October 2009
Pirates Season Ticket Holder Batting Practice
Recently, the Pirates invited their season ticket holders to come and take batting practice on the field at PNC Park.
This was the second year that the Pirates have done this, and the second year that I would participate. If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you may remember this entry from last year.
I had asked my dad if he’d like to go hit again, but he indicated that he wasn’t interested. So, I decided to ask Zack Hample, winner of the ballhawk league in 2009, if he’d like to come to PNC Park as my guest. Hample enthusiastically obliged, and brought along his mother and his friend Brandon.
Zack, two fellow ballhawks and friends, Nick and Bryan Pelescak, and I met at the stadium at 9AM. We promptly entered through the right field player’s garage door and walked down towards the field.
This was the view at the end of the tunnel.
And that, was that.
See you April 5th 2010, PNC Park.
Ballhawk League : Week 26
Week 26 was extended by the tiebreaker game in Minnesota earlier this week.
The winner this week was Zack Hample, who won for eighth time in 26 weeks.
A few notes:
- As expected, Zack Hample finishes the regular season in first place with 525 balls. Rounding out the Top Five were Erik Jabs (412),
- Happy Youngster, on a trip to Denver, snagged a Prince Fielder home run on 9/30/09. To see the catch, click HERE.
- Zack Hample won 7 out of 11 categories. He failed to capture the top spot in these categories: Games Attended (Erik Jabs 81), Hit Balls Snagged (Erik Jabs 217), Thrown Balls per Game (Joe Faraguna 5.63), and Device Balls per Game (Donny Haltom 1.83). Still, Zack’s 2009 was very impressive.
- Chris P had a strong week to propel himself back into the top 5.
- Alex became the fourth member of the ballhawk league to pass the 300 balls in one year barrier. Welcome to the club
Here’s how week 26 turned out:
Week 26 Leaders:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 43
2) Chris P 26
3) Alex 21
Games:
1) Mike In Detroit 5
2) Matt Jackson, Chris P 4
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample 14.33
2) Greg Barasch 9.00
3) Gary Kowal 8.00
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Greg Barasch 13
2) Zack Hample 9
3) Chris P 7
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 31
2) Alex 19
3) Chris P 18
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 3
2) Alex 1
Competition Factor:
1) Zack Hample
2) Puck Collector
3) Gary Kowal
Here’s a look at the final 2009 regular season standings:
2009 Season COMPLETE Leader Board:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 525
2) Erik Jabs 412
3) Happy Youngster 372
4) Alex 316
5) Chris P 287
6) Greg Barasch 278
7) Nick Pelescak 273
8) District Boy 221
9) Shawn 189
10) Donny Haltom 178
11) Mike In Detroit 132
12) Joe Faraguna 124
13) Matt Jackson 120
14) John Witt 83
15) Bob Fox 82
15) Gary Kowal 82
17) Leigh Barratt 76
18) Puck Collector 59
19) Andrew McDonald 35
20) Donnie Ankudovich 28
21) Connor 13
21) Jeremy Evans 13
Games Attended:
1) Erik Jabs 81
2) Nick Pelescak 75
3) Chris P 68
4) Happy Youngster 61
5) Zack Hample 58
6) Alex 49
7) Bob Fox 44
8) Mike In Detroit 41
9) Leigh Barratt 40
10) Matt Jackson 38
11) Greg Barasch 37
12) District Boy 36
13) John Witt 31
14) Shawn 30
15) Donny Haltom 24
16) Gary Kowal 23
17) Andrew McDonald 21
18) Donnie Ankudovich 20
19) Joe Faraguna 19
20) Puck Collector 10
21) Jeremy Evans 9
22) Connor 5
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample 9.05
2) Greg Barasch 7.51
3) Donny Haltom 7.42
4) Joe Faraguna 6.53
5) Alex 6.45
6) Shawn 6.30
7) District Boy 6.14
8) Happy Youngster 6.10
9) Puck Collector 5.90
10) Erik Jabs 5.09
11) Chris P 4.22
12) Nick Pelescak 3.64
13) Gary Kowal 3.57
14) Mike In Detroit 3.22
15) Matt Jackson 3.16
16) John Witt 2.68
17) Connor 2.60
18) Leigh Barratt 1.90
19) Bob Fox 1.86
20) Andrew McDonald 1.67
21) Jeremy Evans 1.44
22) Donnie Ankudovich 1.40
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 217
2) Nick Pelescak 184
3) Zack Hample 170
4) Happy Youngster 143
5) Chris P 95
6) Greg Barasch 85
7) District Boy 60
8) John Witt 58
9) Donny Haltom
50
10) Leigh Barratt 43
11) Alex 41
12) Matt Jackson 36
13) Shawn 34
14) Mike In Detroit 29
15) Joe Faraguna 17
15) Puck Collector 17
17) Gary Kowal 14
18) Donnie Ankudovich 10
19) Andrew McDonald 9
20) Bob Fox 8
21) Connor 4
22) Jeremy Evans 0
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 274
2) Alex 260
3) Chris P 192
4) Happy Youngster 164
5) District Boy 161
6) Greg Barasch 155
7) Shawn 153
8) Erik Jabs 125
9) Joe Faraguna 107
10) Mike In Detroit 102
11) Nick Pelescak 89
12) Donny Haltom 84
12) Matt Jackson 84
14) Bob Fox 74
15) Gary Kowal 62
16) Puck Collector 38
17) Leigh Barratt 33
18) Andrew McDonald 26
19) John Witt 25
20) Donnie Ankudovich 16
21) Jeremy Evans 13
22) Connor 8
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 81
2) Erik Jabs 70
3) Happy Youngster 65
4) Donny Haltom 44
5) Greg Barasch 38
6) Alex 17
7) Gary Kowal 6
8) Puck Collector 4
9) Shawn 2
10) Donnie Ankudovich 2
11) Mike In Detroit 1
12) Connor 1
13) Chris P 0
13) District Boy 0
13) Joe Faraguna 0
13) Nick Pelescak 0
13) Matt Jackson 0
13) Bob Fox 0
13) Leigh Barratt 0
13) Andrew McDonald 0
13) John Witt 0
13) Jeremy Evans 0
Competition Factor:
1) Zack Hample 275,975
2) Alex 258,384
3) Greg Barasch 244,755
4) Donny Haltom 238,254
5) Joe Faraguna 231,691
6) Puck Collector 222,898
7) Happy Youngster 213,481
8) Shawn 210,126
9) Chris P 163,289
10) District Boy 135,987
11) Gary Kowal 132,879
12) Matt Jackson 122,475
13) Connor 111,153
14) John Witt 110,517
15) Erik Jabs 103,444
16) Mike In Detroit 99,919
17) Nick Pelescak 71,999
18) Jeremy Evans 56,494
19) Donnie Ankudovich 55,230
20) Bob Fox 53,834
21) Leigh Barratt 48,108
22) Andrew McDonald 32,034
Game Balls
1) Zack Hample 11
2) Shawn 8
2) Chris P 8
4) Happy Youngster 6
5) Nick Pelescak 4
6) Leigh Barratt 3
7) Alex 2
7) Donny Haltom 2
7) Greg Barasch 2
7) District Boy 2
7) Mike In Detroit 2
12) Puck Collector 1
12) Matt Jackson 1
12) Connor 1
12) John Witt 1
12) Erik Jabs 1
17) Joe Faraguna 0
17) Gary Kowal 0
17) Jeremy Evans 0
17) Donnie Ankudovich 0
17) Bob Fox 0
17) Andrew McDonald 0
Now, a look at how many balls per game per category each ballhawk averages
Hit Balls PER GAME
1) Zack Hample 2.93
2) Erik Jabs 2.68
3) Nick Pelescak 2.45
4) Happy Youngster 2.34
5) Greg Barasch 2.30
6) Donny Haltom 2.08
7) John Witt 1.87
8) Puck Collector 1.70
9) District Boy 1.67
10) Chris P 1.40
11) Shawn 1.13
12) Leigh Barratt 1.08
13) Matt Jackson 0.95
14) Joe Faraguna 0.89
15) Alex 0.84
16) Connor 0.80
17) Mike In Detroit 0.71
18) Gary Kowal 0.61
19) Donnie Ankudovich 0.50
20) Andrew McDonald 0.43
21) Bob Fox 0.18
22) Jeremy Evans 0.00
Thrown Balls PER GAME
1) Joe Faraguna 5.63
2) Alex 5.31
3) Shawn 5.10
4) Zack Hample 4.72
5) District Boy 4.47
6) Greg Barasch 4.19
7) Puck Collector 3.80
8) Donny Haltom 3.50
9) Chris P 2.82
10) Gary Kowal 2.70
11) Happy Youngster 2.69
12) Mike In Detroit 2.49
13) Matt Jackson 2.21
14) Bob Fox 1.68
15) Connor 1.60
16) Er
ik Jabs 1.54
17) Jeremy Evans 1.44
18) Andrew McDonald 1.24
19) Nick Pelescak 1.19
20) Leigh Barratt 0.83
21) John Witt 0.81
22) Donnie Ankudovich 0.80
Device Balls PER GAME
1) Donny Haltom 1.83
2) Zack Hample 1.40
3) Happy Youngster 1.07
4) Greg Barasch 1.03
5) Erik Jabs 0.86
6) Puck Collector 0.40
7) Alex 0.35
8) Gary Kowal 0.26
9) Connor 0.20
10) Donnie Ankudovich 0.10
11) Shawn 0.07
12) Mike In Detroit 0.02
13) Joe Faraguna 0.00
13) District Boy 0.00
13) Chris P 0.00
13) Matt Jackson 0.00
13) Bob Fox 0.00
13) Jeremy Evans 0.00
13) Andrew McDonald 0.00
13) Nick Pelescak 0.00
13) Leigh Barratt 0.00
13) John Witt 0.00
Week 26 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 District Boy:
District Boy’s first goal for 2009 was to snag 200 balls. He finally reached the mark on September 25th (courtesy of Reid Gorecki)
Submitted by Zack Hample:
Zack Hample holding Robinson Cano’s grand slam ball on September 28 at Yankee Stadium.
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: 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)
Week 20: Alex 41 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 36)
Week 21: Chris P 35 (Runner Up: Happy Youngster 34)
Week 22: Nick Pelescak 24 (Runner Up: Greg Barasch)
Week 23: Donny Haltom 30 (Runner Up: Chris P 22)
Week 24: Zack Hample 54 (Runner Up: Happy Youngster 14)
Week 25: Erik Jabs 44 (Runner Up: District Boy 37)
Week 26: Zack Hample 43 (Runner Up: Chris P 25)
ESPN.com Article
There’s an article on ESPN.com devoted mostly to Zack Hample, but I am quoted in the article as well.
See the article’s title? I guess I can be attributed with it – the author directly lifted it from a quote that I gave him. Pretty cool.
I ran into Zack in Baltimore on August 10th, and spoke with the columnist during BP.
Here’s the small section that I received in the article:
If you’d like to read the entire article, click HERE.
Postseason Picks
Here’s my postseason picks. Do you agree or disagree?
AL Divisional Series:
Yankees beat the Twins in four.
The Twins have a lot of momentum. They’re bound to falter soon. Plus, they just depleted their bullpen in the 12 inning marathon win on Tuesday, and must bounce right back.
Red Sox beat the Angels in five.
The Red Sox will win – if only for the fact that I want to see the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry in full force this offseason. The Angels NL style approach could give them problems though.
NL Divisional Series
Rockies beat the Phillies in four.
The Rockies have been one of the hottest teams in the recent months. They almost wrestled the NL West team away from the Dodgers, who had an almost insurmountable lead earlier in the summer. The Phillies bullpen is shaky, leaving the door open for another “Rocktober,” at least for a little while.
Cardinals beat the Dodgers in three.
Yeah, I’m calling for a sweep of the NL West champs. I wasn’t impressed at all when I saw them recently in Pittsburgh. Heck, the Pirates won 3 out of 4 against the Dodgers in late September. The Pirates!! With Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the Cards have this one all but locked up.
ALCS
Yankees over the Red Sox in six.
The Yankees firepower will be too much for the Red Sox to handle. Also, I hate the Red Sox more than any other team, even if they do have ex Pirate Jason Bay.
NLCS
Cardinals over the Rockies in seven.
The Cardinals starting rotation is just too good. The Rockies are a great team, but the road will end for them in the NLCS.
World Series
Yankees over the Cardinals in seven.
There’s a saying that good pitching will be good hitting. Whoever said that didn’t factor in the Yankees offense and the Yankee stadium factor – which has seen a record number of balls flying out of the yard. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday will make things interesting to watch, but the Yankees will bring home the trophy in 2009.
10-3-09 Great American Ballpark
My first game of the 2009 season was a Pirates vs Reds game at Great American Park. I figured the best way to close the season was by making my final game of the 2009 season a Pirates vs Reds game at Great American Park.
I left my house around 11 AM, and arrived just before 4 PM.
Unfortunately, the gates at Great American don’t open until 90 minutes before the first pitch, so I would have to wait around until 5:40 to get in. I was thinking, “I should’ve gone to Baltimore.” (To see the Blue Jays vs Orioles).
I sat outside the center field gate, read the newspaper, checked scored on my phone, and waited for the gates to open. While there, Cincinnati natives tried to engage me in conversations about the NFL and the Steelers, a subject that I didn’t really care to talk about at a baseball game. Unlike most Pittsburghers, I’m pretty indifferent when it comes to the Steelers and Penguins.
When the gates finally did open, I ran in and snapped a quick picture.
didn’t do so well here earlier in the season (eight balls over two
games).
If I hadn’t had bought a ticket directly behind the Pirates dugout, I
may have left to get back to Pittsburgh at a decent hour. Plus, 411
isn’t a great looking number to me. I wanted to get one more ball.
I walked around the stadium and snapped a few more pictures:
Before the game began, I got Andy LaRoche to toss me his warm up ball, except right before he was about to release it, he pump faked upon seeing a four year old girl with her glove up, two rows behind me. He paused and pointed at the girl and underhanded the ball. The ball floated two feet to my right. I should’ve reached out and grabbed it, and given it to the girl, but I didnt. I watched it float slowly by and land in the little girl’s glove. I started kicking myself for not catching it – it would’ve been ball #7 of the day.
I would have to try and get a ball by some other means.
I had great seats to do it:
Front row behind the Pirates dugout/camera well.
I was just to the left of where the players entered/exited the Pirates dugout.
It was a perfect spot to get a ball.
In the second inning, Pirates’ first baseman Garrett Jones tossed me ball #7 as he came off the field. I was a bit disappointed that he had switched the warm up ball tossed by the coach with the game ball that he was bringing in towards the dugout.
I watched in subsequent innings as he did the same thing.
With the Pirates trailing by a large margin, I left in the 6th inning to make the four and a half hour drive back to Pittsburgh. I got home sometime after 1:30AM.
Was it worth the trip for 25 minutes of batting practice? I’d say so. I ended the season on a positive note, with seven balls, and 412 snagged during the 2009 season.
Coincidentally, 412 is also my telephone area code, which is somewhat cool.
Today’s baseballs:
Sweet spots:
STATISTICS:
Game: 7 balls (6 hit, 1 thrown)
Season: 412 balls (217 hit, 125 thrown, 70 device)
Games: 81 games (10 of which didn’t have BP)
Average: 5.09 balls per game
Career: 578 balls
Streak: 96 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 24,539
Ballhawk League : Week 25
There’s only one more week left in the ballhawk league.
The winner this week was Erik Jabs, who would snag 44 balls across four days and five games.
A few notes:
- Nick Pelescak set the single game PNC Park record of 14 balls this week, a record that would be matched by Erik the very next day.
- Erik Jabs snagged his first career foul ball, as well as his 400th ball of the 2009 season
- The District Boy finished a close second place this week – snagging a very respectable 37 balls in week 25. He also eclipsed the 200 ball barrier.
- Nick Pelescak leap-frogged Chris P and Greg Barasch to get back into the top five.
- Alex is only five balls away from joining Zack, Erik and Happy Youngster in the 300 club.
- The Happy Youngster curtailed his ballhawking due to family obligations. He has a slim chance in week 26 to still reach 400 balls in 2009 if he can have some big games at Coors Field in Week 26. Wish him luck.
The ballhawk league will end after next week. Good luck to everyone.
Here’s how week 25 turned out:
Week 25 Leaders:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 44
2) District Boy 37
3) Nick Pelescak 28
Games:
1) Erik Jabs, District Boy, Nick Pelescak 5
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample/Greg Barasch 10.00
2) Erik Jabs 8.80
3) District Boy 7.40
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs/Nick Pelescak 19
2) District Boy 15
3) Donny Haltom 8
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) District Boy 22
2) Erik Jabs 18
3) Chris P 12
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 7
2) Greg Barasch 2
3) Zack Hample 1
Competition Factor:
1) Zack Hample
2) Greg Barasch
3) Alex
Here’s a look at the overall 2009 season standings:
2009 Season Leaders:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 482
2) Erik Jabs 405
3) Happy Youngster 365
Games Attended:
1) Erik Jabs 80
1) Nick Pelescak 74
2) Chris P 64
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample 8.93
2) Greg Barasch 7.43
3) Donny Haltom 7.42
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 211
2) Nick Pelescak 184
3) Zack Hample 161
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 243
2) Alex 241
3) Chris P 174
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 78
2) Erik Jabs 70
3) Happy Youngster 65
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 2.98
Thrown Balls per Game: Joe Faraguna 5.59
Device Balls per Game: Donny Haltom 1.83
Week 25 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 Erik Jabs:
Erik Jabs poses with his 400th ball of the 2009 season, snagged on Friday, September 25th.
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: 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)
Week 20: Alex 41 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 36)
Week 21: Chris P 35 (Runner Up: Happy Youngster 34)
Week 22: Nick Pelescak 24 (Runner Up: Greg Barasch)
Week 23: Donny Haltom 30 (Runner Up: Chris P 22)
Week 24: Zack Hample 54 (Runner Up: Happy Youngster 14)
Week 25: Erik Jabs 44 (Runner Up: District Boy 37)
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