Cracked rib & other news

Ouch! that sucks zack. i watched the video on kenny and it looks painful. hope you're feeling better soon zack.

For the record, i was the first comment on this so... yeah.

Hey Zack, sorry to hear about the rib! Hope you recover quickly! Just thought I'd let you know that I went back to Chase field a couple times this weekend, and finally grew a pair and decided to use the glove trick. I picked up 2 off the track, but while lowering for #3 of the day, the old ushers were not as amused as most of the people watching me. They gave me the whole, "All personal items are to remain on THIS side of the wall!" yada yada yada. I told em that I had been to about 15 major league stadiums, semi-bluffing, and told them that nobody else had a problem with it. They didn't care and completely had their mind set on making sure my glove trick days were over. So what can a kid do, I can thank you a ton for the idea and the laughs and adrenaline that come along with it. You're the man and I hope to bump into you again someday!

Sorry to hear about the rib, but nice video. Now they got you in spanish too. haha- Joe

thats my moms office!

Boy, hope that starts feeling better real soon. That's a lot of Yankee Stadium you will have to endure. Four game there with a cracked rib? Wow. Getting #500 is big though.

Greg - Morneau was 0 for 3 today. Hehe. Bye the way, it was Jose Mijares's debut on Saturday.

The wait was definitely worth the foul ball.

Aaron
http://districtboy.mlblogs.com/

3 balls at the stadium today. ill give details later. took a bad spill and it hurts. also got david price's auto!

COLE-
Dude the ushers down here are not the freindliest people I've met. Yesterday (9/13) against the Reds I saw a lady usher checking the tickets of everybody sitting in her section an hour before the game! Don't get me wrong some of them are nice, but most of them are disrespectful. Thats cool that you tried to use the trick, too bad I didn't see it.
ZACK-
sorry to hear about the rib. That must hurt. I kinda know how you feel, I cracked my wrist a few years back. Good luck with 500 this season.

Wow. As soon as I read that Angels entry I thought, "That sounds like he cracked a rib." Take care of yourself, Zack. Here's to a speedy recovery. I hope you don't get shoved or elbowed on your quest for 500. And, hey, in 4 games this weekend I ended up with 12 baseballs! Thanks for your tips and tricks.
~Matt
http://bloggingboutbaseball.mlblogs.com/

I went to the Twins @ Orioles game today. The only good thing about it (both the Twins AND the Vikings lost at the same exact time) was that I came within a foot of catching Markakis' second home run of the day. My dad, little brother and sister (I suggest never bring siblings/kids along if you want to enjoy the game the least bit) and I were standing in the standing room only section along the wall next to the stairs that go into the Right Center Field section. Markakis launched the ball right at us and I started running backwards (bad idea). The ball began to tail so I ran closer to the wall. There was a guy with a glove running to the same spot and he beat me there. I ran out of room and ran into the wall. My dad later told me all he had to do (if he had a glove) was to reach over the wall a couple inches and he would of had it. Oh well. If you watch a replay of his second home run, I am a little white thing with a black speck on my back running along the wall.

I was at the double header in Baltimore last night, and it was a lot of fun. It started out really stessful though, because the gates opened an hour late (only 65 minutes before first pitch) *and* the Twins ended BP about 15 minutes early. In other words, only 11 minutes of BP were visible to the fans. But because Camden is a great ballpark for snagging, I still did very well:

I was the first one on line at my gate. The gates swung open at 4:01pm, and of course, the ticket taker I chose was the one whose ******* scanner malfunctioned. Fifty people streamed past me, but every single one of them went to RF. The scanner finally dinged and I made a right turn to go to LF. I was the first one in the seats. I quickly spotted a ball sitting in the 15th row, and I picked it up without breaking stride. I scanned more rows, then noticed another ball. And a third one. (More on the third one later.) A father ran in ten seconds later with his two kids and asked me if I could spare one of the balls. I told him if I found another one, I'd give it to them. I kept looking for more balls in the seats, but I didn't spot any, so I gave the kid a training ball I had brought with me.

As I walked across the front row back to my backpack with my glove off, a Twins righty stroked a ball that I judged perfectly. It was going to land in the third row, and it would be a nice easy catch with no competition. But I couldn't get my glove on my hand in time, so I had to let it go over my head and hope it wouldn't bounce sideways. It didn't. It landed and rolled slightly, by which time I had my glove on, and I picked it up with ease.

Five minutes after that, Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey fielded a BP ball in left-center at the edge of the warning track, and I put in a generic request (because I didn't know his name at the time). He said "didn't you get one already?" I was busted, so I had to think fast. I told him I gave it to a kid, and he asked me why. I said the kid wanted it so I gave it to him, and Slowey "rewarded" me with the ball. Nice guy. I'd gotten five balls in less than ten minutes.

As I said, BP ended early, so I waited by the bullpens because there were several BP balls that had been left sitting in the bottom 'pen. About 25 minutes before gametime, Orioles coach Alan Dunn and bullpen catcher Ruben Felix (I think) walked out there from the dugout. I asked Dunn for one of the balls, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Felix then picked up all the balls, then shuffled them in his arms to find the dirtiest one, which he then tossed to me.

Before the game, Twins infielder Brian Buscher came out to throw in shallow LF and fellow snagger Aaron (who left a comment on this entry a little while ago) had also made his way out to the area. Buscher ended up with the ball, and both Aaron and I called his name. He quickly looked back and forth between us, then tossed me the ball.

In the third inning of the first game, Orioles shortstop Brandon Fahey caught a third-out popup and tossed me the ball on his way in. Moments earlier Aaron had picked up a foul ball that landed in the same section. (Congrats again on your first!)

The rest of the first game (and the first seven innings of the second game) were a complete wash ball-wise. But in the top of the eighth of the second game, Justin Morneau lofted an 0-1 Kam Mickolio pitch back over the screen. I was standing just behind the main aisle in a tunnel hoping he would do just that. It had a little too much distance, so I knew it was going over my head. I turned my back to the field like a left fielder playing a fly ball off the Green Monster. It floated into and out of the hands of a guy sitting in the first row of elevated seats right behind the aisle, and dropped near his feet (which were at about the height of my shoulders). The ball then rolled sideways a few feet to his left, and I reached through some metal bars with my bare hand to pick it up. Sweet! I hadn't gotten a ball in well over five hours, and I'd been inside the ballpark the whole time. Anybody ever done that without getting shut out?

That was my final ball of the day. Anyway, I'd like to share a couple pics of my third ball of the day. It has a huge/deep gash in the leather, and I think it's awesome. Check this out:
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/gbarasch/?action=view¤t=punturedball010.jpg
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/gbarasch/?action=view¤t=punturedball010.jpg
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/gbarasch/?action=view¤t=punturedball014.jpg
Not only can you see the tightly-wound white string inside the ball, but the gash is so deep that the displaced leather sticks out like a toomer. So weird.

So yeah, nine balls. With barely ten minutes of BP. Not a bad showing. I'm up to 286 balls for the season. I'm going to YS on Tuesday, Shea next Tuesday, and possibly back to Baltimore the final Saturday of the season. I'd love to get to 300 for the season.

Aaron -- It was awesome hanging out with you and your dad all afternoon/night. And congrats on the balls you got. Hope to see you again sometime.

wow, did you guys see what happened to the rock pile ranter.
He claims (and has proof) that chris los deleted everything from his blog. Here is a comment he left on chris's blog explaining it. I feel very bad for him

"Hi Chris, I see that you have logged into my yahoo account and changed my password, also you logged into my facebook and closed it. And finally you infiltrated my blog and erased everything. HOw do I do I know this?? I have a tracker and It shows your IP address. I will be reporting you Chris To MLBLOgs.com..And possibly looking into legal action..Leave me alone..Don"

greg: tuesday at YS? Dammit! whenever i can get there early, there's competition. mind saving me a spot on line?

zack: you might hate me for brining this up, but i have to. now PLEASE, fellow bloggers, just read this and dont comment on it.

this was posted on chris los's blog but who i believe is rockpileranter on this blog. correct me if im wrong, but if it is LEGAL ACTION ALL THE WAY!

Hi Chris, I see that you have logged into my yahoo account and changed my password, also you logged into my facebook and closed it. And finally you infiltrated my blog and erased everything. HOw do I do I know this?? I have a tracker and It shows your IP address. I will be reporting you Chris To MLBLOgs.com..And possibly looking into legal action..Leave me alone..Don
By 08rockpile on September 14, 2008 6:58 PM

Puck -- Well, I'm going to be in the bleachers, so I won't really be competing with you. But I hope to see you there.

Leigh -- I just read about your second HR catch the other day. That's incredible! You must have been so excited! So cool. Good luck breaking your single-season record!

hi Z,P--ZACK you need some fat around those ribs- eat more chicken MOOOOO, CHIK FILET-I GOT 5 HRs,this year,need 5 more for 200 total,got 6 games left,prob no angels games for me unless a LOOMIS truck flips on freeway,the back door opens up.it happened recently google it .win lottery DODGERS 3 and out METS NLCS

Greg....

286!!?? Holy crap!!! That's awesome. That's a ton of balls young man. You'll get 300 easy. I tied my single season record today. Ball #101 was a toss up from Eugenio Velez of the Giants at the dugout during bp. Three games left. I think I can get a couple more to break it. I spent a freaking hour and a half hanging out at the Giants dugout looking and waiting for Bengie Molina. I wanted him to sign his homer I caught. Of course, he NEVER CAME OUT at all. Dave Roberts said he was in the clubhouse watching football and plus it was a day game after night game and he wasn't starting. Great. Needless to say, I didn't get the autograph. Plus, I had to sit there and watch the Giants take bp on while I waited. They hit a bunch out and I wasn't out there to catch any. No one was there either. Everyone was home watching football. Uggh. I was committed to get the auto. No luck. Adrian Gonzalez didn't come out either until game time. So, two homers this week, and 0 autos. I didn't get Mike Cameron's auto on his homer ball either. Geeze. I guess it will be spring training or something. Another thing. I normally don't go to day games because I work the midnight shift and need to sleep. So, I was up like 22 hours straight for nothing. Just the one ball from Velez. Crap. Well, good luck getting 300.

Leigh

Go Islanders...

To answer your question from another post....I got a signed bat, a signed ball and three club tickets to the next days game from Ryan Braun for his first career HR last year. Plus, I got to meet him and stuff by the visiting clubhouse DURING the game. Kind of cool.

Leigh

Zack...

Sorry to hear about your rib. You masked your pain well when I was hanging with you. It looked like your toe was bothering you more. I was just thinking about something. Your 500, plus Greg's 300, plus my 100 is 900 balls. That's a lot of balls when you think about it. I wonder how many more everyone else who posts on here has snagged this year? We're all well over 1000 balls for sure. Crazy stuff when you think about it.

Leigh

TC...

Ok, so you have 195 career game HR. I have 11 career. I'll catch you next year. Ha ha. Dan in Denver has 30+ for his career. He's got the best seats of all of us. I'd like to see how many he'll have in 25 years of Coors Field LF. Talk to you later.

Leigh

Zack...

A closer look. Ha ha. Jump higher Drew!
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809143472526

Leigh

Leigh,
I am very impressed, great catch

Not good news Zack, but hey. it could've been worse. I like the footage of Petco, especially after reading the entry, it kind of puts it all together. Tear it up at Yankee!! Brian

Leigh, I had a guy ask me the other day how many game homeruns I had, and I said, "How many have I caught clean off the bat, or "GOT". I told him I had caught 38 clean off the bat, and never kept track of all of the home runs that I have picked up. I decided when I started going to games in 98' (moved to Denver in 97' from Montana) that I wouldn't count them if I didn't catch them clean, I probably should have. I figure I usually "pick up" 3 or 4 each year, so since 98, I have probably another 35 to 45 home runs. Dan

Zack,

I also kinda thought it was cracked ribs. Not much you can do to help it heal.
Went to the Phillies/Brewers game last thursday. Not many people for bp when the gates opened but it was jammed an hour later. I got 7. Gave 2 away.

See you at YS on thursday!!

brendan

Dan...

That's AWESOME. You are so lucky to have those great seats in that great park. Very cool. I WISH we had an open aisle area like that here in SD. Oh well. I hope to make a trip out to Denver again next year. I'll see you then.

Leigh

Leigh -- Yeah, I've had a pretty good year. I love the second video of the Molina HR catch. Sucks that you couldn't get any of the autos you wanted.

And wow, I didn't realize how many balls the three of us are combining for this season. That's incredible.

Oh, and I meant to share one more pic of my punctured ball before:
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/gbarasch/?action=view¤t=punturedball004.jpg

This one illustrates the wound better.

Greg, I loved the pic of the balls in the glove with the Hollywood sign in the background. Looked like a great trip.
You guys put my 27 balls to shame lol.

all right greg. good job in camden, but you do no that you've got zack to compete with right?

i may have already posted this, but greg: nice job at camden, and good luck in the bleachers.

Puck -- Yeah, I know. Zack and I "compete" well against each other. Somehow, we rarely get in each other's way.

hey, they brew crew fired their manger ned yost. i dont get it. a shake up like that in SEPTEMBER could devestate them

wow that sucks Zack.
At least now you know why you were in so much pain though. in other news Don (Rock Pile Ranter) got his blog hacked which really stinks for him by the other baseball collector Chris Los.

wow that sucks Zack.
At least now you know why you were in so much pain though. in other news Don (Rock Pile Ranter) got his blog hacked which really stinks for him by the other baseball collector Chris Los.

Claire
mlwhiz.mlblogs.com

wow that sucks Zack.
At least now you know why you were in so much pain though. in other news Don (Rock Pile Ranter) got his blog hacked which really stinks for him by the other baseball collector Chris Los.

Claire
mlbwhiz.mlblogs.com

Hey Zack my first comment to your blog but ive been reading it since late june. Im going to the game tommorrow at yankee stadium and im sitting in the bleachers also. Getting there early to try to snag at least one ball never got a ball so maybe tommorow will be there see you there.
-Jody

Hey zack,
hate to get off topic but how do you pt a hit counter on your mlblogs page

mlbwhiz

just got back from yankee stadium..not a great night. i bolted in to the rf corner spot, but not a single bp homer came within 10 rows and players werent throwing anything. finally, 10 mins left in bp, phil coke lobs one to me where i get elbowed, shut my eyes, use my brothers 10 yr old shoulder to push myself up, and felt the ball hit my glove. commemorative, my one and only yankee commem. yes i know surprising, but ive been going there all year and getting normal balls, and its not worth the trouble very often. anyway, trevor (my bro) convinced juan nieves to flip him a normal ball after he threw across the field with octavio dotel because the stupid white sox ______________!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

ill let zack fill in the blanks.

I took off for the Rockies game today feeling sick over everything that has happened. I got home and I found out that my Blog can be restored and I have a bunch of comments from people that I had no idea read my blog.
From the bottom of my heart, THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR KIND COMMENTS. MARK AND MLBLOGS, THANK YOU, for saving six months of my life...The crew at MLBlogs and the Blogging community here is as good as it comes..I am deeply touched by all of this....Don RPR

Don, although I couldn't comment on your blog (it said i'm not allowed or something...)

I was VERY happy that you got (or will be getting) your blog back. I understand how much time and effort you can put into it.

I never really liked Chris Los, his whole life seemed to be devoted to copying Zack. And this just put it over the edge.

Like Mark said in your blog, a simple apology will NOT be sufficient. Thankfully what he did is reversible....

today was the worst sports day (for me) EVER! the mets lost, the phillies won and the eagles just lost a big rivalry game against Dallas. this really sucks.

EVERYONE-
I went to the Yankee game tonight (Monday), and I'll have the entry up within the next hour or two. It was a pretty simple day. Not that much to talk about. You'll see...and then I'll catch up on all the comments, either tonight or tomorrow afternoon before I head back to The Stadium.

I'd like to wish the best to Dan. I wasn't able to directly comment on his blog. I think it's fantastic that Mark from MLBlogs is helping you to get (hopefully) all your blog stuff back. Thanks to Mark for that. Best wishes.
Sorry, Zack, to use your blog for this purpose... but I think we all feel a little better about our blogs knowing that MLBlogs is able to help out in a difficult situation like what happened to The Rock Pile Ranter.
~Matt

Oops... Don. Not Dan. Good luck, Don.

HEY-I think thechacon jinx should be given to Los-er.On the you cant comment on this blog line just ignore it,usually it comes thru.Antonelli !st career HR trade for TREVOR hoffman bat,does he ever bat?

CLIF

The Mets are just testing us. I put a curse on the Phillies tonight, so we should be ok. And as for the Cowgirls beating the Eagles....blow it off. There's a whole season ahead!

Hi Zack,
This is the first time I've had the opportunity to email you. Hope to snag a few more balls before the end of the Tigers season.

Pete in Detroit, Mike's Dad