dodger Stadium on Monday March 23, 2009

Your Ballhawking 101 fee

A copy of the Revised Edition of my book “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” personally autographed by me

A MONEY BACK GUARANTEE on the Ballhawking 101 fee if one of us does not grab a baseball at the WBC Championship game!

On the day of the game we will pick a place to meet up and head over to Dodger Stadium. If you are interested in getting autographs we can possibly meet up ahead of time and go to the hotel where the teams are staying early in the day. Once we get into Dodger Stadium I will share my expertise with you on how to go about getting as many baseballs you can during batting practice!

Once batting practice is over we will work our plan of attach for the game. This is where we check out the line ups and figure what areas in the Left Field Pavilion are good and will give us a shot at a Home Run ball during the game!

During the 2006 World Baseball Classic at Angels Stadium I caught a Miguel Ojeda Home Run so it is definitely possible to pick the right spot!

There is only 1 of these packages available the cost of this SPECIAL WBC Championship game package is $449! 

For more information or to purchase the package please email me at ballhawk09@gmail.com

 

“Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” – Revised Edition – Available NOW!

The original edition of my book “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” is currently available on Amazon.com for $8.95.

I have just finished and published a REVISED EDITION that includes some great spring training tips as well as everything else that was in the original edition! I have also reworked the back cover of the book. The revised edition will cost ONLY $4.95!!
The revised edition of “Taking Home A Piece Of The Game” will be available on Amazon.com as well as at retail outlets and online bookstores. The original edition will only be available for a few more weeks so if you are a collector of sports books grab a copy now! Other books with similar content that are out of print are selling for $50+!
I have been pleasantly surprised by the interest in my book. I have received several cool emails and I am working on a post in which I will share quite a few of those with you!
 

Dave Winfield

Over the weekend I saw Dave Winfield watching his son play in a USSSA baseball event in West Covina, CA. It was in 1993 that I caught Winfield’s 450th career home run ball at Anaheim, now Angels, Stadium.

I mentioned it to him and he had a big smile and said “Great to see you again!” The conversation didn’t go much beyond that as he was sitting in a restaurant that over looked his sons baseball field and had the Cowboys / Steelers game on. I asked him to sign the ball just as ROMO was throwing the interception that cost the Cowboys the game. 
Besides getting a baseball signed I got the proof copy of my book signed by Winfield on one of the pages that talks about me getting his 450th HR. If you go to Amazon.com and look at where it says 1 collectible from $19.95 you will see that the proof copy is available if someone is interested! It is signed by myself and Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield!!

Very cool email about my book

I recently received an email in response to a few questions I sent to the person that purchased the first copy of my book through CreateSpace.com.

Here is the email I sent:
 
My name is John Witt, author of Taking Home A Piece Of The Game. I wanted to personally thank you for purchasing a copy of my book.
I would love to hear your thoughts about the book and what it was that interested you in purchasing my book.
 
Again, Thank you very much for purchasing Taking Home A Piece Of The Game!

And here is the response that I got just a short time later:

Hello Mr. Witt,  I think you might find this interesting and hard to believe but your book is the first book that I have ever completely read. I am 58 years of age and have never read a book in its entirety until now. I was very curious to see how you went about this feat of acquiring that many baseballs and other items. I also collect baseball memoribilia,mostly Red Sox stuff.  I love one of a kind items. Things that the average person can’t buy in a store. Well thats about it ,stay young and enjoy.     

God Bless
   Ed                                   

GO SOX

I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel to hear that. I guess I didn’t really know what to expect but hearing that my book (regardless of length) was the first book he read in his entirety was pretty cool! At the end he mentions getting things that the average person can’t buy in a store. The truth is that you can’t buy memories and excitment that you get when you catch a ball, get an autograph or even grab a game used souvenir at a game!

I hope that my book will help and inspire many more baseball fans to go after their “Piece of the Game!”

 

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