August 2010
8-18-10 PNC Park
I got on the board before the gates opened today.
I was standing on the Riverwalk waiting for a home run to land on the concourse, but left around 4:50 to head back up to the gate. Just as I left, a passerby informed me that I had just missed one. I turned and saw fellow ballhawk Nick Pelescak knee deep in the weeds, frantically searching for a ball.
I turned around and jogged back and joined in the search. After a minute, I found the ball in the weeds, for my first ball of the day.
Upon entrance to the left field bleachers, I noticed a ball land near the foul pole, so I ran over and scooped that one up for ball #2.
STATISTICS:
Game: 7 balls ( 4 hit, 2 thrown, 1 found )
Season: 454 balls (228 hit, 98 thrown, 61 device, 61 found)
Balls in the month of August: 103
Games: 69 games
Average: 6.58 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 1,032 balls
Streak: 165 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 12,242
8-17-10 PNC Park
Luck wasn’t on my side today. There were at least 8-10 balls that I came up two feet short or less of snagging. Either balls that were just out of my reach, or snatched up at the last second by random fans.
That said, I did find ball #1 laying near the bullpen when I ran in to get on the board early.
I managed to get Sean Gallagher to toss me a ball, but the ball sailed high, and despite my best effort to catch it by hopping up on a bleacher, it tipped off of my glove and landed several rows behind me.
I tried to grab the ball, but this ballhawk raced over and grabbed it a split second before I could, despite the ball clearly being tossed to me.
He also cut my arm with his long fingernails.
STATISTICS:
Game: 6 balls ( 2 hit, 2 thrown, 1 device, 1 found )
Season: 447 balls (224 hit, 96 thrown, 61 device, 60 found)
Balls in the month of August: 96
Games: 68 games
Average: 6.57 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 1,025 balls
Streak: 164 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 14,156
Ballhawk League 2010 : Week 19
Shawn B has won the Ballhawk League for week 19.
Here’s the standings for the week:
And the season standings:
2010 Ballhawk League Archive:
TOP BALLHAWK: (# win in parenthesis)
Week 1: Shawn B (1) 18 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 17)
Week 2: Nick Pelescak (1) 17 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 10)
Week 3: Nick Pelescak (2) 33 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 24)
Week 4: Erik Jabs (1) 18 (Runner Up: Shawn B 16)
Week 5: Zack Hample (1) 44 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 33)
Week 6: Shawn B (2) 25 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 18)
Week 7: Zack Hample (2) 50 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 31)
Week 8: Shawn B (3) 24 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 13)
Week 9: Erik Jabs (2) 23 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 19)
Week 10: Erik Jabs (3) 29 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 12)
Week 11: Erik Jabs (4) 49 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 30)
Week 12: Greg Barasch (1) 26 (Runner Up: Joe Faraguna 11)
Week 13: Erik Jabs (5) 31 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 14)
Week 14: Shawn B (4) 28 (Runner Up: Greg Barasch 25)
Week 15: Nick Pelescak (3) 9 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 7)
Week 16: Erik Jabs (6) 44 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 27)
Week 17: Greg Barasch (2), Erik Jabs (7) TIE with 20
Week 18: Erik Jabs (8) 57 (Runner Up: Joe Faraguna 28)
Week 19: Shawn B 24 (5) (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 23)
8-16-10 PNC Park
Today kicked off a 10 game homestand at PNC Park.
When Nick Pelescak and I ran in at 5 PM, some ushers were coming out of the bleachers and said “There’s a bunch of balls in there.”
I found balls #1 and 2 in the left field bleachers. The first one was in the front row of Section 136 and the other one was about four rows back closer towards the foul pole.
Ball # was hit by Neil Walker. It was a home run that landed in the crosswalk area, bounced off the white facade of the upper bleachers,
and right into my glove in the third row in the lower bleachers. I heard Jeff Karstens murmur, “Got the rebound.”
Ball #4 and 5 were caught in this area, both off the bat of Lastings Milledge.
STATISTICS:
Game: 10 balls ( 3 hit, 1 thrown, 2 device, 4 found )
Season: 441 balls (224 hit, 96 thrown, 61 device, 60 found)
Balls in the month of August: 90
Games: 67 games
Average: 6.58 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 1,019 balls
Streak: 163 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 13,396
8-13-10 Progressive Field
Yet another day at Progressive Field.
When I entered the stadium I found my first ball of the day in the second row back in the second section from the visitor’s bullpen.
I had to be sneaky about it because there were several people in the front row, so I casually walked over to the ball without looking at it and picked it up. Had I jogged toward it looking at it someone may have noticed and turned around and grabbed it.
(The ball extended my snagging streak to 162 games with at least one ball snagged. 162 is an important number in baseball – its the number of games each team plays total during the season.)
My second ball of the day was a ground rule double hit by Shelley Duncan. It bounced into the trees, and was waiting in Heritage Park when I got there, 
STATISTICS:
Game: 6 balls ( 4 hit, 1 device, 1 found )
Season: 431 balls (221 hit, 95 thrown, 59 device, 56 found)
Balls in the month of August: 80
Games: 66 games
Average: 6.53 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 1,009 balls
Streak: 162 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 26,424
8-12-10 Progressive Field
I was back at Progressive Field today, hoping to snag my one thousandth career baseball.
I was planning on returning yesterday, but radar showed storms moving through Cleveland all afternoon, so I would wait until today for another shot at 1,000.
When I walked by a bar across the street, 
pick them all up.
He tossed the ball up and I had to lean out over the railing to just barely make the catch. When I caught it, I asked Brad if the ball was for me or the kid next to me, who’d also asked for one. Brad nodded toward the kid, so I turned and gave the ball away.
So, I’d ended the day with five balls snagged.
Here I am in the shadows by the bullpen with ball #1000:
Today’s baseballs: (4 pictured because one was given away)
Sweet spots: (#1,003 was given away)
STATISTICS:
Game: 5 balls (1 thrown, 4 device )
Season: 425 balls (217 hit, 95 thrown, 58 device, 55 found)
Games: 65 games
Average: 6.54 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 1,003 balls
Streak: 161 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 14,533
8-10-10 Progressive Field
I started the day just six balls away from 1,000.
I was happy to see that the Indians were taking early batting practice when I arrived and looked through the left field gate:
And they were left handed.
STATISTICS:
Game: 4 balls (2 hit, 1 thrown, 1 found)
Season: 420 balls (217 hit, 94 thrown, 54 device, 55 found)
Games: 64 games
Average: 6.56 balls per game
2010 Game Balls: 5
Career: 998 balls
Streak: 160 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 13,541
Ballhawk League 2010 : Week 18
Erik Jabs took full advantage of Nick Pelescak’s absence from PNC Park last week and snagged the second highest weekly total in BHL History with 57. (Zack Hample snagged 59 in week 11 last year).
Joe Faraguna had a strong showing as well, snagging 28 balls in just three games.
Here’s the week 18 standings:
Season standings: (use CTRL ++ to zoom in) ctrl – - will zoom you back out.
LEADERS:
Total Balls: 408, Erik Jabs
Average Balls per Game: 9.17, Zack Hample
Games Attended: 62, Erik Jabs
Hit Balls Snagged: 211, Erik Jabs
Thrown Balls Snagged: 113, Zack Hample
Device Balls Snagged: 52, Erik Jabs
Found Balls: 54, Erik Jabs
Game Time Foul Balls Snagged: 4, Erik Jabs
Game Time Home Runs Snagged: 3, Zack Hample
BHL Points: 1,559, Erik Jabs
Hit Balls Per Game Average: 3.40, Erik Jabs
Thrown Balls Per Game Average: 5.50, Joe Faraguna
Device Balls Per Game Average: 1.71, Max Van Hollenbeke
Found Balls Per Game Average: 1.02, Nick Pelescak
BHL Points Per Game: 38.09, Zack Hample
2010 Ballhawk League Archive:
TOP BALLHAWK: (# win in parenthesis)
Week 1: Shawn B (1) 18 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 17)
Week 2: Nick Pelescak (1) 17 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 10)
Week 3: Nick Pelescak (2) 33 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 24)
Week 4: Erik Jabs (1) 18 (Runner Up: Shawn B 16)
Week 5: Zack Hample (1) 44 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 33)
Week 6: Shawn B (2) 25 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 18)
Week 7: Zack Hample (2) 50 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 31)
Week 8: Shawn B (3) 24 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 13)
Week 9: Erik Jabs (2) 23 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 19)
Week 10: Erik Jabs (3) 29 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 12)
Week 11: Erik Jabs (4) 49 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 30)
Week 12: Greg Barasch (1) 26 (Runner Up: Joe Faraguna 11)
Week 13: Erik Jabs (5) 31 (Runner Up: Zack Hample 14)
Week 14: Shawn B (4) 28 (Runner Up: Greg Barasch 25)
Week 15: Nick Pelescak (3) 9 (Runner Up: Erik Jabs 7)
Week 16: Erik Jabs (6) 44 (Runner Up: Nick Pelescak 27)
Week 17: Greg Barasch (2), Erik Jabs (7) TIE with 20
Week 18: Erik Jabs (8) 57 (Runner Up: Joe Faraguna 28)
8-9-10 Camden Yards
With the Pirates hitting the road for San Diego, I thought about flying along with them to snag my one thousandth baseball at a stadium I’d never visited before. I decided against it, since it’d be cheaper to do a couple day trips to Baltimore on Monday and Cleveland on Tuesday. And so, I hit the road for Baltimore.
I never fared well at Camden Yards. Prior to today my ballpark high was six balls in one game.
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