May 2010
Ballhawk League 2010 : Week 5
The top three ballhawks in terms of total balls snagged fought it out for the win in week 5. Zack Hample came out with the victory, fueled by a 24 ball performance on Monday in Cleveland. Erik Jabs was the runner up with 33 balls in 4 games, and Nick Pelescak came in a close third with 29 balls in 5 games.
Here’s your week 5 winner Zack Hample posing with the 24 balls he snagged on May 3rd at Progressive Field.
Here’s a glance at the week 5 standings:
Week 5 Leaders:
Total Balls: Zack Hample 44
Average: Zack Hample 11.00
Games Attended: Nick Pelescak 5
Hit Balls: Nick Pelescak 21
Thrown Balls: Zack Hample 24
Device Balls: Erik Jabs 3
Found Balls: Zack Hample 7
Foul Balls: 0
Game HR: 0
BHL Points: Zack Hample 140
And for the 2010 Season so far: (CLICK THE CHART FOR A LARGE EASIER TO
READ GRAPH – I suggest right clicking and opening it as a new tab)
2010 Season Leaders:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Nick Pelescak 104
2) Erik Jabs 102
3) Zack Hample 82
4) Shawn B 34
5) Casey Ward 29
Games:
1) Nick Pelescak 18
2) Erik Jabs 14
3) Shawn B 8
4) Casey Ward, Bryan Pelescak, Brian Powell 6
5) Mat Jackson, Zac Weiss 5
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample 10.25
2) Joe Faraguna 9.00
3) Erik Jabs 7.29
4) Greg Barasch 6.33
5) Nick Pelescak 5.78
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 61
2) Nick Pelescak 59
3) Zack Hample 27
4) Shawn B 10
5) Casey Ward 9
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) Zack Hample 45
2) Nick Pelescak 28
3) Shawn B 24
4) Erik Jabs 21
5) Joe Faraguna 17
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 9
2) Joe Faraguna, Peter S 4
Found Balls:
1) Nick Pelescak 17
2) Erik Jabs 11
3) Zack Hample 8
4) Casey Ward 5
BHL Points:
1) Erik Jabs 473
2) Nick Pelescak 441
3) Zack Hample 280
4) Casey Ward 185
5) Shawn B 122
Hit Balls Per Game
1) Erik Jabs 4.36
2) Zack Hample 3.38
3) Nick Pelescak 3.28
4) Greg Barasch 2.67
5) Joe F/ District Boy 2.00
Thrown Balls Per Game
1) Joe Faraguna 5.67
2) Zack Hample 5.63
3) Alex 4.00
4) Matt Jackson/Shawn B 3.00
Device Balls Per Game
1) Joe Faraguna 1.33
2) Donny Halton, Max, Peter 1.00
3) Erik Jabs 0.64
4) District Boy/Mike M 0.50
Found Balls Per Game
1) Zack Hample 1.00
2) Nick Pelescak 0.94
3) Casey Ward 0.83
4) Erik Jabs 0.79
5) Ian Weir 0.67
BHL Points Per Game
1) Joe Faraguna/Zack Hample 35.00
2) Erik Jabs 33.79
3) Casey Ward 30.83
4) Nick Pelescak 24.50
5) Greg Barasch 23.67
2010 Ballhawk League Archive:
TOP BALLHAWK:
Week 1: Shawn B 18 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 17)
Week 2: Nick Pelescak 17 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 10)
Week 3: Nick Pelescak 33 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 24)
Week 4: Erik Jabs 18 (Runner Up: Shawn B 16)
Week 5: Zack Hample 44 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 33)
And, for the heck of it:
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)
Powell has been carrying this ball in his backpack for a year and a half with the intention of getting it signed by Josh Hamilton. He finally got the job done in week 5.
5-8-2010 PNC Park
When I got out of my car around 3:45, the skies were looking rather overcast. It wasn’t raining, so I was hoping batting practice would still be on.
It wasn’t. When it became obvious that batting practice wasn’t going to happen, I was faced with a decision. Go home, or put my 109 consecutive game streak on the line. I decided to stay, because I was hoping it would rain, and people would stay home. Also, there was a Penguins playoff game, so I hoped folks would stay and watch that. However, Pittsburgh crowds love fireworks, and 25,000 people still showed up.
Upon entering the stadium, I got ball #1 rather quickly from coach Ray Searage.
I then noticed several Cardinals playing catch in right field, so I went over.
Kyle McClellan, Mitchell Boggs, and someone else were playing catch, but when they finished, they were having an intense conversation as they walked off the field about different grips, so they ignored my polite request for a baseball.
STATISTICS:
Game: 5 balls (5 thrown)
Season: 102 balls (61 hit, 21 thrown, 10 device, 11 found)
Games: 14 games
Average: 7.29 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 680 balls
Streak: 110 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 25,047
5-7-2010 PNC Park
Since today is a Friday, I thought that it might by a little more difficult than the other two days this week, where I had snagged 8 and 10 balls.
The Cardinals can be a tricky team to deal with due to their hitting approach. Twice last year I only snagged one ball in games that the Pirates played the Cardinals. My best game against the Cardinals was a 9 ball performance on May 12, 2009. I would break that today.
My first ball was a Steve Pearce ground rule double that bounced over the fence and I caught in the second row. It was career ball #6-6-6. Hopefully the dubious distinction of being tied to that ball number doesn’t jinx Pearce in the big leagues.
Ball #2 was another ground rule double off the bat of Lastings Milledge, and ball #3 was a home run that I had to battle the sun for, and made the catch in the aisle way between section 136 and 137.
Near the end of the group, I got two balls within 10 seconds of each other. Both were from Lastings Milledge. He hit a home run that I caught on the fly, and as soon as I made the catch and started drifting back to my right to go to my spot, another home run was hit to my right. I sprinted over and picked the ball up as it was trickling down the bleachers.
The Pirates finished up at 5:26. The Cardinals began hitting.
I glove tricked ball #6 in left field, as none of the Cardinals’ shaggers had made it over to left field yet.
I then ran over to center field and found ball #7 in the center field seats.
I returned to left field and got a home run from an unknown Cardinals player . The ball hit two sections from the foul pole and ricocheted like a rocked directly at me. I actually caught the ball between my side and my forearm, as I didn’t have enough time to react. That was ball #8, and it was only 5:38, exactly half way through batting practice.
Would I be able to continue this pace and challenge the PNC Park Jabs/Pelescak record of 14.
No.
Things slowed way down, as people started blocking off the rows, and limiting my range.
I did catch a Nick Stavinoha home run on the fly in section 137. 
STATISTICS:
Game: 10 balls (8 hit, 1 device, 1 found)
Season: 97 balls (61 hit, 16 thrown, 10 device, 11 found)
Games: 13 games
Average: 7.46 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 675 balls
Streak: 109 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 16,473
5-6-10 PNC Park
I wasn’t even supposed to be at this game. Thanks to a tree that fell during a storm last night, my place of work didn’t have power all day, thereby freeing me up for the afternoon and relieving me of my coaching duties for a day.
I spent the about 30-40 minutes on the riverwalk before the gates would open. Unfortunately, this is the most interesting to happen down there:
STATISTICS:
Game: 10 balls (5 hit, 1 thrown, 1 device, 3 found)
Season: 87 balls (53 hit, 16 thrown, 9 device, 10 found)
Games: 12 games
Average: 7.25 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 665 balls
Streak: 108 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 11,085
5-5-10 PNC Park
After missing yesterday’s game due to coaching, I was looking forward to attending my first game of the week today, on Cinco de Mayo.
I ran in, trailing fellow ballhawk Nick Pelescak. Nick broke to the left towards the bullpen, so I was left to search near the ushers. Surprisingly, there was a ball sitting there in the third row on the ground. I was on the board.
I got my second and third balls of the day during the Pirates BP in this area: The General Admission Bleachers.
The balls bounced on the walkway behind me and hopped up into the bleachers. I don’t know who hit ball #2, but ball #3 was off the bat of Ronny Cedeno.
I caught my fourth ball of the day off the bat of Jason Jaramillo. I caught it on the fly in the second row (which is an accomplishment, as I typically stay away from the first two rows).
That was it for the Pirates BP, and the Cubs came out.
I didn’t have to wait long to get my first Cubs ball, as Derrek Lee hit a high fly ball that bounced on the warning track, and six rows back into my glove.
Soon after, I glove tricked ball #6 in this area:
STATISTICS:
Game: 8 balls (4 hit, 2 thrown, 1 device, 1 found)
Season: 77 balls (47 hit, 15 thrown, 8 device, 7 found)
Games: 11 games
Average: 7.00 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 655 balls
Streak: 107 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 11,053
Ballhawk League 2010 : Week 4
The standings were rather jumbled at the top, but Erik Jabs came through with an 18 ball week to capture the top honors. 
Four of the top five finishers spent two games in Cleveland over the weekend.
Other scenes from around the league:
Shawn B displays his tenth home run ball (George Kottaras), acquired via toss up from Octavio Dotel after it landed in the Pirates bullpen.
Week 4 Leaders:
Total Balls: Erik Jabs 18
Average: Erik Jabs 9.00
Games Attended: Shawn B 3
Hit Balls: Erik Jabs 9
Thrown Balls: Shawn B 11
Device Balls: Zack Hample/Erik Jabs 1
Found Balls: Nick Pelescak 4
Foul Balls: 0
Game HR: Erik Jabs 1
BHL Points: Erik Jabs 111
And for the 2010 Season so far: (CLICK THE CHART FOR A LARGE EASIER TO
READ GRAPH – I suggest right clicking and opening it as a new tab)
2010 Season Leaders:
Total Balls Snagged:
1) Nick Pelescak 75
2) Erik Jabs 69
3) Zack Hample 38
4) Shawn B 34
5) Casey Ward 29
Games:
1) Nick Pelescak 13
2) Erik Jabs 10
3) Shawn B 8
4) Casey Ward 6
5) Mat Jackson 5
Average Balls per Game:
1) Zack Hample 9.50
2) Joe Faraguna 9.00
3) Greg Barasch 7.00
4) Erik Jabs 6.90
5) Nick Pelescak 5.77
Hit Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 43
2) Nick Pelescak 38
3) Zack Hample 15
4) Shawn B 10
5) Casey Ward 9
Thrown Balls Snagged:
1) Shawn B 24
2) Nick Pelescak 22
3) Zack Hample 21
4) Joe Faraguna 17
5) Casey Ward, Matt Jackson 15
Device Balls Snagged:
1) Erik Jabs 7
2) Joe Faraguna 4
Found Balls:
1) Nick Pelescak 15
2) Erik Jabs 6
3) Casey Ward 5
4) Matt Jackson, Bryan Pelescak 2
BHL Points:
1) Erik Jabs 352
2) Nick Pelescak 316
3) Casey Ward 185
4) Zack Hample 140
5) Shawn B 122
Hit Balls Per Game
1) Erik Jabs 4.30
2) Greg Barasch 4.00
3) Zack Hample 3.75
4) Nick Pelescak 2.92
5) Joe Faraguna/District Boy 2.00
Thrown Balls Per Game
1) Joe Faraguna 5.67
2) Zack Hample 5.25
3) Alex 4.00
4) Matt Jackson/Shawn B 3.00
Device Balls Per Game
1) Joe Faraguna 1.33
2) Donny Halton 1.00
3) Erik Jabs 0.70
4) District Boy/Mike M 0.50
Found Balls Per Game
1) Nick Pelescak 1.15
2) Casey Ward 0.83
3) Erik Jabs 0.60
4) Greg Barascah 0.50
BHL Points Per Game
1) Erik Jabs 35.20
2) Joe Faraguna/Zack Hample 35.00
4) Casey Ward 30.83
4) Greg Barasch 28.00
2010 Ballhawk League Archive:
TOP BALLHAWK:
Week 1: Shawn B 18 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 17)
Week 2: Nick Pelescak 17 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 10)
Week 3: Nick Pelescak 33 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 24)
Week 4: Erik Jabs 18 (Runner Up: Shawn B 16)
And, for the heck of it:
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)
5-1-10 Progressive Field
I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to today’s game at Progressive Field. After continuously checking the weather forecast throughout the morning, it looks like rain that had been moving through Cleveland would be gone.
I left my house a little before 1PM and was first in line at 3PM. When I peeked through the gates, I saw this:
and an even better picture, with a clear view of the Target Field Balls:
Afterwards, we would all go our separate ways. I chose to go to the Twins bullpen area. I had noticed a ball laying in the bullpen.
It was a little too far out to do the glove trick, so I elected to wait and see if I could get the ball tossed up to me.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson made his way into the bullpen,
and tossed me up ball #8 of the day.
During the game, I started in left field foul territory, 
but eventually started playing the outfield for home run balls.
For lefties, I sat over in right field.
And I stayed on the home run porch occasionally for righties.
I stayed until the very end of the game – the 11th inning.
And watched the Indians win in exciting walk off fashion:
Also, this was likely the last game that I’ll have the #1 game on mygameballs.com, as Zack Hample is poised to remove me from the top spot on Monday.
Here are today’s baseballs:
And the sweet spots:
STATISTICS:
Game: 8 balls (5 hit, 3 thrown)
Season: 69 balls (43 hit, 13 thrown, 7 device, 6 found)
Games: 10 games
Average: 6.90 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 647 balls
Streak: 106 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 13,832
4-30-10 Progressive Field
I decided to attend today’s Twins vs Indians game to try and snag a Twins Target Field commemorative ball.
Surprisingly, I wouldn’t have to wait long at all. Within 30 seconds of entering the stadium, I found my first ball of the day laying in the bleachers. Upon later inspecting it, I found out that it was indeed a 2010 Target Field ball.
Unfortunately, the logo was badly beat up. 
There was no other Easter Eggs to be found.
Batting practice was rather slow today during the Indians portion, so I attempted to get a few toss ups. I got Chris Perez to toss me a ball, but some guy reached in front of me and robbed me. 
When I saw the ball stayed in the trees and didn’t bounce out, I was off sprinting to Heritage Park.
Also running towards Heritage Park in front of me were Nick and Bryan Pelescak, as well as some other local Cleveland ballhawk.
We all got to the area at about the same time. As I was searching for the ball, I heard a fellow fan saw, “it hit farther down.” Myself and the local Cleveland ballhawk got to the spot at the same time. There it was. Justin Morneau career home run #168. The ball was impossible for anyone to get as it was lodged in the base of one of the hemlocks, between three thick branches.
It didn’t matter though, as I reached in with my stick (collibsible yard stick), poked the ball loose, and grabbed ball #10, and my third game ball of 2010.
The ball didn’t come without controversy, as the other ballhawk was real upset that he wasn’t able to get it. He wasn’t prepared. Luckily a cop was ri
ght there, and told me and the other guy that it was mine to get, as I “had something to get it with.”
Of course the other guy was a really sore loser and complained and heckled me the rest of the night. Apparently he reads this blog and takes exception to me and the fact that I catch a lot of baseballs. Whatever though. I dropped it and spent the rest of the game in left field foul territory, and came close on at least three foul balls.
I would finish the game with ten.
Nick snagged 11, and his brother Bryan 7. 28 between the three of us.
A good night at Progressive
Here are today’s baseballs: (Morneau HR #168 in foreground)
and the sweet spots:
By the way, this is the video of Justin Morneau’s home run in the first inning.
STATISTICS:
Game: 10 balls (4 hit, 3 thrown, 1 device, 2 found)
Season: 61 balls (38 hit, 10 thrown, 7 device, 6 found)
Games: 9 games
Average: 6.78 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 3
Career: 639 balls
Streak: 105 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 14,124
2009 through 8 games: 42 (Currently I am 19 balls ahead of last year’s career high season pace)
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