9 Days ’til the Opener Contest: Autographed Baseball

Every now and then there will be a lull in batting practice and I’ll ask a player to sign a ball for me. This is especially true on Sunday mornings when sometimes only one team hits and we are waiting for a team to begin hitting. Another good chance to get an autograph is when there isn’t batting practice and you can get a pitcher to sign along the sideline after he’s finished throwing.

Some fans take autograph collecting too far, running around with jumbo trapper keepers filled with multiple cards of the same player. That’s too much for me. I don’t even feel comfortable really asking a player for his autograph, I only do it when they are signing for everyone and I just have to stick a ticket or ball out and they will sign it as they work their way down the line towards a dugout. My best autograph last year was former MVP Joey Votto.

Anyhow, I do have some autographed stuff that is collecting dust that I can give away.

The first item that I will give away is an official MLB baseball that has been autographed.

The contest is simple.

Be the first to guess the player that signed the ball and you win it.

However, you only get one guess per round.

What’s a round?

I’ll give more specific clues as to who the player is every 15, 30, 60 minutes or so. Each time I give a new clue it will be more concise so you can make a better educated guess. Eventually it may come down to giving you the player’s position, team, biographical or statistical data, etc.

So, let’s start with the most general question of all:
1) The player that autographed this ball is a CURRENT MLB player (not retired).
2) The player has never made an All Star team.
3) The player doesn’t play for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
4) The player is a pitcher.
5) The player pitches in the American League.
6) The player plays for a team in the AL East.
7) He is a right handed pitcher.

Let’s see if we can give it away soon:
8) He plays for the Boston Red Sox!
9) He spent time on the DL last year.
10) Due to his injury the pitcher became ambidextrous, learning to throw left handed as well to throw the ball back in to the ball boy during batting practice.
11) This pitcher has thrown me more than 1 ball since 2006. To find out who’s thrown me balls, poke around on my profile page on mygameballs.
12) He was drafted by an NL West Team.
13) He attended an ivy league school.

We have a winner! It’s Txrangersfan! The answer is Ross Ohlendorf!

Now, I’m off to bed so I can be up earlier than normal to watch the Mariners and Athletics.

By the way, expect a contest everyday until the Opener. I can’t wait for Opening Day, and it seems like you all enjoy the contests, because we’ve been getting around 2,000 hits a day! Thanks for reading!