The Happy Youngster...Brew Town's Ballhawk

9/30/09 @ Coors Field

2009-10-04T15:31:58Z

This would be my 2nd and final game at Coors Field on this trip. Due to a family obligation, I would be flying out of Denver (on standby) early in the morning. I would be skipping the last game of the series because I *HAD* to get back to Milwaukee earlier than I originally planned. I'm a family man, you know.

As it turns out, this was going to be my last game of the 2009 season.
I absolutely had to end my season on a positive note...

Kenny and I arrived at the ballpark around 4:15pm and a small line had already formed by the Rockpile Gate. Shortly thereafter, our friend Don "The Rockpile Ranter" showed up with his son Hunter. I had read all of Don's blog entries where he talked about his son. Finally, I was able to meet him. One cool little dude. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking straight, and failed to get a picture with Hunter.

We didn't have to wait long and the gates to the stadium were open.

It also didn't take me long to snag ball #1. It came off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki and I fielded it on a bounce off the warning track. It took a playable bounce unlike the Ryan Braun ground-rule double the day before.

That's the only baseball I snagged during the Rockies portion of BP.
Soon, the Brewers took the field.

You could tell they were out of the pennant race...

...by looking at this picture.

It originally said: COFFEY IS A FA_
The author was Yovani Gallardo and he was referring to teammate Todd Coffey. Gallardo was trying to find a teammate who would give him a "G" to finish the sentence (those are his words, not mine).

Brewers reliever Carlos Villanueva walked over and began to hover over the missing letter. He acted as if he was going to fill it in.

Some people yelled, "do it!" Some yelled, "don't do it!"

I think I yelled both.

Either way, Gallardo ended up scratching out the "A" and finishing FA_ with the following...

...might as well have a little fun, eh?

Eventually, I would snag ball #2 off the bat of Ryan Braun. The ball was snagged on the bounce after it managed to elude my glove. I say this because I'm pretty sure I should have caught it on the fly. For whatever reason, I didn't play back toward the railing as far as I could have.

It's kind of like an outfielder going back on a ball that's on the warning track. He knows the wall is coming but jumps prematurely or doesn't play as far back as he could out of fear that he will strike the wall. That's what happened to me. But, I still ended up with the baseball.

My 3rd and final baseball of Batting Practice came via tossup from Brewers 3B Coach Brad Fischer. "Fisch" was walking toward one that had rolled down the left field line. I saw this and ran over to the "well" (the large grounds crew opening down the left field line). I held up my glove and flapped it once or twice. Mr. Fischer spotted the Brewers gear and gladly tossed it up.

BP was not as good as yesterday, but, the same held true-most baseballs would land up in the pavilion. The bottom row offers much room to roam, but, there just aren't many front row jobs at Coors Field during BP. That considered, I *still* would not have changed a thing regarding my game plan.

Sadly, Batting Practice for my 2009 season came to an end with another 3 baseball performance.

I needed to release some depression with nature...

...so, I stuck my head in the trees located in the beautiful batter's eye.

After the sadness subsided, I met up with these two Rockies superfans...

...Ballhawk Dan and his daughter Emily.

As you may recall, I met Dan & Emily back at the 2009 Home Run Derby in St. Louis, MO. Emily has attended over 300 Colorado Rockies games to date...wow.
Dan is a veteran ballhawk who has snagged 41 game home runs on the fly and an additional 33 by other means. Very impressive.

After more wandering around, I spotted the fan pictured below...

...wearing the blue jeans, black cap, sunglasses and toting the black backpack.

Being a loyal blog-reader of fellow ballhawk Zack Hample, I recognized him as the guy who shoved Zack going for a BP baseball that was hit into a tunnel back on 6/17/08. Because of that fateful moment, Zack tabbed the guy as "pure evil."

Having looked pure evil in the eyes many times over the years, I wanted to see if this guy lived up to the billing.

His name is Douglas and he's a season-ticket holder in the front row at Coors Field. He's attended games in 50 different MLB stadiums including a few World Series and All-Star games. His baseball-related resume goes on and on...
I know this because I ended up sitting next to him the entire game. Actually, he turned out to be a pretty decent guy (the fact that he did NOT shove me into a wall probably had something to do with this perception).

My view during the game...

...again, was simply awesome.

Coors Field reminds me a lot of old Milwaukee County Stadium. A gigantic front-row aisle to run for game home runs, an open well down the left field line and an overall fun atmosphere were just a few of the similarities.
I truly loved Milwaukee County Stadium and miss it dearly.

Just when I was beginning to love Coors Field ...I started to love it a whole helluva lot more.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Brewers slugger Prince Fielder stepped to the plate.
Prince has been pretty damn good to me over the years. I'd snagged three (3) of his game home runs at Miller Park (career #61, #67 & #97).

Make it four...

...Prince Fielder's 158th career jack.

My 54th career game home run snagged during actual MLB regular season games.
In addition, I collected the coveted "Clean Catch Pin" in the process for making it a clean snag.

WATCH THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHT

Did you see the tip of the cap to Rockies CF Carlos Gonzalez? It occurs at 17 seconds during the video highlight. Carlos was staring at me, so, I tipped my cap to him.

Here's Usher Bob (in purple coat), the gentleman who awarded me with the clean catch pin...

...with "Big Tom" (in white cowboy hat) looking on.

Here's where the Fielder jack was snagged...

...marked by the red "X."

Check out where Prince made contact with the ball...

...holy hell, look at how flat that side of the baseball is!
Prince is a stud. Plain and simple. I'm going to hate watching him in a Red Sox uniform.

Did you notice by the pictures how everyone was dressed at this game?? The temperatures were in the low 50's with a 25 mph wind. It's safe to say-I froze my asss off wearing shorts and The Happy Youngster shirt.

The picture below warmed the Rockies faithful up a bit...

...showing the Marlins had defeated the Braves bringing the Rockies magic-number to clinch down to 2.

I was shivering so badly, I thought about leaving. But, I couldn't when there was an outside chance I could snag 2 game home runs in a single game for the 5th time in my snagging career. I had done it on 5/29/99 (both on fly), 9/29/99 Game 2 (both on live bounce), 5/16/00 (both on fly) and 4/12/01 (one on fly/1 player tossup).

But, it wasn't meant to be.
I was thrilled to end my 2009 snagging season with a bang.

After the game, I proudly posed with my newest prized possessions...

...the Prince Fielder home run ball & the Clean Catch Pin.

Today's snags...

372 baseballs (including 7 game home runs) later...and my snagging season was over.

FINAL 2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

4 total balls 9/30/09

3 batted baseballs (including Prince Fielder's game home run)

1 tossup baseball

ATTENDANCE: 41,465

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs *(new Milwaukee record)*
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
9/06/09 = 5   baseballs
9/08/09 = 8   baseballs
9/16/09 = 4   baseballs
9/18/09 = 10 baseballs
9/21/09 = 3   baseballs
9/24/09 = 4   baseballs
9/29/09 = 3   baseballs
9/30/09 = 4   baseballs
___________________

372 baseballs (61 games)
6.10 average per game

9/29/09 @ Coors Field

2009-10-01T13:01:17Z

I was finally going to Coors Field.

I'd seen all the home run highlights over the years.

I'd seen some of the same Rockies ballhawks making home run grabs.

I heard all about how the baseball travels farther in the thin air.

On TV, the place looked like it was built for ballhawks.

I *HAD* to find out for myself.

After an early morning flight from Milwaukee to Denver, a long shuttle ride from the airport to our hotel and an early check-in at the downtown Hyatt, Ballhawk Kenny (my partner in crime as of late) and I were ready for the Mile-High City.

Our day officially began with a short walk to find some grub. After lunch had concluded, we were on our way to Coors Field.

The aforementioned Ballhawk Kenny in front of Coors Field...

Yours truly in front of Coors Field...

A look at the main stadium entrance behind home plate...

The outside concourse that extends down the left field line...

...and the right field line...

When I walked up to the main gate and peered through, this is what I saw...

...my 1^st look at the left field bleachers.

One word: WOW.

Our self-guided tour of Coors Field rolled on.

On the walk around the stadium, I spotted the sign pictured below...

...I've underlined the interesting part.

DANGERS OF WATCHING BASEBALL??

On the "danger-scale," I would rank watching baseball somewhere between pissing into the wind and farting on a 1^st date.

I know, I know-it's all about liability, but come on.

Another sign I found particularly interesting...

...now that makes sense.

*I would like to personally thank the Rockies organization for taking the necessary means to prevent/deter excessive public displays of affection.*

Not only is it annoying, but it's quite unnecessary. Who wants to watch that ****?

I mean, get a ******* room for christsakes.

Moving right along...

Here's a picture of me standing by the left field gate...

...giving my seal of approval.

How cool is the sign pictured below...

...!?!

How many teams (that you know of) have a sign that points fans in the direction of Batting Practice?

ANSWER: not many.

Pretty goddamn cool if you ask me.

It was a touch past high noon. Kenny & I were planning on meeting up with one cool dude at 2:45pm. We had a few hours to burn, so, we headed back to the hotel.

After a few hours, it was time to head back toward the stadium for our meet.

The meeting place?

The Blake Street Tavern located 4 blocks from Coors Field.

The cool dude we were meeting up with?

None other than my all-time favorite MLBlogger...

...Don "The Rockpile Ranter."

I started reading Don's blog back in the offseason. He's a loyal fan of the Rockies who tells it like it is. He's funny, he's witty, he's a father and he's one helluva good human being. As an added bonus, Don compliments his exceptional writing with great picture-taking. Want to read a quality MLBlog? Stop screwing around and click HERE.

Don and I outside the Rockpile gate...

Kenny playing a little catch with the "Ranter"...

Before we knew it, it was 4:30pm and the gates to left field were about to open.

After a security check of my backpack and a scan of the ticket, I was about to enter my 16^th major league stadium.

When I ran in, it was a wonderful sight.
The ballpark still looked like new and had an incredible flair to it. A magnificent blend of yesterday and today, Coors Field was beautiful and welcoming.

The Rockies BP was in full swing. The gates to the stadium open 2 hrs. prior to 1st pitch (why all major league teams don't do this??) at Coors Field, so, home team fans get to see their home team hit (now that's logic).

It didn't take long for me to snag my 1st baseball on the day. It came off the bat of Chris Iannetta and I snagged it on the fly by my front row seats. It was hit right at the wall. I had to roll my glove over from the natural-method into a basket-style position. Leaning out over the wall, the catch was made.

A little overview of the bottom-row seating in left field at Coors Field:

Only fans holding tickets to the bottom row can stand in the front row and this includes Batting Practice.
Fans holding tickets to the front row have access to employee bathrooms and the employee tunnels.
During BP, you are not allowed to run from the bottom row up into the pavilion (I was warned after the 1st baseball landed 4 rows above my head and I attempted to run up after it).
Stadium ushers are everywhere at all times checking ticket locations and are very polite about it in the process.
The wall in left field is not very tall.
It's extremely easy to interfere with a baseball in play from the Coors Field bleachers.
When sitting in the bottom row of seats, you MUST mind your "P's & Q's" while shagging BP. It's a privelege to sit there and you have to respect that.

Take a look...

...simply awesome.
Do you see the yellow railing in the photo above? It's that easy to reach over and interfere.
The green seats above? That's the only seating for the bottom row.
The guy in the black Brewers sweatshirt? That's ballhawk Kenny sending his 1000th text message of the day.

Talk about room to move around.

Unfortunately, BP baseballs are not put in humidors and most players don't hit front row shots during Batting Practice. On top of that, everyone, seemingly, had a baseball glove PLUS everyone seemed to know how to judge, track and catch a baseball off the bat.

This made the bottom row of seats a bit less desirable from a BP standpoint.

When the Brewers came up to hit, they put on an absolute home run clinic. Baseballs were flying everywhere. At one point, Brewers SS J.J. Hardy hit four (4) consecutive pitches into the left field pavilion.

You guessed it: everything was flying over my head. But, that's okay...I play for the games.

I did manage to get Brewers ace pitcher Yovani Gallardo to toss me ball #2...

...and...

Brewers asss pitcher Seth McClung to toss me ball #3...

...when I asked him to toss a ball up, he said, "I saw you catch a few already."
To which I responded, "yeah, and I give them away just like I do in Milwaukee."

He couldn't argue with the facts.

After the Brewers finished donating a hundred or so baseballs, BP was over.
It was time to see the stadium.

My 1st stop was the Rockpile in centerfield...

...no, those are not yeti frolicking in their indigenous state. Those are grounds crew members retrieving baseballs that were hit into the batter's eye.

A view of right field...

...a view of the left field line and foul pole...

...the 1B side...

...the 3B side...

...a view from the right field bleachers looking to left field...

...do you notice how much room there is between rows?

A great design...

...indeed.

Check out the purple row of seats that extend all the way around the stadium in the upper deck...

...signifying the altitude located exactly 1-mile above sea-level.

Here's a view of the batter's eye greenery...

A view of centerfield from the upper concourse in left field...

Eventually, I made my way back to my seat.
I chatted with a few of the local ballhawks including Dan pictured below...

...standing with his back against the fence and arms crossed. Dan is quite the accomplished ballhawk. His current stats include 41 game home runs caught on the fly and 33 snagged by other means. Very impressive, indeed.

Robert, another Rockies ballhawk, took the following photo of me...

Ballhawk Robert has an interesting story of his own. Click here to read it courtesy of fellow ballhawk Zack Hample.

Another pose...

As far as the game is concerned, here's where I sat...

...directly above the red State Farm ad in the front row.
The other red arrow is pointing to a seating section *WAY* out in centerfield called "The Rockpile." Adult seats out there cost $4 each and children's seats cost only $1.

Here's where Ballhawk Kenny sat/played the game...

...with the red arrow giving me a fist pump.
The big fella in the scooter is "Big Tom." While I didn't introduce myself, I hear he's a pretty nice fella around these parts.

Again, look at how easy/tempting it is to interfere...

In the top of the 3rd inning, Brewers LF Ryan Braun launched one in my direction. I jumped up from my front row seat and ran to my right, lining myself up with the baseball. It kept coming...and coming...but fell short, bouncing on the warning track about 10 feet shy of the wall. The ball then took a 12-foot bounce directly over my head. The ball landed in the 3rd row of the pavilion above/behind me for a ground-rule double. I was absolutely helpless on the play. Either I was going to catch the damn thing on the fly for a home run or it was going to bounce way over my head. Unfortunately, it was the latter.

A shot of my in-game meal...

...it may look like ****, but I assure you, it tasted great.
HOT DOG + CHEESE + CHILI = got extra underwear??

There was good news and bad news on this day...

THE BAD NEWS-
The Brewers lost 7-5 on a walk-off homer from Chris Iannetta in the bottom of the 9th.
I only managed to snag 3 baseballs.
None of the three were game home runs.

THE GOOD NEWS-
I didn't shitttt my pants.

The sun finally set on my 1st day at Coors Field...

...with three lonely baseballs...

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

3 total balls 9/29/09

1 batted baseball

2 tossup baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 39,087

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

368 baseballs (60 games)
6.13 average per game

...after the game, Kenny and I went to a local establishment right up the road from Coors Field. While there, we had the chance to hang out for a bit with Brewers relief pitcher Mark Difelice. He even bought us a round! Mark was one cool dude...

9/24/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-28T23:01:43Z

This was my last home game of the 2009 season. Due to a few family obligations, I scaled back on some of the games I would attend this week.

This entry will be short and sweet...I have to catch a flight to Denver in a few hours...

Would you believe I snagged four baseballs on this day and I do not know which player(s) they came courtesy of?

Ball #1 came off the bat of a right-handed Phillies hitter. I ran about 25 feet to my left and made a few adjustments, catching the ball on the fly in about the 6th row.

Balls #2, #3 and #4 were all tossed up by various Phillies pitchers over the next 45 minutes. I have no idea who the hell any of them were. One guy even threw me a decent knuckleball
(Ball #3).

I thought the powerful Phils would have a much better showing...oh well.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

4 total balls 9/24/09

1 batted baseball

3 tossup baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 37,678

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

365 baseballs (59 games)
6.19 average per game

9/21/09 @ US Cellular Field

2009-09-26T16:58:22Z

This was going to be my last trek to Chicago for the 2009 season. Another Milwaukee ballhawk was accompanying me.
Do you remember Kenny from 9/16/09 at Wrigley Field? We decided awhile back that we would hit both Chicago stadiums before the season came to a close.

We arrived at "The Cell" around 5:00pm. We had only 30 minutes before the gates opened, so, we jumped in line outside GATE 5. I could tell the crowds were thinning compared to earlier in the year. No pennant race...no passion. Sad but true.

While we were standing in line, a guy standing at the front of the line asked me,
"are you Nick...The Happy Youngster?"

I said I was and we began to chat it up. He told me his name is Mike and that he ballhawks from time to time in the Chicago area. When he told me he was not particularly fond of the "northside team," things were all good. It's kind of like knowing the secret handshake with me. Ya' know? If you know the handshake (or in this case, you don't like the Cubs), we have something in common.

We exchanged a few stories, a few opinions and then we went over our game plans. He told me he enjoys my blog and before we knew it, the gates were opening and the fun was about to begin.

As I was running in, I looked to left field. There were people already standing out in the left field bleachers. WTF?! How the hell did they get in already? Oh well...there would be no easter eggs because of this. I also noticed that the Twins were already on the field taking BP. Usually, I catch the last 3-4 minutes of Sox BP...not this time.

After about 10 minutes of wondering what the hell happened to all the glove-trick possibilities, Orlando Cabrera lifted one high and deep to left field. I ran up a few rows and when the ball was just within reach, I jumped as high as I could and caught the ball on the fly. It felt like I really got up there but I'm pretty sure it was all in my head. (I'm convinced the catch inflated my sense of accomplishment just a tad).

After banging my knees on every bleacher/bench/railing in the place over the next 20 minutes, I began to see the writing on the wall.
Of the few baseballs that were hit in the stands, I was not meant to snag any more of them...unless I wanted to spend my offseason rehabbing from reconstructive knee surgery.
"The Cell" is awful for running after baseballs. The rows are long and not spacious. Half of the bleachers are actual bleachers and the other half are actual seats.

A total nightmare scenario.

Disgruntled, I took my Jake Taylor knees over to right field. I took a peek into the visitor's bullpen. Aha! A glove-trick possibility. It was lying on a rolled up portion of tarp. I could see it was a Metrodome commemorative ball, too. After no time flat, the ball was reeled up.

Would you believe that's all BP would provide today? Two measly baseballs. Wow.

Look at how thrilled I am...

Kenny snagged two of his own...

...and was a bit more appreciative of the fact.

A group shot taken after BP...

...of me, Kenny and our new friend Mike.

Kenny showing how easy it is to reach into play...

...down the right field line.

Hey! There's no yawning in baseball...

Here's where our seats were located...

...Section 161/Row 1/Seats 7 & 8.

Irish Heritage Night at the ballpark...

...do you think they paid him a bit extra to wear that?

Nice backpack...

..."rook."

My view before the game...

...was a bit exciting.

My view during the game...

...not nearly as exciting.

A t-shirt toss casualty...

...yo Zack-the glove-trick work on those?

The game? No goddamn home runs hit. No worries, though. I was able to see a team (Twins) in the thick of a playoff push. They sure played like it. Bravo.

Twins won 7-0.

After the game, Home Plate Umpire Jim Reynolds was kind enough to hook me up by the umpire's exit...

...with a game ball straight out of his ball pouch. It had a neat little circular scuff on the sweetspot.

Three baseballs snagged...

...yay.

Hey Nick Punto...

...nice pants.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

3 total balls 9/21/09

1 batted baseball

1 tossup baseball

1 device baseball

ATTENDANCE: 26,541

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

361 baseballs (58 games)
6.22 average per game

9/18/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-24T15:51:52Z

The quest for #1000 drags on...

I entered the day with 998 career baseballs snagged at major league stadiums. Of those 998, 52 have been actual game home run baseballs hit during regular season games. That's around 5% of my total baseballs snagged being of the game homer variety. I'm proud of that number.

I started ballhawking back in 1998. That summer, my brother Jon and I would make the 2 hr. trip (one-way) to attend games at old Milwaukee County Stadium. We had more fun than the law allowed, that's for sure.

I'm certain my career numbers would have been much higher if not for the segregated bleacher section at County Stadium. You see, if you purchased a bleacher ticket, you had to stay in the bleachers and could not access the rest of the stadium and vice versa. In the long run, I think it actually *helped* me. It forced me to focus on the baseballs that really *count*...

Do you remember the CUBS SUCK ball? You know the one...the ball I carry with me everywhere I go just in case I happen to catch a visitor's home run ball. That way, I have a "dummy" ball to throw back onto the field.
More on this later...

I had many thoughts going through my head when I walked up to the ballpark. How would I get #1000? Would it be a great catch off the bat? Would it be an easter egg? Would it be a tossup? Maybe a lucky bounce? None of the above?

One thing was for certain: this would be the day.

I walked up to the hostess at Friday's Restaurant and said, "a bullpen patio table, please."
She said, "follow me."

Like they normally do, they seated me underneath that godawful overhang. I politely asked, "can I get that table?" (pointing to one located in a more advantageous position)
"Sure," she said.

I had my perch...now they just have to hit me a few baseballs, I thought.
Soon, Brewers stud Ryan Braun took the cage. This was it. I wanted it to be Braun. He's my favorite player and I could get him to sign the ball. I was two away...he had to hit em' both.

Just as I was ordering my ice-water w/ a lemon (c'mon, for taste-not flare), Ryan lifted one in my direction. I knew it was not catchable as I had to do the following: dodge a waitress, jump a railing, run about 20 feet and hope for a decent bounce. All of the above went smoothly and #999 was in the books (or, in this case, my bag).

One more, baby.

Hitter after hitter took the cage as I kept replaying the above 3 words in my head.
Everything was hit to a different section than the one I was restricted to (you cannot leave the Friday's section until the rest of the stadium is open).

The last Brewers hitters were taking the cage. I knew this was my last chance. Brewers rookie Mat Gamel, who happens to be a left-handed hitter, was working on his opposite field approach. Could he hit it 415 feet to me and to the opposite field? Answer...no. But, he could hit it 395 feet and have it come to a rest in the bullpen near the side wall.

Take a look...

...at career ball #1000.

Yeah, it was a little disappointing. But, at least I knew who hit it.

Ball #1000...

...with the beautiful (sarcasm) sharpie-mark through the sweet spot and two unusual green marks on it.

Time to move on...there was plenty of snagging to do.

The gates to the rest of the stadium opened at 5:30 and I raced up the steps to the left field loge bleachers. There hadn't been many easter eggs lately, but I was going to keep looking.

Much to my surprise, I found one...

...lying in a small puddle underneath the front row of bleachers.

Baseballs don't like water...

...as you can see by the stain on the leather.

Speaking of baseballs in water, check out where I found easter egg #2/ball #4...

...that's disgusting. Even by my ballhawking standards.

Check out how much that ball was submerged...

...in nasty, clogged, rusty, filthy, stinky, pukey, sewer water.

I hesitantly grabbed that baseball out of there and immediately put it in a plastic bag. I sealed the bag and put it in a side compartment of my backpack. I would worry about it later.

As the Astros began to hit, I continued searching for any unclaimed baseballs. Just as I was about to give up, a stadium employee (cleaning crew) nudged me and asked, "you looking for baseballs?" Just as I was about to respond with a "noshit?!" he said, "there's one" and pointed. I looked to where he was pointing and didn't see anything. He pointed again. I looked again and didn't see anything.
At this point I was concerned about two (2) things:

was this guy ******* with me?
AND/OR
was I about to get hit in the back of the ******* head by a batted ball because I was too busy screwing around looking for this fictitious ball?

That's when I spotted it.
Allow me to explain with a few pictures...
...do you see the ball in the above photo?
No worries...I couldn't either.

Here's why...

...I had never seen that before.

On with the show...

Ball #6 on the day came on a lucky bounce off the bat of an unknown Astros player. It was hit deep and to my right. I put my head down and started to navigate through the bleachers. When it hit, it took a nice little bounce to me.

Former Brewers slugger Carlos Lee jacked one that I made a nice catch on for Ball #7. When it was hit, I ran up four rows and darted into/across the row. I looked up and found the ball, made a slight adjustment 5 feet to my right and made the easy catch on the fly.

After that, I didn't have much luck during BP. I was a second or two slow on about 4 other baseballs that I probably should have snagged. Or, at least, could have snagged on another day. I just didn't feel on top of my game.

When BP was winding down, I checked the Brewers bullpen. There was one glove-trick possibility. After 20 seconds, I reeled it in and tossed it to a nearby kid with his parents.

Since the Brewers pen would render no more, I headed to the visitor's pen.

The usher that's normally working in that section by the visitor pen was not working this evening.
You see, there's one particular guy who has a problem with me using my glove-trick in the visitor's bullpen. I guess he (who will not be named) has a problem with kids getting baseballs they would normally not be able to get.

It's simple: if I glove-trick it at Miller Park and there's a kid present at the time, it's given away. No questions asked. What's so wrong with that?

Anyhow, when I arrived, there was one ball to be glove-tricked. I quickly reeled that one up and immediately picked out a little girl to be the recipient.

After I gave that baseball away, a man tapped me on the shoulder and said,
"are you the Happy Youngster?"

Since I don't wear my yellow shirt during BP, it's not as obvious.

I said that I was and we began to talk. He told me we had met back at County Stadium and that he was always watching for me on the game telecasts. He re-introduced me to his young boys (now approaching their early-teens) and his wife. After a nice conversation, we said our goodbyes and I was off.
One of the coolest families I have met this year...no doubt.

As game time approached, I took a look to the left field loge bleachers. There were empty patches of seats up there. A lefty was pitching for the Brewers with a ton of righties for the 'Stros. The choice was easy. I would sit in the left field loge as long as I could.

Here's where I sat for the 1st inning...

...front row, on the aisle, straight-away left field.

In the bottom of the 1st, the people with those seats arrived.

So, I re-located here...

...8th row, on the aisle, left-center field.

Like true clock-work, Lance Berkman (batting righty) led off the 2nd inning with a home run greeting.

The 53rd game home run ball snagged of my ballhawking career...

...(wearing yellow shirt) running down the aisle.

Getting in position...

...beating the competition...

and, finally...

...securing the ball and re-gaining my footwork.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
(pay special attention to the crowd reaction while Berkman is rounding 3rd base...that's when the CUBS SUCK ball makes its appearance).

The Berkman home run ball...

...#310 of his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career and #53 of mine.

BTW, if you're wondering about my throwback...it was fielded by Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy on the edge of the infield. When I see J.J. next, I'll ask him about the CUBS SUCK ball.
Stay tuned for that.

After that home run catch, I went back to the family I mentioned above. I pulled two baseballs out of my bag that I had caught earlier and gave them to the two boys. They deserved it for being so cool to me. My theory: it's so easy to be nasty to people. Why not put forth the extra effort and just be cool? Right? And if you don't want to be cool, just don't say anything.
Just sayin'...

I was so happy I caught that one on the fly that I didn't care about the rest of the game.
I ended up leaving in the 7th inning because I was so excited to go home and tell/show my wife.

The Brewers went on to win the game 3-2. The Berkman homer ended up being the only one of the game.

The four BP baseballs I took home...

...because 4 were given away.

The sewer ball that I snagged (#4 on the day/career #1002) wasn't even photographed because it stunk so bad. When I got home, I just tossed it. Damn, that thing stunk.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

10 total balls 9/18/09

7 batted baseballs

3 device baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 39,057

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
9/06/09 = 5   baseballs
9/08/09 = 8   baseballs
9/16/09 = 4   baseballs
9/18/09 = 10 baseballs
___________________

358 baseballs (57 games)
6.28 average per game

9/16/09 @ Wrigley Field

2009-09-20T02:45:48Z

Over a week without attending a game...hotdamn I was anxious for this one.
As you may or may not know, entering this game, I needed to snag only 6 baseballs to reach the 1000 baseball plateau. I wanted to do it at Wrigley-the birthplace of the ballhawk.

The day started with a train ride to Chicago.

A young man by the name of Kenny was attending the game with me. I met Kenny back in 1997 at Milwaukee County Stadium. At the time, he was a shy 13 yr. old kid, who seemingly, went to every game. He always sat in the bleachers and *always* brought his glove. Kenny only missed a handful of games over a 3 yr. period back in the late 90's...incredible, to say the least.

Kenny and I arrived at Wrigley Field early so we could catch a few of the Brewers coming into the stadium. Wrigley Field is awesome for autographs because the majority of the players have to walk right past you to get into the stadium.

Here's where we were waiting...

...on the corner of Addison & Sheffield outside GATE D.

Here's what we were waiting for...

...taxi cabs containing baseball players.

Here's a picture of the aforementioned Ballhawk Kenny waiting for the next cab to pull up while standing next to the drunk guy statue (with creepy little heads popping out of his legs)...

...Kenny's a pretty decent ballhawk. With 12 career game home runs snagged, he can hold his own with the best of us...no doubt.

Finally, someone arrived...

...Someone with a capital "S."

All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman had us line up along that green railing.

After a minute wait...

...I added his autograph to my 2009 Milwaukee Brewers team signed baseball.

Shortly thereafter, Brewers top prospect Mat Gamel stopped to sign autographs...

...among other Brewers players.

While we were waiting for players, this creepy advertisement rolled by...

...what in the hell is that??

Then, I noticed this cute little sign by Harry Caray's Tavern...

...piss-off, Chicago.

After a few more autographs, we saved our spot in line and played a little "catch."
Eventually, the gates would open and we were perched in the bleachers (we had regular bleacher seats, not the bleacher box-so, we were restricted to the bleachers only).

My 1st ball on the day was an overthrow from an uknown Cubs pitcher. He was aiming for someone else and sailed it. I ran about 20 feet to my left and picked it up on the bounce. Immediately, all of the classy Cubs fans began to yell and shout to "give it away to a kid!"
I could not find any young Brewers fans nearby, so, I left the area.

While standing in left-center, I saw a different Cubs pitcher aim for a fan. This time, I was closer to the intended target. Like the previous overthrow, this one sailed, too. But, unlike the previous, I was in position to run about 10 feet to my left and make the catch.
Sorry Cubs fans...better luck next time.

Finally, the Cubs left the field and allowed a real team to take BP (the Cubs players only hit a couple baseballs into the bleachers in the 1st 30 minutes).

When it was Prince Fielder's turn, I headed over to right field. I had been watching him all season long. I feel like I know his tendencies.

I was right.

My 3rd ball on the day came on the fly off the bat of Prince Fielder. I had him played perfectly. I only had to move up a couple rows and a few feet over to make the grab.

Fielder would hit one more to me before he was through. That one was snagged on the bounce and immediately given to a little girl dressed in pink sitting with her parents (having a daughter of my own-I'm a softie for girls in pink).

BP ended without any further baseballs.
The wind was blowing in intensely...

...as you can see by the flags.

When the game got started, I noticed a few things...

...typical Wrigley Field alcohol abuse. (that's like $5 in beer spilled on the ground)

...do all Cubs fans have that stupid look on their faces?

I digress.

Pictures of the basket...

...the basket rules.

The glove I used on this day...

...my Brother Jon's mitt. It was his birthday on this day. I thought it would bring me luck.

Does anyone recognize the autograph on the mitt? If you do, I'll be shocked.
I'll give you a hint...former Brewers 3B.

Today's snags...

...four (4) total with two (2) shown.

One was given away to a small girl and an additional baseball was given to the usher in our aisle. He was extremely friendly to us which made the game that much more enjoyable.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

4 total balls 9/16/09

2 batted baseballs

2 tossup baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 38,084

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
9/06/09 = 5   baseballs
9/08/09 = 8   baseballs
9/16/09 = 4   baseballs
___________________

348 baseballs (56 games)
6.21 average per game

...2 away from 1000...

9/08/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-17T16:27:59Z

Due to many contributing factors, I am now officially waaaaay behind on blogging.

My good friend "Dino" was attending this game with me. You may remember "Dino" from the Chris Coghlan incident back on May 13, 2009.

"Dino" picked me up in his sweet little ride...

We beat all the other die-hards into the stadium...

...the person with the arrow? He's staring down at his shoes out of pure boredom.
C'mon Brewers fans...go to the games when they're out of contention, too!

When we were waiting for a table out on the bullpen patio...

...I spotted this through the windows.

A closer look...

In action...

It may not look like I'm very excited...

...but, I am. I just usually keep my emotions in check.

Soon, Casey McGehee would hit me my 2nd ball of the day that I snagged on the bounce.
Not too long after, Ryan Braun hit one that I snagged on the fly. I reached up and caught that one between an older couple right at their dinner table. They were not paying attention, of course (and it scared the **** out of them).

Ball #4 would end up getting caught in the little protective netting that overhangs the bullpen. I just used a mini-version of the glove trick to snag it out of there.

I would not have the glove-trick in my backpack long during this BP.

Check it out...

...first, there was one.

Then, there were four...

...the two with red arrows were glove-tricked.

In action (clockwise)...

And, the second one (clockwise)...

When the St. Louis Cardinals took the field, I was amped at the opportunities that lied ahead.
Pujols, Ludwick, Ankiel, Holliday, Rasmus...

Unfortunately, the Cardinals don't care what the fans want, they just take a situational/directional approach. Good for them-bad for us.

I did not have a single chance at a batted ball during BP.
Back to the glove-trick.

At the end of BP, I noticed a few baseballs lying in the bullpen. Two to be exact.
So, I went at it. Within a minute, both were reeled in. That includes the time it took to knock them closer. All of Friday's patio and a bunch of people standing along the railing above in the left field loge gave me a warm cheer. I was so pumped, I took the last one (#8 on the day) and heaved it up to the fan's cheering me in the loge bleachers. A ton of kids took off after it with a young fan eventually securing it.

As for the game, my two tickets were here...

But, we sat here...

...right in Ryan Braun's power alley.

You see, "Braunie" was sitting on 99 career home runs. You would know this already if you follow the MILESTONE TRACKER on my website.

Unfortunately, Braun didn't hit it.
Actually, none of the Brewers hit much-losing 4-3.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

8 total balls 9/08/09

2 batted baseballs

6 device baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 36,172

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
9/06/09 = 5   baseballs
9/08/09 = 8   baseballs
___________________

344 baseballs (55 games)
6.25 average per game

Only 6 away from career baseball #1000...

9/06/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-12T20:38:15Z

The dreaded day game.

Ballhawk Mike and I were going to the game. I've mentioned it before but it bears mentioning again. "Big Mike" is a great guy. To the best of my knowledge, he's the longest tenured ballhawk in Milwaukee...22 years and counting.

I had to grab my breakfast on the run...

...oops, wrong picture.

Here was my breakfast...

...carbs, baby. A ballhawk's best friend. Not exactly approved by Dr. Robert Atkins, but, what the hell, right?

As far as BP is concerned, you just never know what you're going to get when attending day games. Usually, the Brewers take BP on Sundays when they're playing at home.

On this day, they decided their 66-70 record was good enough. So, the Giants hit instead.
When we ran into the bleachers, the Giants were first starting to show some life.

My 1st baseball on the day came from Giants relief pitcher
MERKIN VALDEZ. After a polite request, he lobbed it up to me. Unfortunately, it was falling short. I had to reach all the way over the railing and risk falling to my death in order to secure the goddamn baseball. Fortunately, I didn't die (obviously, I wouldn't be writing this blog if I had). I was able to pin the ball against the concrete facing below the railing. Once the ball was pinned between the wall and my glove, I slowly gained control of it. Voila! One baseball and I didn't have to make National News or the obituaries.

The things I do for a baseball...I think I may need to have my head examined.

A short time later, Aaron Rowand lifted one high into the air. I was playing Rowand dead-pull. This baseball was WAY to my left. All I could do was put my head down and sprint to the spot I thought it would land. As I was motoring through the bleachers, I looked up to find the baseball. I picked my spot correctly as it appeared to be catchable.
As the baseball made its final descent, I continued to close in on it. Eventually, I would snag that baseball on the short-hop bounce after going down to one knee and leaning over a row of bleachers in a last-ditch effort to snag it on the fly.

For my efforts...

...a bit of a (ballpark) war-wound.

LET ME ASSURE EVERYONE: I'm the only one that sustains injury in my attempts to snag baseballs at major league stadiums.

The action in left soon came to a screeching halt. So, I headed over to right field.
In right field, while bleeding all over myself, I was able to snag a Travis Ishikawa bomb on the fly. Giants pitcher Sergio Romo was beneath me when I snagged it and gave me the shout of approval. That one felt good.

Unfortunately, my knee did not. After BP ended, I headed to the men's bathroom to wash the damn thing up. (you didn't think I would do it while BP was still going, did you?)

Before pre-game warmups began, I headed down to the Giants dugout for a tossup baseball.
While I waited for the players to come out, I watched the grounds crew...

...how many people does it take to water the infield?

Don't get me wrong-I'm not complaining. If it creates jobs for people and prevents them from robbing, stealing and cheating-I'm all for it. Think about it.

Eventually, the Giants players started to surface.
One of the 1st guys out was the Kung Fu ~~Koala~~ Panda, Pablo Sandoval. After he did a few sprints, he walked over to the stands and began to sign autographs. After thinking about it for a minute and wasting precious time, I decided to try to get a baseball signed by him.
As soon as I arrived, he finished signing one last photo and walked into the dugout.
Maybe I should have had some bamboo or eucalyptus leaves with me or something.

I headed back to my dugout spot.

Soon, Ryan Garko and Jesus Guzman emerged from the dugout. They began to throw right in front of the dugout with Ryan Garko directly in front of me. Knowing that Garko is the veteran and would most likely keep the ball, I positioned myself exactly where I started. When they finally finished throwing, Garko tossed the baseball right to me.

Upon further inspection of the baseball...

...it was autographed! Holy hell that's cool!

After some quick analysis, I deemed the baseball to be autographed by:
San Francisco Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford.

My 1st snagged AND already autographed baseball. How cool.

The baseball "Carney"...

...not to be confused with...

...the circus "carny."

I would go on to snag only 1 more baseball.

In the top of the 8th inning, Travis Ishikawa lifted one high and deep to center. Brewers CF Jody Gerut camped underneath it on the warning track and squeezed it for the 3rd out of the inning. He was almost directly below me, so, I yelled his name. As he was running in, he turned around to me and fired a seed straight into my glove.

The 3rd out ball...

...and its unique markings on the leather. What could that be from?? Could that be an imprint from the bat's wood grain?
I would love to hear everyone's theory.

The game ended up going into extra innings. Around the 10th inning, a young lady (about 8 yrs. old) approached me and offered to buy a baseball. Her offer? Two dollars.
I told her she should keep her money. I would give her one for free. Sweet kid.

The Brewers won in the bottom of the 12th inning on a Prince Fielder walk-off dinger.
Pretty exciting stuff for a team that's 15 back. At least they gave us something to cheer about.

Sunday's snags...

...five total with 4 shown (1 was given away).

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

5 total balls 9/06/09

2 batted baseballs

3 tossup baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 36,590

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
9/06/09 = 5   baseballs
___________________

336 baseballs (54 games)
6.22 average per game

Only 14 away from #1000...

9/04/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-08T18:23:08Z

I arrived a bit early to Miller Park, so, I decided to take a few random pictures of surrounding structures, eye-sores, buildings, etc.

The North Docks...

...where employees enter the stadium.

The South Docks...

...where the *other* employees enter the park. Players parking lot shown above.

A lovely protective screen to prevent fans from getting a glimpse of their favorite player...

...and the point of that screen, again??

One of my favorite surrounding structures...

...the "Sausage Haus."
How many ballparks in MLB have a party shack called that??

This location is called...

..."The Hot Corner."
It's located on the Northeast corner of the ballpark.

It's where you enter the stadium early to get here...

...Friday's Front Row Sports Grill.

Early BP anyone??

Speaking of BP...

...hooray!
The Brewers may suck this season, but, it's not for a lack of effort.

When I ran into the stadium...

...the opposing team player pictured above was running in the stands.

Here are a few better looks...

..."The Freak."

At the same time, another stud was doing some early running...

...the all-time saves leader.

Do you see a correlation?? Do you see the common theme?
If you have the natural ability AND you continue to work hard, you will prosper.

When I was given my table, I peered down into the home bullpen...

...yeah.

Here's another view holding my camera as far out as I could reach and straight down...

...when I claimed possession of that ball, I turned it over to a smaller and deserving little Brewers fan.

Like they always do, Jesus Colome and Claudio Vargas were hanging out in left-center field...

...I asked Jesus if he wanted anything from Friday's. A burger maybe? A pickle?
He just smiled and shook his head, "no."

A few minutes later, he fielded a baseball and tossed it straight to me.
Pays to be nice, eh?

My view on the outdoor bullpen patio...

...moments before Casey McGehee hit one to my right. I ranged over about 15 feet and made an easy grab. People clapped and yelled nice grab. Was it really? No.
When there's no obstacles or nearby skilled competitors, catching a baseball on the fly is about as easy as breathing. But, I appreciated the recognition, nonetheless.

After the gates to the rest of the stadium opened, I headed over to my season seat location. I went to go drop off my backpack and check around, if you know what I mean. You never know where they may be a surprise waiting.

As I always do, I checked along the railing around the blind corner of the CITGO pump...

...surprise...

...!!
Every now and then, a ball lands back in that little blind corner and stays put. It's only happened to me about 3-4 times this season. To take the above picture, I had to hold the camera around the corner. To get the baseball, I had to get on one knee and poke my glove back around the corner to knock the baseball closer. When it was within a barehand's reach, it was scooped up!

The Giants weren't hitting a damn thing into the seats, so, I resorted to a simple request for one. Giants newbie Alex Hinshaw fielded one near the wall.

When he was directly below me, I quietly and politely asked him by name if he could toss it up. With his back to me and leaning backwards, he lined his body in position with me and lobbed it backwards into the air. I had to take a few steps to my left but safely put it away.

A friendly fan that sits in my section was promised the Hinshaw tossup if he wasn't able to secure his own.

There would be no more securing this day. The Giants flat out sucked for BP. I didn't ask anymore and they didn't hit anymore.
Not even the Kung Fu ~~wooly mammoth~~ Panda hit anything into the seats.

The game?
Who really cares...the Brewers are 14 out of 1st.

I've moved on.

Happy 5
Giants 3
Brewers 2

5 total baseballs snagged...
2 given away...
3 shown.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

5 total balls 9/04/09

2 batted baseballs

2 tossup baseballs

1 device baseball

ATTENDANCE: 37,511

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
9/04/09 = 5   baseballs
___________________

331 baseballs (53 games)
6.25 average per game

8/29/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-04T13:41:21Z

In case you missed it, I had the best ballhawking day of my life the day prior (8/28/09).
I've had *better* days...days where I snagged two game home runs in the same day. But, in terms of total baseballs snagged, Friday the 28th of August 2009 was second to none.

Would my luck carry over to Saturday?

When I entered Friday's Bullpen Patio, this greeted me...

...an easy glove-trick.

Okay...ball #1 in the 1st minute upon entering. That was easy. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.

Allow me to prove my point.

Ballhawks:
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have one of the game's greatest power hitters up at the plate (during BP) with you as the only fan in the stands? Just you, the slugger and a whole bunch of open space...!

Well, that was the scenario. The slugger was Prince Fielder and I was the only fan (okay, there were 2 other kids standing in the front row) in the entire right field loge bleachers. His homer haven, I might add.

To my left...

...and to my right...

...holy hell!!

Can you believe the *********** didn't hit one ************' homerun to the pissing section the entire time!!?!! I had the equivalent of 4 country acres all to myself and Prince decides not to pull the ball deep. Go figure.

Yeah, my luck changed today. I'm not mad-just sayin'.

The Pirates BP you ask?? Total garbage. They hit and tossed me too many balls the day prior. I think they had to conserve a few for Sunday.

One ball snagged in the very 1st minute inside the park. The next 75 minutes? Nada.

A few pre-game photos of the Pirates pen...

...Jason Jaramillo (catcher) and Kevin Hart (pitcher).

In the two pictures of Jaramillo, do you see the little target they have set up for Hart? The piching rubber over home plate? Neat stuff.

It didn't help...Brewers won 7-3.

After the game, Home Plate Umpire Tony Randazzo doubled my day's snags with a simple gift by the umpire tunnel.

Two balls. Woohoo...

...more like boohoo.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

2 total balls 8/29/09

0 batted baseballs

1 tossup baseball

1 device baseball

ATTENDANCE: 41,773

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09 = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
8/17/09 = 10 baseballs
8/25/09 = 10 baseballs
8/26/09 = 4   baseballs
8/28/09 = 18 baseballs (new Milwaukee record)
8/29/09 = 2   baseballs
___________________

326 baseballs (52 games)
6.27 average per game

Career ball #1000 is quickly approaching...

8/28/09 @ Miller Park

2009-09-01T22:27:54Z

According to the "Master of Snag" (aka Zack Hample), he states he once snagged 17 baseballs in his very first trip to Miller Park. Seventeen!
The date was June 11, 2003 (you can see for yourself on his website by clicking here).

I've spoken with countless Milwaukee ballhawks (both active & retired) and 17 seemed to be the all-time Milwaukee single-game record. A very impressive number.
A number that I've been shooting for this season.

Zack and I have joked that there was no way I could allow a New Yorker to hold the single game record here in Milwaukee. I came close on 4/27/09 (and set a personal high in the process) but no cigar. Would I ever do it??

Much has changed since the 2003 season at Miller Park.

Crowds are no longer 12,000 or 13,000...they're upwards of 36,000 or 37,000.
Many areas of the stadium that were once wide open have now succumbed to advertisement/corporate bullsheet. Further cluttering room to roam.
The Miller Park stadium staff have ironed out many of the wrinkles that existed in the stadium's infancy.
Steroids have been taken out of the game reducing long balls.
The manual scoreboard "moat" is long gone (once a great glove-trick area) and has since been replaced by a party area.
So on and so on...

I mention this not to discredit Zack's 17-ball feat (snagging 17 baseballs in one day is amazing even at a minor league park). But, to show what a daunting task I would face in topping that number someday.

Well, someday came...

I walked into the stadium and grabbed a table out on Friday's Front Row Bullpen Patio. When I took my first look into the Brewers bullpen, this is what I saw...

...but those two were both out of reach.

Then, I looked to the left...

...booyah. I quickly lowered the glove-trick over that baseball and began to reel it up. Unfortunately, it didn't have a good hold and fell back into the bullpen. After a quick adjustment of the rubber band, I lowered it back over the ball and had a better hold. As I was reeling it back in, I took a quick glance to the field (because the Brewers are funny about this kinda stuff) and saw Brewers bench coach Willie Randolph staring at me as I was reeling it up. All I could do was to smile and shrug my shoulders. He shook his head and I continued to reel it up for my 1st of the day. Career ball #957.

Do you see the ball (with the red drawn dots surrounding it) behind that protective netting?
More on that ball later.

After getting a toss-up from Brewers reliever David Weathers, another Brewers player tried to toss one to a fan. Through a combination of uncoordination and poor aim, the ball fell into the protective netting that overhangs the bullpen. After watching a guy struggle to get it for awhile, I offered to try using the glove-trick. It works in that netting-you just have to utilize the weight of the glove a little more. After about 20 seconds, I had it. I then gave it to the couple who were freaking out about getting it in the first place.

Back to the ball (behind the protective screen) pictured above. I noticed that one nestled up against the bullpen wall. After a few swings to knock it out of the corner, I reeled it up for #4 on the day. While I was positioning my glove for #4, another baseball landed in the bullpen. That ball was glove-tricked as well for #5.

As he always does, Brewers 3B Coach Brad Fischer was using a fungo to hit baseballs back to the bucket out in left-center field.

The coach...

So, I yelled down to him,
"Hey coach, mind if I toss one back to the bucket?!"

He responded with a laugh.

To which I said,
"I promise I won't keep it!"

Coach Fischer yelled,
"yeah right!"

Finally, I convinced him I would not keep the ball.
As he tossed it up to me, he said,
"we'll see if you're a man of your word!"

Here was my view...

The objective?? To get the ball in the bucket.

Here's where it ended up...

...coming to a rest just to the right of the bucket.

The toss (from about 125 feet) was perfectly elevated. It landed just to the right of that red arrow, one-hopped the net and almost came back down into the bucket a 2nd time.
Damn, that was close. The people sitting in Friday's loved it. Gotta have a little fun.

THAT BALL DOES NOT COUNT IN MY STATS:
I staged its retrieval via verbal agreement. I never intended to keep it.

Whaddya think? Would you guys have counted it? Let me know. It won't change my ruling one way or the other.

On a side note: do you see the little aluminum bat resting against the protective screen in the picture above? That was being used by the son of David Weathers earlier in the day. Apparently, he was taking a few hacks out on the field. Lucky kid.

Ball #6 came via tossup from this fellow...

...after a friendly request in his native Spanish tongue.

I would retrieve 2 more baseballs in the next 5 minutes off the bat of the "Hebrew Hammer"-Ryan Braun. One was snagged on the fly and the other was snagged on the bounce. I gave the one snagged on the fly away to another fan.
Hotdamn...I dig Ryan Braun.

Ball #9 soon followed...snagged on the fly off the bat of Felipe Lopez.

Nine baseballs and the rest of the stadium hadn't even opened yet! That's the kind of start I would need if I wanted the record.

When the clock struck 5:30 pm,, the gates to the stadium officially opened. I dashed up the staircase that leads to the 2nd level of bleachers (loge level). I scanned the rows for any easter eggs. Conveniently, there's been a cleaning crew that comes through the bleachers to wipe off the benches right before gates open. Anytime there's a baseball hit up there, it's pocketed by one of the workers.

But, not this time...

...!!

The above picture was not staged. That's exactly how that ball was found. I tossed my backpack and glove down and took the picture. Hell, I was so jacked, I didn't even mind that the ball was lying next to a gigantic dried pile of some drunk college kid's vomit.

Double-digits and I still had almost an hour left to BP. Holy crap!

The Pirates pitchers were now in left field making their warmup tosses. Three minutes after I changed into my Pirates gear, Pirates pitcher Matt Capps tossed me his warmup ball.

MATT CAPPS----------------------------------->

The last Brewers group was in the cage. After missing out on a few of Casey McGehee's bombs by a couple of steps, I was able to secure #12 off the bat of Mike Rivera. When it was hit, I knew it would land a few sections away. Immediately, I started sprinting through the seats to make up some ground. When I felt myself getting dangerously close, I slowed down a tad. BAM! It landed about 15 feet away from me and I quickly grabbed it on the bounce.

The Brewers finished hitting so there was a lull in the action. I sprinted down the staircase back down to the field level and ran all the way over to right field to check out the visitor's bullpen. There was one AND it was in position for the glove-trick. Just like that...Ball #13.

By this time, I started to realize 17 was within reach. I can only imagine what it's like for a big league pitcher with 6 perfect innings in the books. Around the 7th inning or so, he starts to really lock himself in. From a fan's perspective, it felt similar.

Eventually, I made it back to left field. There, Pirates pitcher Denny Bautista tossed me Ball #14.
It certainly didn't hurt that I asked for the ball in Spanish.

While I was standing in the left field loge bleachers, I noticed a ball that was glove-trickable in the Brewers bullpen. So, back down the stairs I went...sweatier than hell.
After 10 seconds, Ball #15 was reeled in and I was officially locked in.
I had just tied my single-game record of fifteen (15) and I had plenty of time to do some more damage.

Unfortunately, my luck would change. The last 10-15 minutes of BP were a bit slow. A few of the Pirates lighter hitters were in the cage and I felt like I had used up my allotted number of tossups. There were no glove-trick opportunities and I was officially screwed.

Near the end of BP, I took this picture showing how many potential glove-tricks I could have had if not for the grounds crew...

...holy shnikies!!
The Pirates hitters hit more balls into the Brewers bullpen than any two teams combined.

When the Pirates starting pitcher, pitching coach and bullpen catcher began to walk out toward the visitor's bullpen, I started to make my move out that way.

I was still about 20 feet away from the back of the visitor's bullpen when Pirates Bullpen Catcher Heberto Andrade looked up toward me. He made a motion and tossed me a ball. WTF??!!

I wasn't even that close to him and the throw sailed about 7 feet to my right. Luckily, it bounced off a chair and stopped just in time for me to pick it up for #16 on the day.
A new personal high.
But, I needed one more to tie the Milwaukee record and two more to break it.
I needed to get two more baseballs...somehow, someway. I knew I had a good chance for an ump ball after the game, but that would only tie the record. I had to figure out a way to get one before that.

I decided I would try for a pre-game warmup ball by the Pirates dugout. Not many Pirates fans in attendance, it should be easy, right?
Wrong.
Only 1 pair of Pirates came out to throw and Delwyn Young tossed it to a guy down to my right. Okay...no problem. I'll just stay in the box seats until after the bottom of the 1st inning. Maybe I'll get a 3rd out ball. Wrong again.
What I ended up getting was a great view of Prince Fielder's bomb into my section in the bottom of the 1st. No worries...I don't know if I could have snagged it anyway. It landed in the top row of the Tundra Territory (now you know why I don't usually roam around the stadium in search of meaningless baseballs...opportunities missed like those).

Concerned about missing further opportunities, I headed to my seat out in right-center field. When I got there, I visited with the fan who ended up with Prince's home run...#150 of his promising career.

It was a lady in her early 40's. She tells me she was standing in the top row of the Tundra Territory when it was hit.
According to her, this is how the baseball landed (reenactment using actual HR ball)...

...right in the crease of the cushion! She told me she plucked it right out of there.
Wow.

I was wondering if I could continue MY good fortune when #17 came straight out of the blue.
It was before the start of the top 1/2 of the 6th inning. Brewers CF Mike Cameron came running out to take his position. Like he always does, he warms up with LF Ryan Braun. As luck would have it, for a reason I'll never know, "Cam" had brought a baseball out with him (the warmup ball is normally supplied by the ballboy/ballgirl down the LF line). He started jogging toward me with the ball in his hand before making his warmup tosses.
I thought to myself, "is this too good to be true?" So, I stood up and flashed my glove. Sure, there were others around me, but I was the only one with a glove. Easy choice. Cameron fired it right to me. I had just tied the Milwaukee record.

Here I am with #17 on the day...
...holy hell!

After signing a baseball for a fellow Brewers fan...

...I patiently sat through the remaining 4 innings.

No more home run chances...I would have to rely on Home Plate Umpire Jerry Layne.
So, in the top of the 9th inning, with the Brewers clinging to an 8-6 lead, I headed out on a mission to establish a new ballhawking record for the City of Milwaukee.

I watched (from the 7th row) as Trevor Hoffman notched his 28th save on the season. When the last out was recorded, I darted down the steps and got into position. Mr. Layne would have to walk right past me to get into the umpire tunnel. I felt my chances were good. Jerry's ball pouch had just been loaded up a pitch prior to the last out-I knew he had extras.

When he approached, I held out my glove and said, "Mr. Layne, sir, can you spare an extra baseball, please?"
Without hesitation, Jerry reached into his pouch and pulled one out. He then placed it right into my mitt for #18 on the day!

Woohoo! Holy ****!!

A new Milwaukee record...

...with 16 of the 18 snagged shown (2 were given away).

This just proves how good Zack Hample is at snagging. He established the record in his 1st trip to Miller Park. It took me over 200 games to get mine...but, it was well worth the wait.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

18 total balls 8/28/09

5 batted baseballs

7 tossup baseballs

6 device baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 34,438

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

324 baseballs (51 games)
6.35 average per game

8/26/09 @ Miller Park

2009-08-31T01:37:01Z

My wife was running late from work, therefore, I was now running late to the ballpark. I did not get to the ballpark until 5:55 pm. There was nothing I could do to avoid it, so, I had to suck it up and make the best of it. Batting Practice usually ends around 6:20/6:25 pm. That gave me 25-30 minutes.

I'll describe how I snagged Ball #1 with a few pictures...

...the black wall is approx. 5' feet high and separates my row of seats from the Toyota Tundra Territory seats. The yellow smiley face depicts where I was standing when DREW SUTTON was taking his cuts. Soon, Sutton would lift one in my direction.

Unfortunately, it would carry over my head and bounce in the front row of the Tundra Territory where it came to a rest.

In my overly zealous state, the following picture shows the route I took to obtain the ball...

...you guessed it. Straight over the top of that wall. I did it from a standing position without a running start and without falling.

I had to or one of these two would have...

...Casey and Matt. Two young ballhawks with similar enthusiasm.

Who says white men can't jump??

I'll tell you who-
the usher in my section.

He immediately came marching over and demanded that I throw the ball back on the field. I cocked my arm back to throw it onto the field and then I paused, wondering if he was for real?? He then snatched the ball out of my hand and threw the ball back onto the field himself!! Wow. Take it easy.
I understand he has a job to do, but, c'mon...don't take it so personal.

I would go on to snag three more baseballs (all on the fly).
Ball #2 was off the bat of LAYNCE NIX (easy grab).
Balls #3 & #4 were off the bat of JOEY VOTTO. The cool thing? They were on consecutive pitches. That rarely ever happens.

BP ended I somehow managed to snag four (4) baseballs in 25 minutes without asking a single player for a ball. Some days I just don't feel like begging for a baseball. I rarely ever feel comfortable doing it. But, this season I'm doing it for the sake of the Ballhawk League.

During the game, I hung out a bit with two of my favorite Brewers fans...

..."Big Joe" and his cute little niece Madison.

The game went into extra innings for the 2nd consecutive day.
Brewers lost in ten...4-3.

I did not try for any warmup balls. I did not try for any tossups, foul balls, ump balls, etc.
As is usually the case, I only focused on game home runs.

Blahblahblah...the Brewers season has been a major disappointment.

One of the cooler things of the day...

...analyzing the marks on this baseball.

Three staggered green marks across one of the side panels?!

How do you think that got there??

Day's snags...

only three (3) are shown because one crazy usher tossed one of them back onto the field.

Okay, he's not crazy, but, he was pretty **********...

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

4 total balls 8/26/09

4 batted baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 35,084

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

306 baseballs (50 games)
6.12 average per game

...400 baseballs snagged this season is within reach...

"Happy"

8/25/09 @ Miller Park

2009-08-26T20:40:02Z

Wanna know how early I arrived at the ballpark?

So early,...
...that this guy was still on the clock.

Seeing that is a first.

So was the way I snagged Ball #1. It came via tossup from one of the fine EMT's (employed by Bell Ambulance) working the game. He and his partner walked into the bullpen and started to pick up the 3 or 4 strays that were lying in the Brewers pen. One of which, found its way into my glove.

Speaking of finding a way into my glove, the big boy pictured to the right has contributed many baseballs to my collection.

To date, I have snagged 3 of his 147 career dingers.
Hopefully, many more to come...I'm due for another one of his.

Balls #2 (on fly) and #3 (on bounce) were both hit by Prince.

I love watching that guy hit. PRINCE FIELDER

When the rest of the stadium opened @ 5:30 pm, I ran up to the left field loge bleachers (2nd deck) in hopes of snagging a Casey McGehee homer.
Turns out, I snagged two McGehee homers...both on the bounce.

That was it for the Brewers portion of BP.
The time was 5:35 pm...time to change into Reds gear.

I stayed in left field for the first Reds group of hitters.
Below me, these four (4) guys were shagging BP...

...including WLADIMIR BALENTIEN.

For the longest time, I could not figure out who he was. For whatever reason, his name eluded me. Nobody seemed to know who he was. But, it didn't seem to matter much, as Mr. Balentien soon lobbed a baseball backwards like a hook shot toward another fellow ballhawk named Casey (you can read his blog by clicking here). The ball ended up short and fell back to the field. Balentien tried a 2nd time with the same result. By this time, I had grabbed a spot on the railing where this was taking place. When Balentien tried the backwards hook a 3rd time, I reached way over the railing and managed to pin the ball between my glove and the concrete facade below. I slowly gained control of it and had #6 on the day.

I continued to move around, eventually, snagging tossups from these two dudes...
...I gave this ball to one of my favorite ushers to give to a kid.
MICAH OWINGS

NICK MASSET

The Masset tossup was my 300th baseball snagged on the season.

A quick pose with # 300...

Unfortunately, that was it for BP.

During the game, Reds pitcher Arthur Rhodes spotted these four girls...

...standing behind the bullpen.

He tried to toss one of the girls (red arrow) a baseball. I was talking to a few people and standing nearby when someone said, "hey, there's a baseball." When I turned around, a baseball was rolling underneath an empty seat. Surprised as hell, I walked over to it and picked it up. I looked down into the bullpen and saw Arthur Rhodes pointing to one of the girls. So, I pointed to the one with the blue tank-top and he nodded. So, I gave it to her.
That's when I yelled, "Arthur!" When he looked up at me I gave him the thumbs up.
(No, the ball didn't have a hotel room # written on it anywhere)

The game ended up going into extra innings.

Check out where all the die-hard Brewers fans went...

...someone forgot to tell those "diehards" that when the game is tied after 9 innings, the teams play extra frames.

The Brewers ended up blowing it...what else is new?
This season has been a disaster.

After the game, I decided I had to go for double-digits. When the final out was recorded, I darted down the staircase for an ump ball.

The man hooked me up.

He kept trying to find a worthier recipient than me. After scanning the crowd about 5 or 6 times, he half-heartedly underhanded me one.

Thanks Jimbo.

Double-digits, baby.

JIM JOYCE

Eight (8) of the ten (10) baseballs snagged...

...two (2) were given away.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

10 total balls 8/25/09

4 batted baseballs

6 tossup baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 29,481

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

302 baseballs (49 games)
6.16 average per game

The Curse of Coghlan

2009-08-24T19:41:32Z

Remember this photo?

It was taken 5/13/09 after I snagged Chris Coghlan's 1st career home run.

I snagged 12 baseballs that day.
That was the last time I would reach double-digits...that is, until this past Monday 8/17/09.

I had ten or more baseballs snagged in seven (7) of my 1st eighteen (18) games this season.
The next twenty-nine (29) games...nada.

Finally, I reached the coveted double-digit plateau in the 30th game since Coghlan.

Is the Curse of Coghlan over??
I think so.

To commemorate the event...

...I thought I would send Chris a little gift...

...whaddya think??

The note reads:

Chris-

"Hard feelings aside, congrats on a fine rookie season!
Good luck down the stretch."

"Happy"

Of course...all in good fun.

8/17/09 @ US Cellular Field

2009-08-21T00:35:57Z

Remember the Carlos Quentin home run hit back on 8/04/09 that bounced off the metal roof and landed on top of the shrubs at U.S. Cellular Field??

Does this refresh your memory (photos taken August 4th, 2009)...

...???

How about this...

...???
(check out the links above for a quick refresher)

More on this later...

Radar showed a massive green blob of rain heading straight toward Chicago. After monitoring the green blob for around 7 hours (with no change), I left work at 1pm and headed to Miller Park.
At Miller Park, I was going to meet up with two good young ballhawks named Casey & Matt. They're regulars at Miller Park and they're both cool dudes. Casey has his very own ballhawking blog that you can check out by clicking here. From there, we were all going to pile in my truck and head down to the Waukegan train station.

After approx. a 1hr. drive, we arrived at the train station. Unfortunately, we missed the 2:10 train because the drive-thru at White Castle took WAY too long. Oh well...we would catch the 3:10 train.

There was about an hour to kill...

...so, we played some catch.

Followed by...

...more catch.

If there was an errant throw or an overthrow into the high grass...

...no worries. I brought a few extra.

Finally, we were on the train to Chicago...

After a quick ride on the Red Line subway, we arrived at US Cellular Field.
We wasted no time before grabbing our spot in line...

That's when a young man approached me and said, "Nick?"

I turned around and quickly realized it was Alex from the Ballhawk League.
Alex is 13 yrs. old and has a great ballhawking future ahead of him.
Check out Alex's blog by clicking here. He's one cool kid.

The aforementioned future ballhawk star...

...and I.

When the gates to the stadium opened at 5:30 pm, all four of us sprinted up the long concourse, flashed our 100 level tickets to security and entered the seating area.

Would there be BP??

YES!! The BP GODS have spoken!

When I saw the field was occupied by numerous Sox players, I discovered that I had an extra gear. I ran all the way down the 1st baseline, around the rightfield foul pole, behind the batter's eye and eventually, made it to the left field bleachers.

The 1st thing I did was to scan the moat for any glove-trick opportunities. I spotted one out in left-center. After about 10 seconds, I reeled up Ball #1. As I was reeling it up, an unknown Sox player hit one directly to me. My glove was dangling in the moat at the time, so, all I could do was stick out my barehand. It ended up bouncing off the warning track and then bouncing off my barehand...ending up back on the field. Luckily, White Sox reliever Randy Williams took notice of my effort and rewarded me with the baseball via toss-up for #2.

When I removed the baseball I had just glove-tricked, things took a turn for the worse.
The rubber band was dangling from one side of the glove...it had snapped. Oh no!!

As luck would have it, the White Sox were finishing up with BP and were running off the field. I knew I would have about 2-3 minutes before the balls would be flying once again.

Quickly, I removed the old rubber band and grabbed a new one from my backpack. I bit it to make one long rubber string (I have to do this so I can string the rubber band through and around the stringing in my glove) and tied it through. After a 3-4 minute delay, I was back in business.

Things started to happen really fast from here on out.

Ball #3 was snagged on the bounce off the bat of Miguel Olivo.
Ball #4 was then glove-tricked out of the moat.

Here's a blurry shot of me reeling in #4...

A few minutes later, a ball was hit out to deep center. Royals coach Rusty Kuntz (cool name, huh?) waddled out to retrieve it.

I said, "coach, any chance I could get that or do I have to earn it?"
Rusty responded, "you have to earn it!"

Just when I let my guard down for a second and looked away, I saw the Rusty ball descending down toward me. In a defensive reaction, the ball clanked off my glove and fell into the moat. Dammit!!! I looked a little foolish missing that ball. Whatever, I would glove-trick it. Or so I thought. Out of nowhere, came two brothers with a glove-trick of their own. They were quicker than me to get their glove-trick lowered, so, I let them go for it. After they fumbled with it for 4-5 minutes, I told them I would take care of it. After about 30 seconds, I reeled up Ball #5.

Ball #6 came off the bat of
BILLY BUTLER.

When it was hit, I hurdled three rows of bleachers, ran over about 5 feet and put my glove up as high as I could reach.

Smack...on the fly.

A new group was taking the cage. So, I scanned all the moats...nothing. I had a weird feeling about the gap behind the centerfield fence. Nobody was paying any attention to that area.
When I peered over the railing, this is what I saw...
...mwahaha!!
Ball #7 took about 7 seconds to reel up.

When I was putting #7 in the backpack, the dude pictured to the right lifted one high into the air. I ran through a few aisles, jumped over a few rows of bleachers and made the grab on the fly.

I was locked in.

JOHN BUCK

A bunch of lefties were now hitting for the Royals, so, I moved to right field. It was crowded.

That's where I met a really cool guy named Ben.
Ben asked if I was "The Happy Youngster." I told him I was and we began to chat like we knew each other for years. Ben was wearing this really slick Dan Quisenberry Royals jersey. Oh yeah, Ben has a collection of jerseys that would blow your mind. According to "jerseyboy" (his handle on the mlblogs network), he has over 1500 jerseys!! Holy crap! I told Ben I would catch up with him after BP (picture to follow).

After about 6-7 minutes, MIKE JACOBS launched one in my direction. I scrambled through the aisle like my *** was on fire. I found my spot and made the snag on the fly.

Booyah...#9.
As an added bonus, it was an HHH Metrodome commemorative baseball.
Woohoo!

I *needed* to get to double-digits to break the Coghlan curse.
(if you don't know by now, don't ask)

Unfortunately, BP soon ended.

As BP ended, the rain began to fall.
There truly is a BP God...I swear.

As the majority of the stadium attendees sought refuge, I relished in it.
I've mentioned before - roofs are overrated. I enjoy an occasional rain delay.

A rain delay is what I got...

During the delay, we wandered around the stadium.

That's when I saw *it*

SweetMotherofGod...

!!! (these pictures above were taken August 17th, 2009)

Do you see it? Holy ****!!

The Carlos Quentin home run hit on August 4th was still lying out on the batter's eye two weeks later! Same spot...same ball. EXACTLY the same ball.

I had to get that ball for the following reasons:

it would make a cool story
it would give me double-digits for the 1st time since 5/13/09
it would give me 52 career game home run balls snagged

I just *had* to figure out a way to get that ball.

After about an hour rain-delay, the weather began to clear.
That's when a rainbow appeared above US Cellular Field...

In the top of the 2nd inning, Yuniesky Betancourt hit a home run into the White Sox bullpen. Would it be glove-trickable?? Alex (who was sitting next to me in the 2nd row above the Royals dugout) and I were about to find out. So, we raced out to left field to take a look.

When we made it to left, we grabbed a couple seats in about the 7th row. When the time was right, we made it down to the railing of the Sox bullpen.

Here was my view...

...see the home run ball?

If that would have stayed at the rear of the bullpen, it would have been glove-tricked.
No doubt about it.

Alex and I stayed in the 7th row behind the bullpen. When the Sox 1/2 of the 2nd rolled around, JAYSON NIX launched one straight in our direction. I started to dart down the staircase. A fat guy in the 5th row acted like it was coming straight at his head. He just froze in the aisle and put his arms out. After I maneuvered around Fat-Man, I made it down to the front row. As I extended my glove-hand all the way out over the railing, the home run ball bounced off the bottom of the rear wall of the bullpen and bounced back toward the front of the pen, coming to a rest about 1 foot away from the Betancourt home run. I had just come about 6 feet from a game home run. Damn.
Immediately, Sox Coach Juan Nieves ran out and grabbed the Nix home run. In the process, he kicked the Royals home run and made a gesture with his hand, pinching his nose as if something stunk. Alex and I were both in the front row waiting for the toss-up. Nieves launched it over our heads.
Where did it land, you ask?? Directly in the seat Alex vacated in the 7th row.
Double-damn...the kid took it hard but I told him he made the right decision by getting to the front row. There's just no way of knowing that ball would have been tossed 7 rows up.

After more on-again/off-again rain...

...the White Sox defeated the Royals 8-7.

After the game, I tried for an ump ball from Chad Fairchild...with no luck.

I wandered over to the Royals dugout for a toss-up ball...with no luck.

That's when I met back up with Ben (aka-jerseyboy).
Here's Ben and I after the game by the visitor's dugout...

...Ben, I hope we cross paths again soon. It was a pleasure meeting you.

I said my goodbyes to Alex (and his Dad) and told my friends I was determined to end the Coghlan curse.

BEGIN MISSION CARLOS QUENTIN HOME RUN BALL:

For various reasons (that should be obvious to most), I cannot provide exact details.

I can say this:

I was alone and unassisted.
I did obtain the home run ball directly.
It was, without a doubt, the home run ball hit on 8/04/09 by Carlos Quentin.
It was partially waterlogged.
I was the 1st fan to obtain possession of it.
While unorthodox, it counts toward my career home run stats.
I did have a few witnesses (from afar) for the majority of the ball's retrieval.

If you see me, ask me about it.

Here I am with Career Game Home Run Ball #52...

An injury incurred along the way...

As for the ball...

...it was starting to deteriorate and had a few brown spots on it.

But, at least the sweet-spot was clean...
...I've gone completely nuts.

The ten (10) baseballs snagged...

...with the game home run ball in the front.

What a day...

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

10 total balls 8/17/09

5 batted baseballs (including 1 game home run hit by Carlos Quentin on 8/04/09)

1 tossup baseball

4 device baseballs

ATTENDANCE: 36,703

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

292 baseballs (48 games)
6.08 average per game