Ballhawk League : Week 20

Our winner this week is Alex.  Alex ballhawked his way through Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh and came up with over 40 balls.  In a close battle for second place, Erik Jabs slightly edged Nick Pelescak.  Both ballhawks share PNC Park as their home park. 

Some notes:

• Erik Jabs passes The Happy Youngster for second place.  “I’m sure he’ll be back in second soon,” said Erik.  “The Brewers were just out of town all week, while the Pirates are in the midst of a 9 game homestand.”  Don’t rule either ballhawk out in their quest for 400 balls this season.

• Happy Youngster is closing in on 1,000 career balls.  He needs roughly 70 more, which should be a reachable number given his snagging trends.  Other upcoming mini milestones:  Erik Jabs is 17 balls from 500, Nick Pelescak is closing in on 300 (needing about 65 more),

• Nick
  Pelescak jumps back up to 2nd place in the batted balls category, snagging 24 this week.  (Notice that the top 2 batted ball leaders are both from PNC Park?  The place is an absolute ghost town for the first 30 minutes of Seaon Ticket Holder BP on a daily basis).

• Zack
  Hample snagged his 4,200nd career ball last week, while Greg Barasch recorded his 800th.

• Home Run balls this past week?  Nick Pelescak snagged a Lastings Milledge shot, while the Happy Youngster went secret-ops to snag a Carlos Quintin homerun that had been laying in some bushes for two week.

• The Puck Collector had a very respectable week, snagging 16 balls.

• Donny Haltom was back in action for the first time in four weeks.

• Alex has passed up Zack Hample in the 2009 season thrown balls category. 

Here’s how week 20 played out:

Week 20 Leaders:

Total Balls Snagged:
1)  Alex 41
2)  Erik Jabs 36
3)  Nick Pelescak 34

Games:
1)  Erik Jabs/Nick Pelescak 7
2)  Alex 5

Average Balls per Game:
1)  Zack Hample 11.00
2)  Happy Youngster 10.00
3)  Alex 8.20

Hit Balls Snagged:
1)  Nick Pelescak 24
2)  Erik Jabs 23
3)  Greg Barasch 9

Thrown Balls Snagged:
1)  Alex 29
2)  District Boy 13
3)  Nick Pelescak 10

Device Balls Snagged:
1)  Erik Jabs 6
2)  Happy Youngster/Alex 4
3)  Greg Barasch 2

Competition Factor:
1)  Zack Hample
2)  Happy Youngster
3)  Alex

Here’s a look at the overall 2009 season standings:

2009 Season Leaders:

Total Balls Snagged:
1)  Zack Hample 380
2)  Erik Jabs 317
3)  Happy Youngster 292

Games Attended:
1)  Erik Jabs 66
1)  Nick Pelescak 57
2)  Chris P 49

Average Balls per Game:
1)  Zack Hample 8.84
2)  Donny Haltom 7.28
3)  Greg Barasch 7.10

Hit Balls Snagged:
1)  Erik Jabs 166
2)  Nick Pelescak 123
3)  Zack Hample 119

Thrown Balls Snagged:
1)  Alex 210
2)  Zack Hample 191
3)  Happy Youngster 136

Device Balls Snagged:
1)  Zack Hample 70
2)  Erik Jabs 59
3)  Happy Youngster 47

Competition Factor:
1)  Zack Hample
2)  Alex
3)  Greg Barasch

Now, a look at how many balls per game per category each ballhawk averages
Leaders:
Hit Balls per Game:  Zack Hample 2.77
Thrown Balls per Game:   Joe Faraguna 5.71
Device Balls per Game: Donny Haltom 2.06

Week 20 Photos
Ballhawks were given the option to submit a photo for this and future
ballhawk league updates.  The photos could be of them making a catch,
posing with a ball, a picture of a ball snagged, or something strange
or interesting that they saw at a game.

Submitted by Nick Pelescak:
Nick poses with the balls he snagged on his first career trip to Nationals Park this week.
Submitted by The District Boy:
On Friday afternoon, Stephen Strasburg was introduced to the media and
fans.  Because of this event, gates opened extra early and he was able
to get two balls before the park would have otherwise opened.

Submitted by Erik Jabs:
Erik pauses to allow his wife to take a picture of a home run ball that he had just snagged.

Submitted by Zack Hample:
Zack Hample poses with his 4,200th lifetime ball at Citi Field on August 17, 2009.

2009 Ballhawk League Archive:
TOP BALLHAWK:
Week 1:  Happy Youngster 38  (Runner Up:  Zack Hample 31)
Week 2:  Zack Hample 27  (Runner Up:  Erik Jabs 21)
Week 3:  Zack Hample 30  (Runner Up:  Erik Jabs 21)
Week 4:  Zack Hample 40  (Runner Up:  Happy Youngster 39)
Week 5:  Zack Hample 31  (Runner Up:  Erik Jabs 22)
Week 6:  Erik Jabs 31 (Runner Up:  The Happy Youngster 26)
Week 7:  District Boy 40 (Runner Up: Greg Barasch 20)
Week 8:  Erik Jabs 18 (Runner Up:  Donny Haltom 17)
Week 9:  Donny Haltom 16 (Runner Up:  Erik Jabs 13)
Week 10: Zack Hample 27 (Runner Up: Shawn 26)
Week 11: Zack Hample 59 (Runner Up: Donny Haltom 23)
Week 12: Greg Barasch 36 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 22)
Week 13:  Chris P 24 (Runner Up:  Alex 17)
Week 14:  Greg Barasch 22 (Runner Up: Chris P 19)
Week 15:  Nick Pelescak 17 (Runner Up: District Boy 10)
Week 16:  Alex 21 (Runner Up: District Boy 19)
Week 17:  Joe Faraguna 18 (Runner Up: Happy Youngster 11)
Week 18:  Erik Jabs 22 (Runner Up:  Zack Hample 14)
Week 19:  Alex 38 (Runner Up: Joe Faraguna 31)