4/14/09 @ Miller Park

I’m getting a little behind on my blogging, so, this one will be short and sweet.

My wife and I went to the game together.  She’s my good luck charm.

When
the gates to the stadium opened at 530pm for the 705pm game, I raced in
and scoped out the Brewers bullpen.  There were about 6 baseballs lying
in the bullpen.  Three of them looked like potential glove trick
claims, so, I went to work. 

There was one problem, though. 
My string on the glove trick had balled up into a knot.  I was getting
a bit nervous trying to untangle the mess.  After about 3 minutes of
screwing around, I had it pretty much untangled. 

So, I went back to work.

BASEBALL #1, BASEBALL #2 and BASEBALL #3
were all, subsequently, snagged using the glove trick.  I was able to
reel all three up in about 5 minutes.  Would have been shorter if not
for the knot.  Not for the knot??  Whatever.  Either way, I felt like I
was cheating, but, not really.  You know what I mean? 

Anyhow,
I ran over to my section and began waiting for the big Reds lefties to
start cranking them out like they had the night before. 

Reds
OF LAYNCE NIX was shagging BP out in right field.  A baseball rolled
out to him and I asked him for it.  He turned and lobbed BASEBALL #4 to me.

The
first group of Reds lefty hitters soon disappointed, though.  So, I
headed over to left for Brandon Phillips.  It took about 5 minutes
before BRANDON PHILLIPS jacked one high into the air.  I was standing
in the left field loge bleachers (one of the toughest places to catch a
baseball when you have to move to get it). 

Row after row of bleachers along with scattered railings makes this place tough. 

I
hurdled three rows of bleachers moving backwards, all the while, keeping my eye
on the ball.  It was coming, I just had to get underneath it.  I would
snag that BP homer on the fly for
BASEBALL #5.

The
righty group also would disappoint, so, I moved back to right field for
Laynce Nix.  Laynce has big power and usually shows it during BP. 

Near
the end of Batting Practice, LAYNCE NIX would strike.  He hit a long,
towering fly that found a safe home right in the old mitt (on the fly)
for BASEBALL #6.

BP was over but I would soon make two new friends. 

Earlier
in the day, I had run into a gentleman at a local Milwaukee restaurant
about 20 minutes from the park.  He had told me his youngest boy was
having a birthday on this day.  The man said they had driven down from
their home in Northeast Wisconsin to take the boy and his older brother
to the Brewers game.  I told the man to meet me out by the big CITGO
pump in right-center field, that I would have something for his boys.

They stopped by the seats right when BP was finishing up.

Here’s the two boys proudly displaying their prize(s)…
That’s JOHN on the right and the birthday boy RYAN on the left.  Two great kids!!

After
BP, I made my usual rounds around the stadium.  When I saw Reds pitcher
Bronson Arroyo walking out to the bullpen to warm up, I headed over to
watch.

Here’s my overhead view of Bronson Arroyo making his warmup pitches…

The game contained nothing to write home to Mom about. 
When
the game starts, I usually stay in my spot.  If I’m out running around
for foul balls, I miss the game home runs.  Since, game home runs mean
everything to me, I stay focused on those instead of foul balls, 3rd
out balls, etc.  That doesn’t mean I don’t go for them from time to
time, it’s just that it’s pretty rare.

I had my throwback ball waiting for a game home run but the game home run never came.
Here’s a picture of my throwback ball…
If your stadium allows throwbacks, you have to have one.  I made the infield at Miller Park on a bounce, once, from my bleacher seats out in right center field.

Only a complete fool would throw back the actual game home run ball…only my opinion, of course.

Here’s a picture of a ballhawk’s best friend (on occasion)…
                                     A little pick-me-up goes a long way.