You know the web site called MyGameBalls.com, right? If not, think of it as Facebook for ballhawks. Anyway, the web site recently held a vote for two awards:

1) Ballhawk of the Year
2) Junior Ballhawk of the Year

My fellow New Yorker, Alex K., took the "junior" award, so congrats to him. If you have a few minutes to spare, check out his profile and read the article about his achievement. Props to Aaron King and Joe Faraguna for finishing in second and third place, respectively.

As for the "adult" Ballhawk Of The Year...it turns out that it was me. Here's a screenshot of the beginning of the article:



Thanks to everyone who voted, and thanks to Alan Schuster who runs the site. It's an awesome place to share photos and stats and blog URLs and email addresses. BTW, here's the article about my award, and here's my profile (which Alan kindly helped me set up earlier in the year). Congrats to Erik Jabs who finished in second place with a monster season performance of over 400 balls, and to Greg Barasch who put up some mighty fine stats of his own and finished in third place.

On a personal level, the best thing about Game 5 of the 2009 World Series was getting a free ticket. The worst thing was that I had to watch the Phillies and Yankees. To put it lightly, I don't care for either team. I thought about wearing all Mets gear (as a way of staging my own mini-protest), but ultimately I decided to dress like this:


It was my way of messing with fans of both teams without getting laughed at. As I made my way around the stadium, I noticed people staring and pointing. One guy asked if he could get a photo with me. His friend asked if I was bipolar.

It was only 2:30pm -- more than five hours before the first pitch -- so I had time to get food (don't order pasta or the turkey burger at McFadden's) and take a bunch of photos...

Here's a look at the street that runs from the 3rd base gate to the Ashburn Alley gate in left field:


One word: HOOPLA.

The whole place had a carnival-like atmosphere...


...and yet as I walked around, I noticed that I wasn't really feeling it. It didn't feel like the World Series. It just felt like any other game, except colder. I was hoping to snag at least eight balls in order to maintain an average of nine balls per game for the entire season, and of course I wanted to get my hands on a commemorative game-used ball with the 2009 World Series logo, but I felt no sense of urgency. I don't know why -- maybe because it'd been so long since my last game that I'd fallen out of SnagMode -- but I felt rather Zen about the whole thing. Ultimately, I just wanted to snag one ball and see a good game.

The TV crews were out in full force...


...and there were other media as well. A classic rock radio station was broadcasting from a tent, and as I walked by, the female DJ waved me over.

"I gotta talk to you for a minute," she said, reaching for a microphone.

Sure enough, she asked me about the clothes I was wearing.

I explained that I didn't like either team.

"You hate everybody!" she joked, and then she asked me why I was even AT the game.

"Because I got a free ticket," I said.

"How'd you manage that?" she asked.

I told her about my books and my baseball collection and mentioned that there's a ticket company called First Hand Tickets that recently "sponsored" me...and that I got the ticket from them. She was pretty intrigued by the whole story and kept asking me questions. I couldn't believe how long the interview was lasting, but once it was over, she told me that it was being taped and that her editor was going to trim it down and air part of it later. Oh well. Still cool.

Before I headed off, she got one of her assistants to take the following photo of us:


As for First Hand Tickets...basically, what it all comes down to is that StubHub isn't the only option. StubHub is so big that it's tough (in my experience) to get personal attention, but with First Hand Tickets, you can actually call up and speak to real human beings who can help you get what you need. They even help put together flight and hotel packages, so check out their site and give them a call. The head of the company -- a really nice guy named Warren -- said he'll offer discounts to people who ask for him and mention my name. So yeah. Keep these guys in mind.

Anyway, by the time the gates were getting ready to open, the sun was setting...


...and by the time I ran inside and snagged the first November ball of my life, it was already dark:


It was thrown by Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick, and as you can see, it was a regular MLB ball. It'd be really cool if teams used World Series balls during BP before World Series games. I don't see what the big deal is. I suppose MLB figures they'll end up selling more World Series balls (at thirty bucks a pop) if they're harder to get a hold of, but if that's their logic, then I must respectfully disagree. If there were even a few World Series balls floating around during BP, fans would go nuts to try to catch every single ball. More people would show up early (which would lead to extra concession sales for the home team), and for every fan who managed to catch a World Series ball, there'd be 20 other fans standing right nearby, asking to have a look at it. Those people would be more inclined to buy the balls if they actually saw them being used -- and if they felt like they were THIS close to actually catching one. Plus...Home Run Derby balls are used during BP prior to the Derby itself, so obviously it can be done.

At one point, during the first few minutes of BP, Phillies fans were ganging up on the few Yankee fans. One guy who was decked out in Yankee gear got (intentionally) slammed from behind while reaching up to catch a home run. This caused him to drop the ball, and when he tried to scramble for it in between two rows of seats, the Phillies fan (who was absolutely huge) dove on top of him with crushing force. It was perhaps the most blatant case of aggression and violence that I'd *ever* seen at a game. But you know what? Any non-Yankee fan in the Bronx is likely to be treated just as badly, if not worse. I've seen Yankee fans rip opposing teams' caps off fans' heads and light them on fire. In conclusion: "Yankee and Philly fans, I now pronounce you man and wife."

Now...did you notice how empty the stands were in the photo above? It didn't stay that way for long. By the time the Yankees took the field, I still only had one ball, and the seats were packed:


I just wasn't on my game. In addition to the TWO tossed balls that had tipped off my glove (longer arms would've helped), I wasn't judging home runs well, and I think it was partly due to the fact that the balls weren't carrying. Everything was falling short -- no surprise there -- and I was slow to make the adjustment. Once I turned my attention to the glove trick, however, things started picking up. There was a ball that rolled onto the warning track near the left field foul pole, and as I was trying to reel it in, Alfredo Aceves walked over and stuffed it in my glove. Then, in straight-away left field, I had a chance to use the trick to reel in another -- and get this: even though I was wearing my Yankee gear at that point, there was a female Yankee fan in the front row who was incredibly rude to me. Basically, she was taking up two spots against the railing, and she refused to let me in because she wanted the ball for herself. (She was about 25 years old, looked like she was 45, needed a meal more than she needed a ball, and wasn't wearing a glove.) She made such a big fuss about not letting me into the front row that the two Phillies fans to her right moved over to make some space for me. (Thank you, Philadelphia. You're not so bad after all.) Once I climbed into the front row, the woman told me that if I got the ball, I had to give it to her since she'd let me in. (I ignored her at that point.) Moments later, as I was starting to lower my glove over the wall, she said, "Ohmygod, you are so embarrassing. Can you go away?" My response went as follows: "Lady, there are 45,000 other seats in this stadium. If you have a problem with me, you can move to any one of them." While everyone else was cheering for me, the woman was talking trash and cursing. I just tuned it out, went about my business, snagged the ball, and headed back up the steps.

Five minutes later, while still wearing my Yankee gear, a Phillies fan was kind enough to hold my legs while I reached way out and across the flower bed to reel in another ball with the glove trick -- my fourth ball overall. Granted, this fan recognized me from YouTube and then proceeded to ask for the ball (I gave him my rally towel instead -- estimated eBay value: $20), but it was still a nice gesture on his part.

Batting practice ended two minutes later, and on my way out of the section, I found a ticket lying on the ground. Half an hour later, while walking through the field level concourse, I found another. Check this out:


See the ticket for Section 130? Do you know where that is?! Take a look at the Citizens Bank Park seating chart below:


That's right...the game hadn't even started, and for the rest of the night, I was guaranteed to have full access to the seats behind the Yankee dugout. This was a big deal because my actual seat was up here:


I was officially supposed to be in the "right field bleacher deck," or some kind of nonsense like that, but there was no way that I was going up there. I didn't know where I'd end up -- I was expecting to have a standing-room-only ticket -- but I knew I wasn't going to any section where it was physically impossible to catch a ball. If I had to, I'd stand in the concourse all night and wait until a foul ball or home run started flying in my direction and then bolt down the steps. The problem with sneaking anywhere was that there simply weren't empty seats.

But wait...hang on...I'm getting ahead of myself. Just after Alanis Morissette sang the national anthem, Derek Jeter came out and started playing catch in front of the dugout (probably to show off for her and/or to ask for her phone number). I used my "Section 130" ticket to get past the ushers, and then I waltzed right down to the front row. Almost every seat was full at that point, but there was one opening in the middle of the section right behind the dugout. It just so happened that this open space was at the outfield end of the dugout, where Jeter was likely to return with the ball. Another happy coincidence: my Yankee shirt said "JETER 2" on the back, so I slipped my arms out through the sleeves and turned the shirt around so that I was wearing his name on my chest. I poked my arms back out, grabbed my camera, positioned my backpack in just the right spot so that it wouldn't get trampled...and before I knew it, Jeter was finishing up. I didn't have time to take a photo. All I could do was wave my glove and shout his name and try to make sure that he could see my shirt. He was walking right to me with the ball in his hand. Could it be?! I'd never gotten a ball from him and always wanted one. Even though he played for the Yankees, he was one of my all-time favorite players -- one of only two guys (Mariano Rivera being the other) who can actually make me root FOR the Yankees. He kept walking closer. I shouted my head off. He looked to the left, then to the right. Was there a more worthy recipient? A pretty young woman or a cute little kid? No! Jeter took another step and then flipped the ball right to me. The fans on either side reached for it, but they had no chance. I dove forward and caught the ball (pictured on the left) in my glove with full extension, and I belly-flopped on the dugout roof. Oh. My. God. DEREK JETER!!! And as a bonus, this ball broke my own personal single-game World Series record of four balls, which I achieved last year at Game 4.

That made my night, week, month, and...I don't want to say year, because there were quite a few highlights, but man, I was so excited after that. I almost couldn't tell if it had really happened. I'd been having a lot of snagging dreams lately, and they all felt so real at the time.

As for the game, fun fun fun. Cliff Lee gave up a run in the top of the first, but the Phillies answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame and three more in the third. Chase Utley hit two homers, tying Reggie Jackson's record for the most home runs hit by one player in a World Series. Unfortunately, I was halfway across the stadium for both of those homers, just chillin' in foul territory. If I felt like I had a chance to catch a homer, then I would've been in the outfield seats, but there's no cross-aisle at Citizens Bank Park. There's no way to run left or right. There were no empty seats out there. I wouldn't have been allowed to stand on any of the staircases, and even if I were, and even if a ball came right to me, there's no guarantee that I would've caught it because the crowd was in a snagging frenzy, even with foul balls. People were pushing and shoving like mad.

In the top of the ninth inning, with the Phillies clinging to an 8-5 lead, this was my view from the back of Section 130:


Then, after Jeter bounced into a run-scoring double play, this was my new spot:


There was a pocket of empty seats down at the front.

Perfect!

I couldn't sneak all the way down while the game was in progress, but I had my post-game route planned out: down the steps, through the second row, into front row, all the way to the right. That was as close as I could get to the spot where the umpires would be walking off the field. Home plate ump Dana DeMuth had tossed me two post-game balls in the past -- both at PETCO Park, incidentally -- but those came during the regular season. Would his generosity possibly extend into the World Series?!

The answer had to wait as Johnny Damon smoked a single to center. Mark Teixiera came up next and promptly fell behind in the count, 0-2. I was ready to pounce. I wasn't sure if any other fans were thinking what I was thinking, so I need to move fast. Teixiera took a ball to bring the count to 1-2. My heart was pounding. I was afraid he'd hit a two-run homer and tie the game. I didn't want extra innings. I wanted the Phillies to win, and I wanted them to win NOW. Next pitch? Strike three! Ballgame over. Final score: Phillies 8, Yankees 6. I raced down the steps, did some fancy footwork, and reached the corner spot JUST in front of another guy who'd been rushing there too. The rest was up to Mister DeMuth. As he began walking toward me, it was so noisy that I could barely hear myself screaming his name. Somehow, though, he must have heard me because this was the result:


Hell yeah.

It's hard to tell in the photo above, but the ball was actually quite rubbed up with mud. The photo below (which shows all six balls that I snagged) will give you a better idea of what the ball really looks like. And here's the best look of all.

SNAGGING STATS:

• 6 balls at this game (the Jeter ball is in the middle of the bottom row)

• 538 balls in 60 games this season = 8.97 balls per game.

• 629 consecutive games with at least one ball

• 182 consecutive games outside of New York with at least one ball

• 12 consecutive post-season games with at least one ball

• 5 consecutive World Series games with at least one ball

• 4,358 total balls

CHARITY STATS:

• 129 donors (click here and scroll down for the complete list)

• $25.45 pledged per ball

• $152.70 raised at this game

• $13,692.10 raised this season for Pitch In For Baseball

The charity has already received thousands of dollars' worth of donations. (Click here and look at the scrolling box on the upper right to see who has officially contributed.) If you've made a pledge but haven't yet sent in the funds, now's a great time to do it. I'm not free to attend Game 6, and I'm not even going to try to attend Game 7, so this effectively concludes my season. For instructions on how to pay, click here.

I'm always hesitant to talk about things before they actually happen, but as of this moment, it appears that I'm gonna get hooked up with a ticket for Game 5 of the World Series. I'll know more tomorrow morning -- that's when the ticket will supposedly find its way into my possession -- so check back for an update. In the meantime, I'll leave you with links to two articles that were written about me the other day at Yankee Stadium:

ARTICLE #1

ARTICLE #2

More later...

----------------------------

UPDATE!

It's 11am on Monday. I just received my ticket, courtesy of these guys. I'll try to have the blog entry up tomorrow...

I headed out to Yankee Stadium yesterday with a homemade sign and a whole lot of hope that it would land me a ticket:



In case you're too lazy to click the photo above, the sign has this pyramid photo of me with "4,352 baseballs and counting..." written underneath it.

I arrived at the stadium at 1:30pm -- six and a half hours before game time -- and there was already a huge line of fans, hoping that some tickets might get released:



I held up my sign and walked around and flapped my glove at everyone who looked at me. Over the course of the day, at least 100 people asked me the following question: "What does ballhawk mean?" It was annoying to have to explain the same thing over and over, but I was glad to be educating the public.

The area outside the stadium was swarming with media. Several journalists and news crews interviewed me. So did Juliet Papa from 1010 WINS (pictured below), who interviewed me live for 40 seconds.



Afterward, she said, "Two million people just heard you."

The 2009 World Series ball was on sale for $30, ball cube included:



The ball has a nice logo, in my opinion. I like that the words "WORLD SERIES" are large, and that the words "Fall Classic" appear beneath the MLB logo. (Have those words ever appeared on the ball before? I'm not sure.)

During the four hours I spent outside Yankee Stadium, only two people offered (read: tried to sell) me a ticket. The first was a shady-looking scalper who said he could get me a ticket "for six."

"Six what?" I asked. (Six BP balls?)

"Six hundred," he said.

(Anyway...)

The second guy was a Yankee employee -- one of those guys who stand outside with those signs that say "How May I Help You?" -- who said he had a friend who was selling bleacher tickets for $550.

(Wow, what a bargain! Really?! Does your friend take cash?!)

When I told him that was way beyond my price range, he said, "I know a guy who can walk you in for two-fifty. Then you're on your own. Standing room only."

(How about I take a photo of you and report you? Unless you let me in for twenty bucks.)

It was 5pm. The gates were opening. People were pouring out of the subway and into the stadium:



I lingered for another half-hour. I had $200 on me and I was still willing to spend it on a real ticket. I figured I still had the Phillies' portion of batting practice -- if I could somehow get inside -- but it wasn't meant to be. Some random rent-a-cop saw my sign and told me that it's illegal to solicit tickets on stadium property. (Oh yeah?! Well, it should be illegal for you to...nevermind.) So I put my sign in the nearest trash can and headed back to the subway.



Someday I'm going to be rich and/or famous and I won't need to deal with this B.S.

(Let's go Padres!)

In case anyone's interested...

I was interviewed earlier today on a show on NPR called "Talk of the Nation." The interview lasted 17 minutes, and you can listen to it by clicking here. Sorry for not announcing it ahead of time, but it all came together at the last minute.

In other news, I'm still trying to find my way into a World Series game -- ideally at Citizens Bank Park -- and I'd rather not spend $700 for a standing-room-only ticket on StubHub, so if you have any leads, please let me know.

As many of you already know, I've raised over $13,000 this season for a charity called Pitch In For Baseball.

Since my chances of attending a World Series game are VERY slim, I'd like to start collecting donations now.

So...if you've already made a pledge, there are two ways you can make your donation:

OPTION ONE = WRITE A CHECK:

Make the check payable to Pitch In For Baseball and mail it to:

Pitch In For Baseball
c/o Zack Hample
1541 Gehman Road
Harleysville, PA  19438

FYI: The reason for writing "c/o Zack Hample" is to inform the folks at Pitch In For Baseball that you're one of my donors. This will help them keep track of all the money I'm raising for them. Not a single penny of the money will ever end up in my possession (in case Conan succeeded in raising doubts).

OPTION TWO = PAY BY CREDIT CARD:

Here's how to do this:

1) Visit my fundraising page.
2) Scroll to the bottom.
3) Look for the red banner that says "Make a Contribution." 
4) Click the "Other" option at the bottom of the box.
5) Type in the amount of your donation.
6) Click the "Continue" button down below and follow the remaining steps.

If you're wondering exactly how much you owe, click here and scroll down to the master list of donors. Here's a screen shot from the middle of the list:



As you can see, there are two columns of numbers. The column on the left indicates how much money you pledged per ball; the column on the right shows how much your donation has amounted to. (I snagged 532 balls this season, so all the pledges have been multiplied by that number.)

Does all of this make sense?

Let me know if you have questions.

BTW...I'm going to follow up with people via email, especially those who don't read this blog regularly, so don't worry...all 128 donors will be hearing about this.

Three more things:

1) If you're trying to decide between sending a check or paying with a credit card, go for the check. If you use a credit card, the credit card company will skim a small processing fee from your donation, but if you pay with a check, 100 percent of your donation will go to Pitch In For Baseball. That said, don't feel guilty about using a credit card. It's really not THAT big of a deal.

2) It's not too late to make a pledge. Even though I probably won't snag any more baseballs this season, you can still donate money to this cause.

3) If there's anyone reading this who has an extra World Series ticket that they'd be willing to sell at a reasonable price, please let me know. It'd be really cool to make it to one more game this season...

That's it.

Thank you so much!

(I'll keep blogging throughout the off-season so keep checking back...)

The best thing that happened on my birthday this year was NOT snagging 22 balls at Camden Yards. Not even close. The highlight was receiving the following email from my friend Erik Jabs:

Zack,
I remember you writing that one day you'd like to take BP on a major league field.

PNC Park is having a season ticket holder batting practice on Tuesday, Oct 6. It's a regular BP with the cages and screens and everything. They also use MLB balls, and you can elect to use players' game bats.

I'd you'd like to, you're welcome to be my guest and take BP on that day.

I wrote a little about it last year when my blog was beginning:
http://countingbaseballs.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/09/92408_pnc_park_season_ticket_h.html

Let me know,
Erik

Three weeks after I received this email, I flew to Pittsburgh with my mom (who came along just to watch) and my friend Brandon (who took all the photos you're about to see)...

Here I am walking into PNC Park with Erik and a few of his friends:


This was my reaction after stepping onto the field:


It was nine o'clock in the morning. The sun was bright, but the grass was still wet, and it was only 49 degrees -- not ideal conditions to jack one over the fence, but I was hopeful.

There were only about 100 people in our 9am-11am group, and we all gathered in the stands for the welcome speech:


The speaker thanked us for supporting the Pirates in 2009 (You're welcome!) and explained a few basic things about how our three-group session on the field was going to be run:

Group One would be hitting first...

Group Two would be free to roam anywhere on the field and shag baseballs...

Group Three would start by lining up on the warning track in right field and catching fly balls that were going to be fired from a pitching machine...

I was in Group Three, which meant that all the balls were going to be soggy by the time I stepped into the cage. It also meant that I had to break the rules for a couple minutes and play catch at shortstop:


The rules, it should be noted, were not strictly enforced. Some people from Group Two made a beeline for the right field warning track, while others in Group Three (like me and Erik) wandered all over the place.

Here I am with Erik:


(Erik is 6-foot-4.)

The fly ball machine was positioned on the infield dirt behind first base:


It wasn't THAT exciting to catch routine 200-foot fly balls fired from a machine, especially when I had to wait in line for five minutes between each one. What WAS exciting was simply being on the field:


Quite simply, it was a dream come true.

Finally, after more than an hour, Group Three was called in to hit. I raced to the front of the line and grabbed an aluminum bat that belonged to one of Erik's friends. I could've used wood -- there were more than a dozen players' bats lying around -- but I decided I'd go with metal until I put one out.

Unfortunately, that never happened (and here's where I make tons of excuses)...

In addition to the balls being damp, I had to hit off a pitching machine that was firing most of the balls shoulder-high. Also, the late-morning sun was shining right in my eyes from straight-away center field. In addition, I only got eight pitches, which included my bunt to start the round as well as another pitch that I took moments later because it was head-high. There were so many people waiting to hit, and the guys feeding the machine were in such a rush to get me out of the cage that they only gave me three seconds between each swing to get ready for the next one. It was like, "Hurry up and have your fun and get the hell out." (But don't get me wrong: it WAS fun.)

Here I am taking a mighty cut at one of the only belt-high pitches I saw:


Although, as I mentioned above, I didn't hit a ball out of the park, I did manage to hit a line drive that bounced onto the warning track. If the ball weren't damp and heavy, it might've gone out, and if I'd swung about an eighth of an inch lower, it definitely would've gone out.

After everyone in Group Three got their eight-pitches (no one in any group even came close to hitting one out), we each got to jump back in the cage for a four-pitch lightning round. Brandon wandered out behind the mound and took the following photo of me at the plate:


Same result:
Damp balls.
Too high.
Good swings.
Totally rushed.
Decent contact.
No homers.
Major frustration.


It was exhilarating to get to take BP on a major league field, and while it certainly went down as I expected, it wasn't anything like what I'd dreamt of so many times. In my own personal FantasyLand, I have a stadium all to myself. The grass is dry. It's 82 degrees. Leon Feingold is pitching BP fastballs to me with pearls, and of course I'm hitting the crap out of them.

Former big league pitcher Rick Reuschel was hanging around near the batting cage. He and I talked for a minute and then had our picture taken.


(In my next life, I'm going to be 6-foot-7.)

Here I am with a gentleman named Nick Pelescak: 


Nick is:

1) a friend of Erik's
2) a Pirates season ticket holder
3) the owner of the metal bat I'd used
4) a member of the Ballhawk League
5) a good ballplayer
6) a great guy

As you can see in the photo above, Nick brought his copy of Watching Baseball Smarter for me to sign...which I did...with an extra big smile because it was the most worn-out/well-appreciated copy of the book that I'd ever seen. Nick told me he'd read it several times and underlined his favorite parts, which turned out to be half the stuff in it. Check out this two-page spread in the "Umpires" chapter:


The whole book looked like that.

It was lunchtime. Our two-hour session on the field had ended.

We entertained ourselves at the speed-pitch booth:


In the photo above, that's me on the left, Nick on the right, and Nick's younger brother Bryan in the middle. Bryan (who's just 16 years old) threw the fastest pitch of the day at 73mph.

Then it was time to eat:


And then we wandered back down to the field:


Thanks to a not-so-secret loophole in the system, we all got to head back onto the field. Here I am, waiting for my turn to hit:


See the batting glove I'm wearing in the photo above? On this fine day in Pittsburgh, I decided to use Jeromy Burnitz's batting gloves -- the ones he tossed to me in 2004 at Shea Stadium. (Here's my whole collection of batting gloves, in case you care.)

There were a dozen helmets lying around next to the cage...


...and none of them fit.

These were some of the bats:


I took my eight swings with Nick's metal bat...


...and finished up with Jose Bautista's wood bat. No homers. But I hit some deep fly balls and got a compliment from former Pirate John Wehner. Here I am with him:


Wehner said that even HE wouldn't have been able to hit a home run with such bad balls. (I wish I had a photo of the balls, but since I don't, let me just say this: the worst ball that you could possibly catch during BP at a major league game would be better than any ball I was invited to hit at PNC Park.) He might've just been saying that to make me feel better...but then again, he did only hit four career homers in the big leagues...but no, it was nice to hear.

Brandon and I wandered out to the bullpens. Here I am on the mound:


Here I am on the bench:


Here's a sign that was on the wall out there:


Here I am clowning around on the warning track (robbing a...double?) with Bryan looking on:


Brandon and my mom and I were going to have to leave for the airport soon, so I spent my remaining time catching fly balls from the pitching machine.

Here I am getting ready to catch one:


Here I am losing my footing on another:


(We were not allowed to wear spikes or cleats.)

I failed to catch that particular ball and ended up like this:


Good times!

Here's one final photo of me and mom before we headed out:


The Pittsburgh Pirates are awesome for letting their season ticket holders take over the field for a day. By comparison, the New York Mets "rewarded" their season ticket holders by letting them run the bases (for 20 seconds) after the final game of the season.

I have to end this entry with a BIG thank you to Erik for giving me the opportunity to do this. Check out his blog. He should have an entry up about it soon. Also...thanks to Brandon for taking all the photos.

Last month I visited the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and took a bunch of photos for this blog. Remember? Well, after my meeting there, I was invited to visit the MLB Network headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey -- and once again I was allowed to bring my camera.

Here what the outside of the building looks like:



Here's the view from just inside the glass doors:



(FYI: The MLB Network is not open to the public. You can't just show up and ask to have a look around. That said, the security guard at the front desk told me that random people drop by every day and try to talk their way inside. But anyway...)

As soon as I arrived, I was escorted down a hallway and through the following doors:



As soon as the doors closed behind me, I ran into two guys who had each played in the Major Leagues for more than a decade: Harold Reynolds and Tony Clark. They just happened to be heading into a meeting and were walking toward me from the opposite direction. They stopped and said hello to the MLB representative who was showing me around, and then I was introduced to them.

"This is Zack Hample." Pause. "Zack is..." Another pause.

I wasn't sure if the gentleman from MLB was searching for the right words or if he was simply waiting for me to take the lead, so I jumped in and said, "Basically, I'm the guy who's caught more baseballs in the stands at major league games than anyone."

"How many?" asked the 6-foot-7 Clark.

"Well," I said, "including all the balls I've snagged during batting practice, over 4,300."

Reynolds and Clark were shocked. I thought there was a chance that they didn't even believe me so I pulled out my wallet and showed them the bathtub photo and told them that this was only one-fifth of my collection.

"You're a sick man," said Reynolds with a grin.

"Thank you," I replied. "I'll take that as a compliment." Then I turned to Clark and said, "Now, I don't want you to take this the wrong way -- I don't want you to feel used or anything -- but you actually contributed to my collection by tossing me a ball a few years ago."

"Where was that?" he asked, so I told him that he'd flipped me a 3rd-out ball while jogging off the field late in a game at Chase Field in 2007. "I got 21 balls that day," I said. Clark just shook his head and laughed.

He and Reynolds had to make it to their meeting, so we all shook hands and parted ways, and my tour continued in THE main studio:



It was silent in the studio. Most of the lights were off. There were no other people. It was surreal. I couldn't believe that I was standing there -- twenty minutes earlier I'd been riding a dingy bus from the NJ Transit station -- and now all of a sudden here I was, getting another behind-the-scenes glimpse at the world of Major League Baseball. I was so excited...so energized...I just wanted to run and around and shriek...but I held it all together and settled for taking a few more photos.

Here's the side desk:



In the photo above, do you see the staircase in the background? Here's what it looks like at the top:



Here's another look at the darkened studio:



Do you see the big MLB logo into the background?

That's actually the entrance to the studio.

Here I am inside the logo:



Wow.
Okay.
Moving on...

This is where most of the video editing takes place:



Here's another area where that work is also done:



Do you remember the autographed walls in my behind-the-scenes entry from my recent appearance on "The Tonight Show"? The MLB Network also has an area of autographs, except it's waaay cooler because all the autographs were written by baseball players. Here's a photo of the walls:



How many of the autographs can you identify?

Here's another photo...



...and another:



Here's my favorite:



In my opinion, one of the best things about the MLB Network is that there's a huge studio called MLB Park. Basically, it's a small replica of a field where the analysts are often filmed recreating plays and teaching fundamentals. Check it out:



Look how realistic the dugouts are:



Here's a view of the outfield wall and the scoreboard and the bleachers:



Gorgeous:



While I was wandering around with my camera, most of the lights in MLB Park were abruptly shut off, and a very large camera was wheeled across the infield, just in front off the mound. The network was getting ready to tape a segment in there, so I had to head out, but first I crouched down behind the plate (outside pitch to Albert Pujols) and took one final photo:



And there you have it.

I'll admit that I was a bit slow to tune in when the MLB Network first launched on January 1st -- I didn't even know that I had it as part of my Time Warner cable package -- but I've been watching it religiously since the All-Star break. If you're not sure if you have the network in your home, click here and type your zip code into the "channel locator."

At 3:45pm, a large, black SUV picked me up at the Hilton in Universal City, CA.

Five minutes later, it dropped me off at the "Tonight Show" studio:



I was greeted by a representative from the show who led me up the ramp, past security, around to the right, through a large storage area, through some doorways, into a small corridor, and finally into my green room:



Not bad, except for one minor detail involving the spelling of my name:



Last year, when I arrived in the green room for my appearance with Jay Leno, I was asked to sign a guest book. This time with Conan (where just about everything was run differently), I was asked to sign the walls instead, but the autograph session had to wait. There was no time. There was only an hour until the taping was set to begin, and I ended up spending most of it going over the script (yes, a script) with my segment producer -- an attractive, energetic woman named Rachel who looked to be a few years older than me. More on the script in a bit, but first, let me share a few more pics from the green room.

The food:



The drinks:



The bathroom:



Me flipping through the channels to find Game 2 of the ALDS -- Yankees versus Twins -- on TBS:



There were like 8 million channels, so it took a little while to find the game. I suppose I could've been signing the walls instead of playing with the TV, but I had my priorities.

Anyway, back to the script...

As I looked over it, I learned that my segment was going to feature a video montage with game footage of four of my home run catches -- but it didn't seem like the segment was going to contain any footage from the previous day at Dodger Stadium. I asked Rachel about it, but she still hadn't seen the Dodger footage. She asked me if there were any good/funny moments worth being on the show, so I told her about the nice catch I'd made on a Matt Holliday homer during BP, and how the whole crowd booed me because I was wearing a Cardinals shirt, and how I then lifted up the shirt to reveal my Dodgers gear underneath, and how the whole thing was a riot. She asked me if I knew where on the tape it was. I told her that if she could take me to the video editing room and let me scroll through all the footage, I'd be able to find that specific clip in less than a minute.

So...up we went to the video editing room. Here's a (slightly blurry) photo that I took from just inside the door:



Here's a closer look at the computer monitors:



Here's another look at the monitors with me (in the red "PUJOLS" shirt) on the right:



Everyone watched the clip and thought it was funny, but since it didn't "trump" the game home run footage, and since it was "too late" to make any changes to my segment, it wasn't used.

I returned to the green room and continued looking over the script. My whole segment was supposed to last six to eight minutes. Conan's ninth question was going to focus on my glove trick. The plan was for me to climb up on his desk and show him how it worked. I was *really* excited at the chance to get to do that -- I knew it was going to be hilarious -- but I was concerned that we'd run out of time before we got to it. Rachel told me that there was nothing anyone could do about the timing, and she instructed me to wait for Conan to introduce it.

Moments later, Jona was whisked off and taken into the studio audience.

Once the taping began, I watched Conan's opening monologue from the green room and then I was taken into the makeup room to get some powder on my face. Here's what the makeup room looked like:



When I walked into the room, Jeff Garlin (the show's first guest) was already sitting in one of the chairs. We said hello and chatted briefly, and the last thing he said was, "See you out there."

By the time I made it back to the green room, my name had been corrected on the door:



I didn't get to see much of Garlin's segment; Rachel was in the green room with me, giving me some last-minute reminders and suggestions.

Finally, when Garlin's segment ended, I was led through the corridors and taken backstage and positioned right behind the curtain. There was a little mark on the floor where I was supposed to stand. I was given a series of instructions on where to look and which camera would be on me and where to turn and where to walk and where Conan would be, and I forgot all of it as soon as the words were spoken.

"Thirty seconds!" shouted a voice as the band was blasting music.

That's when my heart started beating, not because I was nervous but because I was pumped. Meanwhile, I had no idea which way to walk after the curtain opened, so I asked for the instructions to be repeated. Basically, I was just told to look straight ahead at first and then walk to my right.

"Five seconds!" shouted the voice, and the music stopped moments later.

Then I heard Conan introduce me, and then the curtains were whisked open right in front of my face. I walked up the stairs, shook Conan's hand for the first time, then shook Garlin's hand, and sat down in the chair next to Conan's desk -- and then things just WENT from there.

As you can imagine, I've been hearing from a ton of people since the segment aired. In case you missed it on TV, you can watch it here on Hulu.com.

For the record, Garlin gave me a $20 bill for the charity, not a $10 bill (because he didn't have one), so here's what I just did (while writing this entry): I signed him up as a donor at 4 cents per ball, which brings his total to $21.28. At the conclusion of the post-season, I will keep his cash and use my own credit card to make a donation in his name to Pitch In For Baseball. (And yes, I will even donate the extra $1.28.) So rest assured: the charity WILL get the money that was handed to me on the show.

After my segment, Garlin walked off the stage, but Conan stayed at his desk so I talked to him during the commercial break. He told me the segment was great and thanked me for coming on, and I told him that I hoped I wasn't too feisty, and he was like, "No no, not at all, it was hilarious." He asked me if I still live in New York. I asked him how often he gets to go back there. He said he still has an apartment there that he'd like to sell, but he might wait until the real estate market recovers. I told him that property values in New York City haven't really been affected THAT much. I also told him that he once visited my family's book store in New York City. He asked what the name of the store was and where it's located, and when I told him, he totally remembered. So that was cool. Andy Richter came over and introduced himself (as if I didn't know who he was) and asked me what I do with all the balls. I told him that I give away some of them to kids and keep the rest, and he was like, "No, I mean, where do you store them?" He and I talked for a minute, and then it was time for the music act: a group I'd never heard of called Lady Antebellum. Garlin returned to the stage and sat back down just in time for Conan to introduce the band. Then, once the music started, I offered to give the $20 back to him, but he insisted that I keep it for the charity and said, "You're a good man."

Finally, after all the taping was done, I was escorted with Jona (who'd been brought down onto the floor for the music act) to the green room. I watched the Yankee game go into extra innings and ate ALL the food (except for those unnecessary veggies) and spent a few minutes taking photos of -- and then signing -- the walls.

Disclaimer: I haven't had a chance to inspect every single thing that other guests wrote on the walls, so in other words...there might be some R-rated language here and there. If that type of thing offends you, all I can say is: you've been warned.

That said, here's Jona, standing in the corridor (with the green room on the right), looking up at Garlin's inscription:



Here's what Garlin wrote/drew:



Here's another wall...



...and another wall (can you spot the baseball Hall of Famer?):



Here's what Mr. T left behind:



Here's yet another wall...



...and here's the area that contains what I wrote:



Here's a closer look at it:



And that's pretty much it.

Good times...

This wasn't just another game. Not only was it the National League Division Series -- Cardinals vs. Dodgers -- but there was something extra special about it for me: it was the day before my appearance on "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" and I was going to be filmed by a roving camera crew.

Half an hour before the gates opened, I headed to the Top Deck and picked up my media credential:



I headed down to the left field pavilion and met up with the crew along the way. Here I am explaining my various T-shirts to the camera:



Once inside the stadium, my job was simple: snag as many balls as possible so that there'd be some exciting footage for the show.

In the photo below (taken by my girlfriend Jona), I'm the guy wearing the "RAMIREZ 99" shirt:



There wasn't much action early on -- I had a couple close calls -- so I spent most of my time explaining things to the camera.

Finally, after 15 minutes of nothingness, Manny Ramirez launched a home run over my head and I raced up the steps:



There was an all-out scramble for the ball as it rattled around underneath the benches, and I managed to come up with it. Huge relief. Up until that point, I felt like I was personally letting down Conan -- like I was a ballhawk fraud who'd made preposterous claims and then failed to back them up.

Several minutes later, I caught a ground-rule double behind the left field wall...and that was it for the Dodgers' portion of BP. Not good. I'd been hoping to pad my numbers early on before it got crowded, but at least both of the balls had a Dodgertown stamp on the sweet spot. (If you want to see my complete collection of stamped/marked balls, click here.)

Because of my media credential, I was able to exit the pavilion and re-enter the main part of the stadium. My plan? To get some balls from the Cardinals on the right field side. First, of course, I changed into my bright red Cardinals gear, and even though my Dodgers shirt was poking out underneath, I was able to convince Ryan Franklin to toss me a ball. If you look closely at the photo below, you can barely see the edge of the ball as it disappeared into the pocket of my glove:



Soon after, Matt Pagnozzi threw me my fourth ball of the day. Here I am preparing for the easy two-handed catch:



I headed to the right field pavilion after that and snagged a home run that ricocheted down into the gap behind the wall. (I'm not sure who hit it.) Then, when Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday started taking their cuts, I raced back around to the left field side and positioned myself deep in the cross-aisle, more than 400 feet from home plate. Holiday hit two consecutive bombs that reached the aisle. I bolted to my right for the first one, but it sailed over my head and was promptly snatched by another fan. The second homer came closer to me, and I was able to climb over a few benches and reach out over the bullpen for a back-handed catch. The whole section booed me because of my clothing, so I lifted up my Cardinals shirt and revealed my Dodger Blue underneath. Some people laughed, some people cheered, some people continued booing, and some people were like, "Huh?" It was pretty funny.

I played the staircases for the rest of BP...



...but nothing else came my way.

Right before the game started, I headed back into the main part of the stadium and got Mark DeRosa to toss me his warm-up ball behind the 1st base dugout.

Then Slash performed the national anthem...



...and I headed back outside the stadium once again. It was time to change into my Waldo shirt:



In my previous entry I mentioned I was going to wear it, not because it's sexy but because I knew it'd be easier for people to spot me in the crowd. The only problem was...I was never IN the crowd. I spent the first few innings halfway down a staircase behind the left field wall, and then when security told me I couldn't stand there, I moved to the very bottom. That really sucked because it meant I couldn't even see the game. All I could do was look up at the sky and hope that I'd be able to see the baseballs coming toward me. In the bottom of the 4th, I came *really* close to snagging Andre Ethier's home run, but it took a bad bounce after it cleared the wall and ricocheted right to the ONE other guy who'd raced down a different staircase. That also really sucked, but at least I got to hang out with Manny:



The guy in the photo above is named Jose (aka "Mannywood" and "Jose Being Manny" and he told me that he sometimes refers to himself as "The Mexican Zack Hample"). You can see more photos of him on MySpace and MyGameBalls.com. He's a super-cool guy, and he always hangs out in the left field pavilion.

The game itself was DAMN exciting, but it didn't end the way I wanted. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th and the Dodgers trailing, 2-1, James Loney hit a line drive right at Holliday in left field. All Holliday had to do was catch it, and the game would've been over. The Cardinals would've evened up the series at one game apiece. But Holliday failed to make the catch. He said later that he never even saw the ball, and I believe him. As he charged in toward it, it nailed him in the stomach. Casey Blake then drew a nine-pitch walk and Ronnie Belliard followed by ripping the first pitch he saw into center field for a game-tying single. Everyone in the stadium was going nuts, but for different reasons; the other 51,818 fans were simply cheering on their beloved Dodgers. I, however, was ecstatic because it meant the game might go into extra innings, which meant I might get another chance to catch a home run. Russell Martin walked to load the bases, and then Mark Loretta ruined everything with a game-winning single.

Final score: Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2.

After the game, the camera crew got a final shot of me holding up all seven of my baseballs. Once they took off, I gave away two of the balls to kids and then got a friend to take my picture with Jona:



Good times. Playoff baseball is intense.

SNAGGING STATS:

• 7 balls at this game (five pictured here because I gave two away)

• 3 ticket stubs collected at this game (pictured below the balls)

• 532 balls in 59 games this season = 9.02 balls per game.

• 628 consecutive games with at least one ball

• 181 consecutive games outside of New York with at least one ball

• 11 consecutive post-season games with at least one ball

• 4,352 total balls

CHARITY STATS:

• 126 donors (click here to make a pledge...or just to learn more)

• $25.26 pledged per ball

• $176.82 raised at this game

• $13,438.32 raised this season for Pitch In For Baseball

One last thing...

The best article EVER written about me was published yesterday on ESPN.com. Here's the graphic that was originally up on the site...



...and here's the article itself.

Next game for me?
Who knows...