So much for that...

Didn't look like an end row seat to me. The fan who got ARod's 500th HR must be on cloud 9. Did you see how he was whisked away by security. Wonder what he was thinking when he caught the ball. I wonder what he will ask for when he meets ARod. Good for him.

Hey Zack! Its Shawn from Milwaukee! I dunno if you remember me or not, but- there will most likely be 600 and 700. Good things come to those who wait.

hey sorry to hear about your ankle.

Hey, about to leave for LAD vs. AZ anyone have tips for the Dbacks? Any nice guys or special balls?

Ummm evan I live in arizona.I can only tell you about them Eric byrnes and Tony clark are nice.and most of the other guys.STAY AWAY FROM LIVAN HERNANDEZ THOUGH!

kaylee- it was the exact oposite here in MIL. brynsie wasnt very happy to sign for me, and tony clark didnt even look. but livan had signed 2 or 3 times for my mom and i.

Zack--

BBHeckler is back. Check out www.4FansSake.com . Same name on Mlblogs. Very real, and very on. We are educating, informing, and making people aware. We are facilitating a fan-owned buyout of the Chicago Cubs.

Peace,

E Maj

1 Ball from the glove trick. And Shelley Duncan is a JERK!

I asked him for a ball, he looked up at me, I said please, and he threw the ball back in. I was the only one asking too.

I didn't even bother to try to catch 500, but it looks like I would've had a shot cuz the fans dropped it.

Oh well.

I read some of your recent posts about the ARod ball and you really went overboard with that. When you put that much time and effort into these things, you are most likely let down, Hard. It doesn't really matter how much work you invest in calculating probabilities because there is always going to be a mob in these situations (it's freaking yankee stadium) and the chances are always random.

It probably would have been more beneficial to quit working all the angles (in your case, every angle you could think of), find a nice outfield seat somewhere, and just go to the stadium expecting nothing but a nice Yankee game- perhaps seeing some history with a home run.

Then again if you had caught that ball I would have left a message bowing to the greatness that is Zack Hample.

hey zack my computer wont let me email anyone so email me your number cause i lost it

Zack, don't feel too bad, I missed seeing Roger Clemens get his 300th win and 3000th strikeout because my wife had shopping plans with her friend and I had to babysit for a future ball collector. Also, think how Ken Griffey, Jr. feels knowing his injuries kept him from chasing Aaron instead BALCO Bonds.

I'm just happy I got a chance to see it live; I've been at every game since last Saturday in Baltimore except last night--and I was sure that one missing game would be the game where he hit it.

As for the ball, according to AP:

"A Rutgers student ended up with the ball, and the Yankees said he didn't want to be identified. Team spokesman Jason Zillo was negotiating with the man about the ball."

Oh well. Maybe you can catch 600 in the new Yankee Stadium!

Peace

Zack:

Barry just hit 755!

Chris

Hi Zack and everybody....

What a game!! It was great to witness some history tonight at PETCO Park. I was only 30 FEET away from the ball when it landed!! So close!!! According to MLB.com "The ball was retrieved in Section 130, Row 1, Seat 8 by a man identified during the game as Adam Hughes, 33, from La Jolla, Calif." I sit in Section 130, Row 2, Seat 1. How is that for close?!! When the ball came off the bat I knew it was going to be close. It was hit so hard that it didn't have time to tail back toward me. It hit the sign that helps seperate the upper and lower parts of left field and went straight down into row 3. I was hoping for a lucky, sideways bounce towards me, but it was not to be. It somehow rolled down from row 3 to the lucky guy in row 1. There was a police officer standing in the aisle next to me the entire game and he and another officer wisked him away for his safety and to authenticate the ball. I never did see him come back. I was really excited to be that close to the actual 755 ball and I'll always have great memories of being at this historic game. Too bad it was Barry Bonds that hit the homer. The Padres also won the game in 12 innings so that was icing on the cake. Batting practice the last two days were pretty much the same as usual, just a little more crowded. Most of the crowd arrived toward game time and were not there in BP. Barry only took BP the first day and only hit 2 or 3 out. He took BP early today before the gates opened. I didn't really go for anything by the dugouts. I just hung out in the outfield for BP homers. Never have caught a Barry BP homer in all these years in San Diego. I got one HR from Milton Bradley yesterday and one from Kevin Kouzmanoff today. I've never gotten a ball from either of those players so I was pleased with the outcome there. I'm not going tomorrow. Zack, I'm sorry about the outcome for you with the Arod chase at Yankee Stadium. When I saw the replay I thought right away "That's where Zack's ticket was the other day!" It really ******. Good luck to anyone going to San Francisco to try for the "money ball" 756 from Bonds. Oh yeah, as I left the park there were a bunch of people on the street trying to buy my ticket stub. The highest offer I heard was ten bucks, but I kept mine for myself. Hope your ankle feels better Zack.

What a night...

Leigh

I don't get why a Yankee official is negotiating with the Rutgers student, and not A-Rod.

Well a Yankee official would be able to get you tickets.

P.S 755*

FYI...the green marks on balls you retrieve are from the protective carpets around home plate in the batting cage. Most turf fields now are Sport Turf...unable to leave marks like that. However, the old turf fields i.e. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Philadelphia (first turf) were plastic and did leave markings. In addition, I've been on the snagger's DL twice this year...both because my own fault. At least you have solice that the injury wasn't your fault.

Have you looked foward to your next games???

Philly Guy Joe

Man O Man, the gut that got ARods 500th is one lucky guy. There is an entire article in the paper about him. It lists his name & the fun he had after the game. I bet he gets on Letterman this week.

leigh:

I was at the game on friday,(I'm on vacation, and so far went to a padre and a dodger game, and am also going to a giants game, and 2 cubs-rockies games) and I'm a little disappointed to say the least.... I was sitting in section 131, row 9... so I would have at least got a good luck in it...

and I would have caught a BP homer, if I had just stayed in my spot!!!

Hey Zack! Sorry to hear about the injury. Are you on the 15 day DL or the 60 day?

I will have a shot at a Bond Home Run when he comes to Atlanta in 10 days.

It's tough to pick left-center or right-center. Don't forget about September call up and guys going after their 1st Major League Home Runs!

There are plenty of milestones to come!

Hopefully we can meet up soon!

John

http://majorleagueballhawk.mlblogs.com

http://majorleagueballhawk.com

mlballhawk@gmail.com

AAAAAAAAAAAA4082-
Yes, it'll be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out.

LULZT-

Hey, what's up! Don't forget about No. 800.

KAYLEE-

Thanks. It's already doing much better. I hope YOU are doing okay.

EVAN-

I don't know the D'Backs well at all, but I can tell you that Livan Hernandez has always been good about throwing balls into the crowd. (Maybe Kaylee is saying he's not good with autographs?) Have a great trip, and let us all know how it goes.

ERIC-

Welcome back! I'm gonna check out the site/blog in just a few minutes.

PUCK COLLECTOR-

Sorry to hear about Shelley, but at least you didn't get shut out. I think it's just as well that you weren't in the scrum for that 500th home run. You might've gotten seriously hurt.

QUICK EDGE-

We'll have to agree to disagree. In my opinion, the more prepared you are, the better the chances of succeeding. Plus...if I didn't get all obsessed/depressed over a milestone home run, then I wouldn't be me.

ANDRE-

I'm not home, and I can't access my regular email account from where I am, so I'll email you later tonight.

WCIMONS-

Oh man, your wife owes you bigtime. I feel terrible for Griffey, but yes...catching No. 600 in the new Yankee Stadium doesn't sound too bad.

CHRIS-

Thanks for the great news.

LEIGH-

...and when I saw Bonds unload toward left field, I immediately thought of you. Very VERY cool that you were so close. Sorry you weren't even closer. I would've crapped my pants if you'd been the one to get that ball. I'm not surprised that it rolled down a couple rows of seats. It seems that the more crowded a section is, the more a ball will roll. Ten bucks for a ticket stub, huh? How much would they have had to offer in order for you to part with it?

PHILLY GUY JOE-

Yes! That's it! How come I never thought of that? Protective carpets indeed. Dare I ask how exactly you hurt yourself? Before I got hurt, I was planning to go to Philly on August 7th, but now I'm not sure if I'm up for it. I might go to Shea on August 8th and/or the 11th if Glavine doesn't win No. 300 tonight. Only a few minutes 'til game time...

CUBS-

You don't know how many times I've missed balls because of moving from one spot to another. But then again, I've also gotten lots of balls by moving around.

JOHN-

Definitely not the 60-day DL. In fact, I might not be on the DL at all. I'm getting better fast, so I'm officially listing myself as "day-to-day." Good point about September call-ups. The only problem is that Shea Stadium is one of the worst ballparks in all of baseball for catching home runs.

I got back from my trip this afternoon, but I'm too lazy to write about it tonight. I'll get around to it tomorrow or something, but I don't want to write another long entry like I did after my Coors Field trip.

No problem. Take your time and write as much or as little as you like. I am curious, though...are you planning to attend any Mets games this week?

I understand you have a better chance of succeeding if you put in all that effort to be where the ball will end up- but sometimes you have to ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"

For me it wouldn't be. For you, it is. Different types of love for baseball. I got to respect your passion, theres nothing wrong with enjoying your life the way you want to.

quick question..... is there standing room behind the arcade at at&t?

i'm going later tonight :) (as in monday)

QUICK EDGE-
I understand, and I appreciate your take on it. "Different types of love" is a good way to put it.

CUBS-

The arcade IS a standing room area. It's basically a walkway behind the few rows of seats in right field, and people are allowed to stand there, toward the back, up against the railing that overlooks the portwalk down below. The portwalk is outside the stadium, and you can stand there too. That's the strip that runs along McCovey Cove. I'm not sure if you specifically need a standing room only ticket at this point to be on the arcade. Your best bet it to get there early in BP and then just stay there all night. You might get kicked out if you're actually supposed to be in a real seat elsewhere in the stadium, but it's worth a shot.

Wow, that is awesome!

Luckily I have my family going with me, so they can get my garlic fries for me while I save my spot, lol.

I cannot believe that you got a book deal writing about things that I learned 25 years ago playing girls fastpitch softball. Seriously, you are not a baseball genius for knowing that catchers toss their masks at the last minute to avoid stepping on them, or baserunners hold their gloves to avoid finger injuries when sliding, or players chew and ajust their cups. Mud on baseballs! Wow--who knew other than a million other people who follow the game at all? Ok, kudos to you for regurgitating basic knowledge and turning it into "insider information". But catching a ball? I have never seen the intrigue in that (and I had bleacher season tickets for 3 years), but that's another topic.

CUBS-
Excellent plan.

AMY-

Sorry you feel that way. You're definitely one of a select few.