Labor Day
What did everyone do for Labor Day? Anything special? I watched Pedro Martinez pick up his 3,000th career strikeout (on TV), watched Ichiro collect his 200th hit of the season (also on TV, even though it took place just five miles from my apartment), and went to a friend's BBQ on a rooftop terrace on the Upper West Side. Low-key. Nice.
Three people in the photograph above have appeared in other photographs on this blog, and if anyone remembers (or can figure out) when and where, I'll be seriously impressed. And frightened.
Three other things:
1) Although it's now six weeks old, I just received another book review in the mail and added it to my web site. The first half of the article is confusing because the writer quotes my book on and off (without saying what he's quoting!) and mixes in his own commentary. Very strange. Check it out.
2) A minor league baseball player named Joe DiGeronimo emailed me yesterday and said he's trying to collect baseballs from every league he's played in. (Cool, huh?) He said he missed out on getting a ball from the rookie-level Appalachian League because he was only there for a few days. He also collects college balls, and he's looking for one from the Big Ten conference. Can anyone help him out? He's willing to pay for the balls, and he needs them in good condition with clean logos.
3) I'm going to Yankee Stadium tomorrow, probably for the last time this season.
hey zack its Darron and what i did for Labor Day is watch the Cardinals get smoked by the Pirates 11-0 but i did manage to get two balls i didnt have go to bp to run around the stadium or steal them insted i just talked to the bullpen players and got 3 but i only kept 2 becuase a little boy in a pirates hat and shirt kept having no luck on getting a ball so here i am not even a pirates fan and got three balls from them so i gave him a ball. ha im first to comment :)
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Zack, I'll probably see you at the stadium, but I'm not sure cuz its the first day of school tommorow and I don't know what train I'll catch. If I see you I'll give you the mayor details and a terrrible Labay Day stadium shutout report. You'll be on the lower level chasing balls during the game right?
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Z:
I took my kids to the pool and was studying for law school. I did manage to listen to the Cincy game, though.
Do you ever get hassled about bringing a digital camera into Shea?
Adam
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no clue who any of them are, i will take a guess that you were on either 78th st or 85th st.
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adam, i never have had anything said to me about a digital camera at shea...
zack, do you know the next time youll be at shea?
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Zack, I was an idiot and I got Brooklyn Cyclones tickets for Labor Day, with the hope that Pedro would pitch one final rehab start there, but obviously that didn't happen. It was cool though because every half hour they were giving Mets updates on the Jumbotron.
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Hey Zack, nice job in Baltimore. For my Labor Day, my brother and I went to the final minor league game of the year. We each got 7 balls and most of them were almost new Major League Balls. Before this season, and after reading your blog all last winter, I had never come close to a ball. I finished this year with 30!! Granted, most were at minor league games, but it is all I can do living in Utah. But snagging that ball at Coors Field in May will be a life long memory. It was a great summer! Thanks again and keep up the snagging. Jim
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DARRON-
Yeah, that sure looked like a brutal game for Cardinals fans, at least from the box score. Congrats on getting three balls. Very nice to have given one away.
PUCK COLLECTOR-
Yep, you know where to find me. I hope the game isn't sold out. The LAST thing I want to do is schlep all the way out there and then not even be able to buy a ticket. I might go for homers during the game. Not sure. Depends on where the empty seats are (if there even are any).
ADAM-
Law school? Go you. I'd never be able to get through it. As long as your digital camera isn't HUGE and professional looking, you'll be fine at Shea.
TSWECHTENBERG-
Good guess. You were two blocks off. It was 80th street (between 9th and 10th). As for the three people in the pic...two of them can be found here:
http://snaggingbaseballs.mlblogs.com/the_baseball_collector/2006/09/92006_at_citize.html
GJK2212-
I'm not sure. Possibly September 7th. Probably the 10th. Possibly the 12th. But it all depends on the weather.
PSU532-
Oh man. (I've still never been to a Cyclones game.)
JIM-
Nice work! I'm glad to hear my blog helped give your collection a jumpstart. Thanks for continuing to read it.
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I bet the other is Jules. Just a guess...I was thinking b/c I was combing through Camden posts, and I think one person there looks like him.
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sort of
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Zack-
Tomorrow should be an announced crowd of 45 - 50,000, but even though it's a big game against Seattle, I'll bet actual attendance is more spotty for a mid-week school night game.
On Labor Day, I have never seen the outfield seats so crowded so early in BP. I usually let my offspring ball collector give it his best shot while I lurk in the back rows of the the lower level reading or filling out the details from prior games in my scorebook. Then I perk up with a lefty at bat. However, virtually every row except the back four or five in sections 31, 33 and 35 had at least one person in them and every ball hit into the stands was a hotly contested aggressive battle. Just way too many people. And on top of that, the Yanks sleepwalked through a lopsided loss. Oh well, such is life in the Big Apple as a Yankee fan. Good luck tomorrow.
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oh, you were facing south, the angle of the light fooled me. 9th and 10th? as someone who lived their whole life on the UWS you of all people should know that at 59th street 9th becomes columbus and 10 becomes amsterdam. for shame!
i still loves ya.
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YANKS FAN-
Nah, not Jules. Jules is in Australia these days. (And months.)
WCIMONS-
God bless the schools for reopening, mwahaha. (I don't really mean that. I still cringe at the thought.) That Labor Day game sounds brutal! I hope it's nothing like that later today.
TSWECHTENBERG-
Yeah yeah, I know about the avenues. I was just abbreviating and trying to be cute. Jeez. Let me never try THAT again. :-p
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I didn't do much on Labor Day. I listened to Maddux beat the D Backs on the radio. No local TV. I watched it later on MLB.TV. Thank God for that. There was a huge brawl/riot on Pacific Beach. All tourists who don't know how to drink. It looked like a mess on the news. Well, I'm all done preparing for Denver. I am going to wear a really bright YELLOW t shirt and an old school brown and yellow Padre hat. Everyone look for me in LF. Maybe even RF for some lefties. Todd Helton is at 298 career homers. I'm sure he'll want to trade something for number 300. Trevor Hoffman needs one strikeout for 1000 career. He'll be the 7th reliever to do it I believe. If he doesn't do it in AZ today, then I hope to see it in Denver. Hope all you East coasters had a good holiday. Now, let's all get back to snagging. I'll be interested to see at the conclusion of the regular season, how many balls each of us that post on here snagged? Let's tally it up on Oct. 1st or 2nd.
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I'm pretty sure those are Jona's eyes under the pointing arm. I guess I haven't been reading your blog long enough to know the rest. Try this next year and I might scare you! Watched USF play their football season opener against Elon (youngest son's alma mater) Saturday night, kayaking on Sunday, dinner and a movie with friends on Monday. Saw the Bourne Ultimatum. Great movie!
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