8/1/07 at Yankee Stadium

Wow yankee stadium *****. Im going on sat vs royals hopefully my day turns out better than yours did. If you watched the double header mets vs nats and you saw felipe lopez's homer, then you saw shawn green throw it to me after it bounced out of the loge. I gave it to a kid near me but I thought it was pretty cool if it was zimmerman or jesus flores I would have kept it.

Don't let those knuckleheads get to you, man. You've inspired way more people than they ever have and have MULTIPLE BOOKS to prove your devotion to baseball. They're the kind of fans that lessen the experience for people that truly love the game.

-J

Great dig to the fan in the Cano jersey. You may have sprained your ankle but at least you haven't lost your sense of humor. I am disappointed you're giving up though. It was never about ARod. It was all about YOU catching that ball! ;)

sorry about your ankle man, seems like snaggers are an aggressive species. and we'll see who will be watching whom on tv this october.

Whos homerun ball did you catch on the fly?

Haha. It's alright, A-Rod will probably hit his homerun into the bullpen or something. Or into the upperdeck where you weren't even considering.

Worked out not going today, he probably won't hit it all weekend.

Zack,

It is too bad you got sprained ankle.

I just recovered from a horrific sprained ankle couple months ago. I would say I have lots of experience on this.

It really helps if you can get an ankle supporter that ir prevents swelling and can support your weight. Try to rest your ankle for at least a week.

There are 5 important things

Protect: Protect the affected part from further injury.

Rest: Stop all activities which cause pain to the sprained area.

Ice: Apply ice to the area several times a day, but never for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Protect the skin while preventing the swelling.

Compression: Wrap the sprained area to reduce swelling. Cold water will do also.

Elevation: Keep the sprained area as close to the level of the heart as is conveniently possible.

ZNEUFELD-
Yankee Stadium is such a disgusting place (in every sense of the word) that I might not go back at all for the rest of the season. If my girlfriend wants to go, of if someone offers to pay me to take them, fine. But otherwise? To **** with it. Good luck on Saturday.

JOHN MCRAE-

Thanks. That's nice to hear.

SURFNUSA-

I'm not giving up. I really have no choice. I'm in no shape to run around, unless I want to take some pain-killers and hope that I don't make the injury a whole lot worse. If I already had a ticket for a decent spot, I'd limp back to the stadium and just stay in one spot, but as things are, it's just not worth it.

TSWECHTENBERG-

Yeah, we WILL see.

;-)

NM_ROCKHOUND-

I'm not sure. It was a white guy batting left-handed for the Yankees. Definitely not Damon or Matsui (yes, I know, he's Asian) so it had to be someone on the 40-man roster...like Mientkiewicz, perhaps? That's my guess.

CEETAR-

Yeah, I'm really glad I wasn't there today. There probably wasn't BP since it was a day game following a night game, so my streak would've been in serious danger. I doubt A-Rod will hit #500 into the upper deck. No way he's going to the opposite field that far, and the left field upper deck is much further away. But I hope you're right. I hope he hits it to a place where no one can get it.

SAMMY-

Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it, and I'm going to follow your suggestions. Do you still feel any pain from your injury?

I was wondering where you were today. I was in left for A-Rod's first 2 AB's, then went to right for his 3rd. There were no people in the tunnel when I was there today, but they chained off the tunnel, so that if he hit one, I couldn't run down the aisle along the outfield wall to go for it. Thanks a lot Jeffery Maier! Then I gave up. Too hot.

I'm going to be there on Saturday, and I'm going to try for Matsui's 100th HR.

Zack, there were 8 HR's hit on 7/31.

Damon, Posada, Abreu, Matsui hit 2, Cano, Cabrera, and Duncan.

Damon and Duncan are the only white guys, but Duncan is a righty........

Any idea what inning it was?

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=270731110

PUCK COLLECTOR-
You might have a good shot at Matsui's 100th. I didn't know he was on the verge of that milestone, so I'll bet most people aren't aware of it either. Hopefully you won't have too much competition.

PSU532-

The homer I'm talking about was hit during BP.

Oops, on 8/1, there were Jeter, Posada (2), Duncan, and Cano. Cano and Posada would've been the only 2 batters that would've been lefties......

Zack,
You are very welcome.

I don’t really feel anything pain on my ankle. I do feel a little bit sore after I try to snag ball/get auto during BP, but it doesn’t affect me walking. And I don’t feel a thing the next day.

Here are more suggestions:

1. Try not to gain weight as one usually does because the lack of exercise. If you gain weight you will put more pressure on your ankle. You don’t want that. You might still be able to do that stationary bicycle thing in gym.

2. Massage the sprained area and then ice them.

3. Avoid taking stairs at all cost. It is about the worst thing one can do with sprained ankle. Take elevator wherever possible.

4. Get a pair of the supporting-stick things that one put them under armpits. (I forgot what it calls) It doesn’t look pretty. But trust me it totally worth it.

5. When you sleep, put some pillows under your sprained ankle so it is above the level of your heart.

Feel free to ask me if you got any questions.

You are the next Jackie Chan, Zack!!!!

PSU532-
No worries.

SAMMY-

My ankle already feels a whole lot better...probably because of your advice, so thanks again. The word you're looking for is "crutches." Those are the stick things that go under the armpits.

:-)

And I've been using them. No stairs. Only elevators. (And taxis.) I've been icing my ankle, and later today, my girlfriend (who's a professional massage therapist) is coming over to do some work on it. I think I'm in pretty good shape. It doesn't hurt at all if I walk slowly and carefully, like when I'm pacing around my small apartment, but I'm still planning to take it easy all weekend. I won't get fat. I promise.

NELSON-

I'm the next something, but I'm not sure what. Great seeing you at the game. Did you get any pics of me using the glove trick?

Hey Zack,
I went to all 3 Dodger Giant games this week. As you know Bonds didn't homer but i got 2 balls each of the 3 games. 1 tossed from Tim Lincecum during BP, 1 homer from Randy Winn, 2 thrown by Matt Cain during BP, 1 from Giants' bullpen(catcher?) Bill Hayes after Tim Lincecum had warmed up with it in the bullpen and thrown it over Bengie Melina's head into the fence on his first pitch, and 1 thrown by Jack Traschel(sp.) during BP. If you think Yankee Stadium was bad you should've come to Dodger Stadium for the series. Just in the right feild pavillion alone there were dozens of fans kicked out each day for numerous reasons. When Barry Bonds was up there was no such thing as an aisle and if you tried to move from where you were the person next to you would take offense. You would not want to make eye contact with them for the rest of the game. Because of the bad behaviour from the Dodger fans security was extra tight and you couldn't even WALK into the staium parking lot until 5:10(which is when left feild opens). Once you are aloud to walk in the cars waiting in line have already zoomed passed you and there is no chance for you to be the first one in the ballpark. Another thing about when Barry Bonds comes up, when you are in the middle of the aisle you hear fans talking about what their 250+ pound frame would do if the ball came near them. Even when the Barry popped up I was jostled and nearly hurt.

Oh, and one more thing, during BP on Tuesday I met this guy who was cleary a ballhawk and knew the Giants very well. After talking to him a bit more I asked him if he knew you and he said yes. His name is Kevin. He said to say Kevin from SF says hi. He said he was there when you caught the Morneau ball and has caught HR balls himself. He is also going with the Giants to SD. I hope your ankle heals soon. Good Luck snagging,

Evan

Zacker:

Sorry to hear about the ankle injury and your visit to the snaggers disabled list.

I hope the rib injury isn't serious because those ******* take a very long time too heal...

Zack, 2 questions:
Why do umps sometimes where blue shirts, but other times where black shirts.? At first I thought that they wore blue on day games, but theN I saw the umps wear blue at a couple of night games.

And: Towards the end of the game, the dirt in the batter's box gets black, where the players stand. Is that shoe polish?

15 days til Denver, 2 months til puck collecting!! Thank GOD!!

Zack...

What a madhouse at Yankee Stadium huh?!? I don't blame you for having enough. The CIRCUS has come to town in San Diego. It's ON tonight. I can't wait to get down there at 5. Wish me and TC luck. I'm betting left center or left if he does it tonight. They can have right field. It will be a zoo.

Leigh

Zack, my bad, I thought you had said that you caught a home run game ball, since they were flying out of the stadium the past few days.

Watch A-Rod's 500th HR ends up in the bullpen or something, and no fans get a chance to catch it. That will be irony....

hey zack I gathered up a whole bunch of new questions

Ironic!!! You get a little competion & you start complaining.

EVAN-
Man, that sounds like such a miserable situation. Thanks for sharing the details. Cool that you ran into Kevin. He and Brad (another friend of mine) are currently following Bonds from city to city, and I heard from them that there were bomb-sniffing dogs at Dodger Stadium. My God! Jack's last name is Taschner. I think you might be confusing him with Steve Trachsel who pitches for the Orioles. Taschner is a lefty reliever. Trachsel is a righty starter. Blah blah...

MIKE.LOS-

Thanks. The elbow to the ribs didn't cause any pain. It was just a symbollic (and telling) gesture.

PUCK COLLECTOR-

You've stumped me on the first question. I suspect they just change colors for the sake of variety, just like some teams have several different home uniforms. As for the second question...no, it's not shoe polish, it's just a darker (and perhaps damper) layer of dirt that gets exposed. It's too early to think about pucks.

LEIGH-

Very VERY good luck. I can't wait to hear all about your experiences this weekend. Hit me with all the details!

PSU532-

No problem. I'm watching the Yankees right now, and it's making me nervous.

ANDRE-

Send me an email, and we'll figure out a time to talk.

AAAAAAAAAAAA4082-

I don't like competing with people who are nasty, aggressive, and violent. If that makes me a wimp, so be it.

No its' not too early to think about pucks cuz after yesterdays heat, I miss the constant 40 degree weather, and its not that cold if you are prepared.

Cold weather is the worst, and I think you're crazy. (Barry Bonds 0-for-3 = haha.)

Zack,

Glad I can help.

By the way, I am going to Arlington and Houston next week. I already booked hotels and flights. I am going to one 2A game, one game in Arlington(againtst D-ray) and 2 games in houston (Against Brewer) . I have been studying your old entried on Houston. I want to snag that "H" ball badly. (I gonna start using the 25 feet string glove trick) I don't see an entry for the Rangers ballpark. What are some good spots to snag ball there? Are glove trick allowed in Rangers ballpark and Minute Maid? Lastly, Any advice for my Texas trip in general?

Thanks so much and take care.

Well Bonds 0-for-3 is very good, and my dad thinks I'm crazy too, so you guys have something to talk about.

SAMMY-
Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you. Almost every ball the Astros use has the "H" on it, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to get one. I've only been to one game in Arlington, and that was eight years ago, so I don't remember too many details, but there's a good spot for the glove trick in the gap behind the left field wall. Also, when balls land in the grassy area in center field, people are allowed to jump over the railings and run for them. You might be able to use the glove trick in the bullpens in right field in both ballparks. I never got in trouble for using the trick in Texas, but I was always pretty slick about it. I never try to use it ANYwhere if there's an usher or a security guard nearby. As for Minute Maid Park, there will be MANY balls hit during BP into the left field seats but that section gets crowded right away, so you might do better in right field where there's less competition and fewer balls.

PUCK COLLECTOR-

Make that 0-for-4. The game was still in progress when I posted that.