Class photos

haha nice...are you planning on goin to the bronx this week? im free all 3 days, i may go to 1 of them...cleveland coming in and i root alot for grady sizemore..i wanna ball from him, that would be great...so im thinkin goin, weather permitting...maybe ill see you, but still no arod.

Here are my plans for the upcoming week:

-Tuesday at Yankee Stadium
-Friday at Shea

Eww, this week could really suck.

Im posting this again for anyone who didnt see it on the last entry.

At 10:30 I was the first one online outside of Gate 6 outside of Left Field. When I ran in the BP nets were up, but no one was outside. The ball bag next to the pitchers mound had a Yankee Logo on it, so I assumed that they were the only team taking BP due to the Military Show that eventually got cancelled due to inclement weather. My first ball of the day was courtesy of the glove trick, and possibly that hardest ball I’ve ever gotten
(which compared to you Zack, is very easy.) There was a ball about 6 feet from the wall on the warning track. I squeezed into a spot on the wall, and began to swing my glove. But, my string was really tangled so I had to keep trying to knock the ball in, and when that failed, untangling the string a little bit more. After maybe 5 minutes I knocked the ball to about a foot of the wall, but a little to my left. Then after balancing my body on the wall, parallel to the ground so I could reach over, I would keep having to fix my sharpie, because it wasn’t propping the glove open wide enough. Finally after 8-10 minutes I got my first ball of the day. About 5 minutes later another ball landed on the warning track, and I got it easily. BP was dead, and the only balls that were being hit into the stands were when I was using the glove trick. However, I experienced the most annoying moment of ball snagging. There was a short, kind of fat, Hispanic ball boy and one guy thought he was Bobby Abreu and started yelling BOBBY! BOBBY! Then every other moron started yelling it too, so whenever a ball was hit to him like 100 people would scream BOBBY! At like 11:40, I headed over to my seats behind the Mariners dugout. Twice, before the game guys started throwing, but I didn’t end up with any of the balls. Then, Raul Ibanez threw me my third ball of the day after he had finished throwing. After Jason Giambi flied out to Ichiro to end the fourth inning, Ichiro tossed me the ball, and it was a commemorative! The logo was in perfect condition and I was psyched. 3 innings later Yuniesky Betancourt was up with a 2-2 count, and he fouled one off. Mariners third base coach Eddie Rodriguez picked up the ball, and tossed it as I was running down the stairs. I reached across the dugout, and felt the ball in my glove a second later. However, the logo was all smudged, so it wasn’t anything special. Then I got a call from a friend who said they saw me on T.V! If you have an MLB account, you can watch the full game then fat forward to 2:13:15, by going to Yankees.com then the box score. On the right hand side, there will be links to other articles under the heading: Yankees Coverage. Under that click On “MULTIMEDIA.” Just click the right game, fast forward, and watch me! I hate it though cuz all you see when I walk back to my seat are my boxers! I wish I could link it, but I don’t know how. After Yuniesky Betancourt made the final out, the game was over and I waited for the bullpen to empty out. No one from the bullpen threw me a ball, but while I was waiting, a guy popped up like a groundhog from the dugout, and rolled a ball over, which I grabbed for my sixth and final ball of the day.

Stats:
4 games (only two in which I attended BP)
80 Career Balls
9 Balls this Season
2.5 (or 4.5) balls per game
Competition Factor: 316,810

BTW, If anyone watches the video, im in a red sweatshirt.

Greg: did you actually watch the video?

Hey,

Haven't commented much in the past year, but since baseball season is back I'll probably be commenting more.

Anways I've already gone to 3 games this year vs the A's Tigers and Chi Sox, 1 ball each in the first 2 games and 5 against the Chi Sox, just something about them whenever they come I always get 5 balls.

The day started off slow, I asked Nick Masset for a ball and he said when he was done throwing, but then some 5 year old kid who was pressured by his dad to ask for the ball got it, so then I asked his throwing partner Gavin Floyd who said he would when he got one. I then headed to the outfield and got 1 tossed form Jose Contreas, and then later from Gavin Floyd. I was talking to my friend and said that I would head on over to the 1st baseline in search of some pitchers autos, and as soon as I started walking towards the aisle I saw a ball jammed in between a seat, my first comming that way. After that I decided to stay in the outfield as it seemed lucky and it was. A homerun was comming straight for 2 guys who I overheard saying "its comming right here man its all yours, but I also tried for the ball and snagged it right in front of them. The funny part was that the 2 guys thought that they dropped the ball and didnt know I had it and another fan was behind them laughing cause he had seen what had happened. The game went by fast (Jays won 2-0) and then got a ball at the dugout from Marty Peavy.

5 balls ties my career high (3 times)
7 balls this season so far, I usually get around 25 a year.

Keep on snagging....

Forgot to mention that I;m going to attend a few minor league games in 2 weeks, any tips on minor league stadiums or snagging advice for minor league parks?

Thanks

Puck - Yeah, I watched it. It looks like your ball has a big brown smudge near the commemorative logo. I wish I could sneak down to those seats at Yankee Stadium. That would be amazing.

yeah it did. half of the logo was smudged, but i got a perfect commerative ball earlier. i still cant believe how much my *** was like hanging out.

i actually got the seats from a friend. there're the company seats, but when no one uses them, sometimes i can get 'em. i was hoping for a worse performance by Mussina so the Mariners would win, but what ever. the seats really are great for balls. i got 7 of my 13 balls last year behind the dugout while sitting in those seats. zack you shoulda came. there was an entire row of empty seats, and i coulda snuck you in.

Hi Zack....

Nice pics in your photo albums. Your 12th grade class looks small. What high school did you go to? Also, your given name in Zachary Hample. You go by Zack with a "k" and you have gotten upset when people call you Zach with an "h". Since your real name does have the "h" and not the "k", what's the deal? Wow, that was random.

Leigh

puck-i cant get the video to work.

im goin to yankee one of the 3 days this week, and shea friday. question-if i have yankee stadium bleacher seats, am i confined to the bleachers? like do i hafta enter through there and not be allowed into the normal park?

my dad just got a new job, and the company has 16!! seats at yankee stadium, front row next to 3rd base dugout. well theres 4 there, block of 8 like 3 rows back, and another 4 under the mesh. i cant wait til he gets them. possibly for subway series. those are like guaranteed ball seats. full access to 3rd base dugout. im so pumped for him to get them, cause i can even then get down there during bp and have NO competition. zack or anyone, if your at a game and im there with those seats, i dont mind giving you the stubs for access. thats if my dad can get them, which he should be able to.

metsfan: ah whatever. and yeas you are confined to the bleachers. you cant go anywhere else. the front row next to 3rd base on what side of the dugout?

i just posted a comment and it timed out. ugh.

home plate side apparently, from what my dad said. im hoping he comes through.

its looking like ill be in the bronx wednesday, thats the best day for me. except ugh, its "nightlight night". theyre really reaching now, arent they...nightlights?? come on

Hey Zack,
Haven't commented in a while (I created this username cuz I'm "not permitted to comment") but I was going over your past entries, and saw you're coming to colorado! Do you have some dates picked out yet? Keep me posted, would love to see you at Coors.

-Charlie

NJMETFAN-
I'm not going to Yankee Stadium this coming week. No way. I appreciate the offer to sneak me down to the fancy seats, but why would you want to do that? Then I'd be there competing with you. Puck Collector is correct about being confined to the bleacher area.

GREG-
Looks like it might be a snaggers convention at Shea on Friday. I might be there as well, although Johan should be pitching...not the best circumstances to catch a Griffey homer, but it doesn't look like he'll reach 599 by then anyway. I don't know. It could happen. He'll have to hit two more homers in the next three games.

PUCK COLLECTOR-
Nice job at The Stadium. I responded to your comment about it on my previous entry. And as I said to "njmetfan," I appreciate the offer, but why? Seriously, you should guard that spot and keep everyone else out.

JIMMYJOEHOEJRCHABADU-
Welcome back, and congrats on the five balls. I wish you'd taken a pic of the ball you found. That would've been cool to see. Minor League ballpark advice? Yeah...it's usually better to snag outside the stadium than inside. Get there very early and camp out behind the outfield walls during BP. Hopefully there's a spot back there where home runs can reach you.

LEIGH-
12th grade was at Columbia Prep. There were a little over 60 people in my class. One guy got air-brushed out of that photo because he was grabbing his crotch. As for the name thing...people named Thomas drop the aitch and go by "Tom." People named Jonathan add one and go by "John." People named Andrew replace three letters with a random wye. So why can't I add a kay? Is it too much to ask for people to spell my name the way I want it? The way I have it in my email address, web site, blog, etc.? It's really not that tough.

CHARLIE-
Good to hear from you again. I might be at Coors next month, but nothing's definite. Just keep checking the blog. If I pick some dates and book my trip, I'll definitely mention it here.

Has anyone seen a commerative ball in the BP bins at YS?

idk...why not? i guess cause i know you most likely wouldnt be there every inning, and ill be there the whole time. ill have tons of chances. and seriously, youre basically the reason i love to snag now, so its not THAT big of a deal, haha. most likely it wouldnt work out that were at the same game anyway.

also, now im not sure if i can make friday at shea...id prob get shut out anyway lol, with you greg and my brother there. you guys are good, and hes young. im neither lol. im DEF going one day of the weekend, just not sure which. prob not mothers day, but well see.

No one can spell Leigh either. I usually get Lee or some other variation. So, I get what you are saying. Like I said, it was random.

Happy Birthday (and Cinco de Mayo) Leigh :p

Thanks Mr. Puckcollector! I'm feeling kind of old today. I finally saw you on the Yankees archive. Nice snag. I did see your underwear though and it has scarred me somewhat. Ha ha. Hey, did you give the ball to that girl?

Leigh

first off, this ******* site keeps timing out and leigh, the girl was my sister, and she got the ball with strict instructions, because it was commerative, and i took it back cuz i found it lying on the floor, which was one of the things i told her not to do. she wont remember. and the underwear scared me too. i thought my sweatshirt went down farther. but those pants kept me warm and i got the ball so hey, who cares?

BTW, im not Mr.(yet)

oh, and i gave her instructions because one time she put nail polish on a puck.

Hey Zack
I went to the game on Friday because the game on Saturday was on FOX - no bp - and got two balls, not bad. I got shut out for about the first 30 minutes, came close but nothing. I saw the Mets pitchers warming-up so I went over to the RF line and tried to get a ball from Mike Pelfrey, that didn't happen. There was a group of lefties (Church, Delgado, Reyes and Beltran) who were hitting and Jose pulled a ball down the line hitting the chain fence of the bullpen and bouncing back towards where I was standing. There were two other people trying to get it and an unknown Mets pitcher (I believe it was Feliciano) flipped it up into the stands not even looking and we weren't ready for it so it just dropped down into the field. I got a better position and another unknown Mets pitcher walked in and did the same thing as Feliciano, it was flipped to my right, the guy juggled it, and I caught my first ball of the day. It was a Commemorative and a beauty if I may add, brand new. Also, I got to see and talk to Nelson Figueroa again, he was my pitching coach over the summer - he is really funny. The second ball that I got was from Guy Conti after Maine was done warming up and another Commemorative not as good as the one before, but still legible. Reyes almost had a cycle, Church had a monster series (gotta love that guy) and the D-Backs lost their first series since the first one.

Leigh,
It's your birthday?! Happy Birthday!

Zack,
I like the k :)

Thanks Cubsbaseball. I had a great day with family and friends. No Padres game tonight though, so I have to wait till Friday. Cubs are looking GOOD this year.
'
Leigh

No ball snagging news, but I did get to go the Nationals Park this weekend. There was no BP on Saturday--and it ended early on Sunday. For those looking for some easy foul balls on a less than crowded night, stay away from the upper deck. Not one ball came close to reaching the upper deck the entire weekend.

As a general observation, however, the upper deck was the only place in the entire ballpark where I felt I was in some place unique and could see a surrounding area. While it's a nice facility, when sitting on the lower level, one feels this ballpark could have been plopped anywhere in the world, from DC to Saudi Arabia. Also, by trying to incorporate Washington's granite/monument look, the place has a "cold" asthetic. Hopefully, they can get some development and make some changes around the ballpark--otherwise, I would say the place is nothing special (except the Five Guys burgers!).

I'll try again with Puck Collector in August and his sisters.

Btw, I still have two affordable tix avialable for Thursday afternoon against the Indians for any takers!

zack are you going to shea friday? johans pitching saturday now, pelfrey friday...ill be there...my dad coached a town team last year called the reds, and i just found his shirt, red with the "c" logo. so to go along with my hat, ill actually look like a reds fan! lol, im really pumped though. i have a feeling that shirt could help me not get shutout, with you and greg there. hopefully.

I went to Yankee Stadium tonight, where I snagged six balls. One of them was pretty cool: I was having really bad luck in right field during the first 15 minutes of BP, so I went all the way up to the upper deck in right, just to give it a shot. Ten minutes later, LaTroy Hawkins hooked me up with a perfect strike. Also, Indians pitcher Cliff Lee inexplicably tossed me two balls, one of which I was applauded for by the surrounding mini-crowd because I had to jump as high as I could and reach way up in the air to make the catch. (Why is it that a major league pitcher can't make an accurate throw from 20 feet away? Not that I'm complaining or anything.) My sixth and final ball was a beautiful commemorative ball from the home plate ump after the game (my third Yankees commemorative this season).

If the weather continues to look awful for Friday, I'll be skipping Shea and enjoying my last day of freshman year of college on the couch in front of my TV at home. Yay. If that's the case, my next game might not be until next Friday in Anaheim.

Oh, the other two balls I got: one was a cup-trick success in foul territory down the left field line during Indians BP, and the other was a ball that was trapped between the rolled up tarp near and that obnoxious protective net they set up during BP (I saw it land there from the upper deck, and once I got the Hawkins ball, I ran down and claimed it).

PUCK COLLECTOR-
That is hilarious about the instructions and the nail polish.

NJMETFAN-
I guess that's good logic about letting me down to the fancy seats at Yankee Stadium, and thanks...I'm glad to be The Reason. As for Friday at Shea, it doesn't look like I'll be going. Not only do I hate Shea Stadium, and not only is Griffey going to be several homers short of 600, and not only am I busy this week with other things, but now it's supposed to rain. And if you have a red shirt (with your awesome red hair to match), there's no way I can compete.

LEIGH-
I love randomness. Love it, love it, loooooooove it.

DNESBITT14-
Wait, so lemme get this straight...you snagged two balls in Phoenix, and they were BOTH commemorative balls from Shea?! And one of them was brand new?! Like...not even rubbed up with mud for a game? Right-out-of-the-box new?! Man, maybe I *should* go to more Mets games this year. The coolest part about the day, in my opinion, was getting to talk to Figueroa.

CUBS BASEBALL-
Rock the K, baby.

FATHER PUCK-
Very nice assessment of the ballpark...and funny about Saudi Arabia. Hope you found someone to take those tickets off your hands. You know I don't do day games, and also I'm waiting for A-Rod to come back, or else I would've considered it.

GREG-
Nice work at The Stadium! Very cool about going to the upper deck. I've always wanted to try that, but never had...the balls. Anaheim is not easy, but I'm sure you'll have an awesome time nonetheless.