Results tagged ‘ WBC ’
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
WBC Championship Game and another near miss of HR #100
Monday started out pretty good. I got to the left field gate just after 3pm and was basically alone there until 3:50 other than volunteers for the flags on the field. Once the gates opened at 4 there was still only a handful of people. Once I got inside I took up my spot near the 307-309 aisle a couple rows up.
My first ball of the day was hit by a Japanese righty and I caught it on the top of the staircase in the aisle. When I looked in my glove to see what the ball looked like I was totally amazed at what I saw. This ball was PERFECT and did not have a mark on it. You would have thought I took it right out of a box. About 15 minutes later I made another grab of a BP ground rule double that just made it over the fence in the same place. This ball was also almost perfect except for the spot where it hit the warning track. The rest of BP was pretty quiet with only a handful of balls coming even close to where I was.
So let’s go on to the game shall we?
First off let’s just say that the atmosphere was game 7 of the World Series exciting. I wish the American baseball fans got this into games. Anyway, the Koreans were getting no hit through 3 or 4 innings, in fact it was a perfect game for most of that. Then we got to the 5th inning with Japan up 1-0 Shoo-Shin Choo stepped to the plate.
All night long I was spending more time under the stands hoping for a HR that just cleared the fence. I have seen many lefties hit home runs towards the 315 stairwell and I headed over there. 
As you see in the picture on the left are the stairs that go up to section 315 and the wall and railing in front. To the left out of camera shot there is a TV monitor that you can see what is going on in the game on. I watch that and listen for the crowd as well. Shoo-Shin Choo came up and hit a HR that hit just past the stairs in the photo. For some reason when a ball is hit and clears the fence then hits the ground here it bounces straight up most of the time. Choos HR did the same. It bounced straight up and hit the metal trough that holds TV wires. As I was moving towards it a little body came down the stairs. Had it been anyone else I might have thrown a forearm or body check and grabbed the ball. Actually this kid played it perfect coming down the stairs at the perfect time as the ball was making its bounce up off the ground after hitting the metal trough above. He got the glove under it and the hand on top and was gone back up the stairs.
I think I screamed and yelled for rest of the game. I was literally less than a foot away from the ball! DAMN DAMN DAMN!! Even now I am still frustrated. How much better can I play this guy! I mean I went there because I just had that gut feeling that a HR was coming. I was certain when he hit the ball it was going out and I was right there! UGH!!
Here is a photo of the THIEF and the Dodger Stadium Security that did NOTHING to keep this kid from standing on the stairs ALL NIGHT LONG!! Had he been in a seat even if it was in the first row that ball was MINE!!!
Dodger Stadium security is usually horrible anyway, they are always quick to throw people out for being fans of the visiting team and in the pavilion they act as if they are the Riot police with lousy atitudes because they really hate their jobs. Oh well, it will be much better when game HR #100 is a ball that some Dodger player wants back I and simply tell them NO!
Really, I swear, I am not bitter at all! Next time though Ms. Security supervisor …… DO YOUR JOB!!! The rest of the game was great with a 9th inning run to tie the game and then Japan winning in the 10th on Ichiro’s double!
Here is one last photo for those of you that have not been to Dodger Stadium that shows the space between the wall and the seats from a different angle. If you play it right during BP or the games you can occasionally get quite a few baseballs!
5 WBC balls in 2 games at Dodger Stadium and 1 WBC at the Petco Workout day
6 Balls Total - 4 hit/caught – 1 thrown – 1 found
WBC – Saturday semi-finals
Saturday was the first official game to “Ballhawk” at for the 2009 season. While the balls caught during BP go under the spring training list on the career if a home run is caught during these games I would count it as a game HR since the games are sanctioned by MLB.
Saturday started off great. I got to the stadium around 3pm to find that the parking lot gate where I was would not be open until 4 or so the guard told me. I decided to walk around to the parking lot gate that I usually go in when driving. When I got there it was wide open and I walked down to the stadium. When I got to the stadium gates they were just about to open and it was only 3:30. I have to say I was pretty excited about that! Only 9 people in line so it was going to be a good day or at least I hoped it would be.
When the gates opened I walked in and went straight to the first staircase near centerfield since everyone else went the other way. I walked up the stairs and in the first row I found ball #1 of the day. It was a WBC ball that was a little scuffed and had a fairly readable lable.
Venezuela was on the field and I was in the aisle of section 307. Miguel Cabrera came up and hit a ball that I was sure would just make it over the wall. I went down the aisle about 3 steps and made the right hand turn going down the steps to the gap between the wall and the seats. As I got down there I watched the ball every step of the way. It just cleared the fence and then with a basket catch I caught the ball just in front of the railing that keeps people away from the wall. That was my 2nd ball of the day.
My 3rd ball came on a ground rule double bounce during BP off the bat of a Korean right handed batter. I am not sure who it was. Both balls #2 and #3 were also WBC balls and were in similar condition to ball #1.
No pictures for tonights game because someone not only forgot their camera but had a dying battery on a cell phone as well so he saved it for twittering.
That’s it for Saturday night …………. Mondays Championship Fiasco is up next!
World Baseball Classic Workout Day at Petco on 3/14/09 – 1 ball
Saturday we made the trip down to Petco Park in San Diego for the 2009 World Baseball Classic Workout Day. All 4 teams that were playing in Round 2 at San Diego were going to hold 90 minute workouts.
The only places that you could be in the ballpark on Saturday were lower left field seats and the beach and bleachers in centerfield. Left field was pretty crowded all day long and if you add in the fact that there are railings in the middle of each aisle it makes it pretty tought to run down a baseball.
Mexico hit first and while they did hit quite a few baseballs into the seats it seemed that everytime I moved they hit the baseballs where I just was. I was only close to about 4 balls during their session and just not close enough to grab one.
Next up was Korea and they were pretty bad. I don’t think that there were more than a dozen balls that reached the stands in left field and there was only one ball the entire day, while we were there, that made the BEACH in centerfield and that was hit by Adrian Gonzalez.There were other reasons that having Korea and Japan in the park on Saturday were good however 
After Korea was Cuba which changed the whole dynamic of the ballpark. It was fun to see the Cuban players hit the field and the smell of the Cuban cigars hit the ballpark. As you can see in the photo below even the Cuban players felt that this was a once in a lifetime thing and they pulled out their cameras to take pictures of the ballpark. Cuba hit a ton of balls out but the only problem was that most of them went into the 2nd deck in left field which was closed.
After Cuba was done hitting they took infield / outfield practice. The outfielders took flyballs in centerfield and occasionally would throw balls into the BEACH area. Just as the players were getting ready to leave the field Yoennis Cespedes tossed a ball over the fence and right into my glove it went. Thankfully I did not get shut out the first day of 2009!
While I won’t count the ball that I caught today in my regular season totals it will show as an MLB ball caught for 2009 and it will be added to the Spring Training Total for my career.
Below are a few more pictures from Saturday!
WBC workout day tomorrow and LIVE TWITTERing batting practice!!
Tomorrow at Petco all four of the teams that are in the second round in San Diego are scheduled to work out. The WBC and PETCO has decided to make it open to the public! It should be a lot of fun and hopefully I will come up with a few baseballs.
This is actually a Ballhawks dream! 4 teams which will mean about 4 hours of batting practice, opportunities at autographs and who knows what else we will end up with!
I will even be updating everyone of the what is going on through TWITTER.
You can follow along live with what I do tomorrow at http://twitter.com/MLBallhawk
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
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