9-27-09 PNC Park
Today would be my final game of the season at PNC Park.
After missing yesterday's (Saturday's) game due to rain, I decided that I had to make it to the park one last time, even though it was raining when I left my house.
When I arrived at the park, there was basically no one there at all. Many people stayed away early, which turned out to be a good thing.
Around 11:15, pitchers began to meander out of the Pirates dugout and head toward the bullpen to sit and await to rain to ease up.
I stood by the fence above the bullpen and hoped someone would begin to throw.
Eventually, Charlie Morton (hidden by the bullpen roof) started to throw with Luis Dorante, the Pirates bullpen coach. I watched them finish up at 11:29, one minute before the gate would open to allow me to get close enough to ask for a ball.
Luckily, the Pirates security staff was prompt and opened the gate at precisely 11:30, which happened to be precisely the moment that Morton was walking into the Pirates bullpen. I stuck my head over the railing and asked Charlie if I could have a wet ball. He had three in his glove, and figured he wouldn't mind getting rid of the ball that he had just thrown through the rain drops.
He flipped up ball #1, and I was quickly on the board.
Right around when the gate opened to allow access to the seating bowl, the Pirates pitchers came out to stretch, and then began to throw.
It was a perfect situation. There were maybe 10 pairs of players throwing, and there were TWO people standing behind them. I watched as the Dodgers began to throw around the same time on the opposite field, and there was no one behind them. Surely getting a warm up ball would be easy.
When Paul Maholm finished tossing with trainer Frank Velazquez, I simply held up my glove, and he tossed me ball #2.
I didn't want to open my mouth or draw attention to myself, because I was afraid if the players saw me get a ball, that they'd be more apt to give the ball to someone else that hadn't just gotten one. After Maholm tossed me the ball, I quietly gave a nod and a wave to say thanks, and he waved back.
Denny Bautista and Virgil Vazquez finished tossing next. Bautista looked around for someone to give a ball to.
He looked at me, then looked to his right and saw one other person on the lower level who wasn't even paying attention. I held up my glove, and Bautista flipped me ball #3. Vazquez said, "That's two now!." I told him that I was planning on giving one ball away a little later - a promise I would keep (except I would give away one of my decoy balls).
A few minutes later, Steven Jackson finished throwing, and looked for someone to toss a ball to.
He had his choice of me, or some random Cincinnati Reds fan (the Pirates were playing the Dodgers) - so of course, he had to go with the home town fan. He tossed me ball #4 as he walked off the field.
In the meantime, today was Fan Appreciation Day. The Pirates scoreboard operators typically test out frames on the screen that they will use during the game. Last year, when there was a Max and Erma's lucky section, they would flash the lucky section around 5:10 on the scoreboard. I would then go sit in that section during the 6th inning and get handed a $25 gift card. Well, today, the Pirates flashed up every winning seat(s) for every winning prize on the scoreboard.
As you can see below, the seat is shown for a dinner for two at the local Casino on the right side of the scoreboard.
The prizes were game worn jerseys, gift cards, season tickets, and a trip to the 2010 All Star game. I was half tempted to go buy tickets in Sec 127 Row M to get a $25 gift card to Eat N Park, but the ticket would've cost $27, so I figured it wasn't worth it. By 11:45 AM, I had determined that I wasn't going to win any prizes today. I figured the tickets shown on the scoreboard had already been sold, otherwise I definitely would've picked up Sec 116 Row H, Seat 1, so I could've gone to the 2010 All Star game.
Anyway...Around noon, there was still a few Dodgers playing catch, so I went over to stand behind them. I was rather pleased with four quick baseballs on a non-BP day, so I decided I wasn't even going to try that hard. My plan was to get an overthrow. Typically, I would change into my Dodgers gear to stand out and get a ball, but today it was rather chilly, and I just didn't feel like changing.
I saw this guy in the front row:
I noticed him because he is known as the Joe Beimel superfan. He advertises his YouTube videos on his jersey. Remember him.
There were two pairs of Dodgers playing catch.
I noticed that Ramon Tronsoco didn't have a partner. I held up my glove and asked him if he wanted to throw a little bit. He nodded and tossed me a ball. Wow. I was finally going to play catch with a major leaguer. In uniform.
We began to throw, and after about ten tosses, I handed my phone off to a random guy behind me to take some photos. He had been asking me questions like, "Do you play for the Pirates? Are you friends with him? How do you know him?"
He got the following photos of me:
When I got home, I checked out Youtube for #1 Joe Beimel fan TroyfromWV, sure enough, he had uploaded a partial video of me and Ramon throwing together. Click here--> VIDEO PROOF!
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tytId_U-9vQ
After we threw for awhile, Troncoso's throwing partner finally emerged from the dugout, and Troncoso tossed me the ball and indicated that he was done. I had ball #5. What a way to get it! I thanked Troncoso, and gave one of my decoy balls to the daughter of the guy that snapped some pictures of me.
When the game began, center field was too crowded to have a great chance at toss up balls.
Plus, the usher told me I had to stay out because I didn't have a ticket. He was nice about it, and told me there was a big issue on Saturday Night where someone was injured in a fight for a toss up ball. He said the man was going to sue the Pirates, and that outfield between inning toss ups would be discontinued after this year. I was hoping he wasn't serious, but he seemed to be.
In the second inning, I went up on the right field wall, and got Garrett Jones to pick me out and throw me ball #6 - oh wait, he grossly underthrew me, and the ball hit some guy that was sitting down. The ball caromed off of him, and rolled behind his wife's backside and sat on her seat. It took them about 10 seconds to find it - and I could've easily grabbed it, but it would've been too awkward. I watched them oodle over the ball they had just snagged by accident, much to my frustration.
I decided to quit ballhawking and went up to sit in my season ticket seats one last time. I hadn't sat there much at all this year, but I felt like I needed to say goodbye.
Even though the seats are cheap, and offer no chance at getting a ball - I always liked to just sit and watch a game there. In my seats you've got a great view, and they are in the front row of the section.
In the 7th inning, I sat behind home plate,
in hopes of snagging some promotional items from Pirates announcer Steve Blass in the "7th inning throw down." Blass threw out a bunch of left over giveaway hats, grocery bags, Pirate dolls, candy, etc.
I got my finger tip on a Pirates Alternate hat, but it was just out of my reach and floated down to a lady two rows below me. I didn't come away empty handed - I caught a piece of Double Bubble bubble gum. Yay.
For the 8th inning, I snuck down and sat behind the Pirates dugout. The Pirates ended up scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to acheive a walk off win.
I was expecting the players to toss their hats and a few baseballs into the crowd as a thank you to the fans - they've done it the past three years on Fan Appreciation Day.
It didn't happen. The players disappeared into the dugout, gave their jerseys to those fans whose seats had been chosen, and disappeared for good. Nothing was thrown into the crowd. Very disappointing.
I stayed around until almost everyone was gone, and took one last look at PNC Park.
Was this my last game of 2009? Maybe...
Today's baseballs:
Sweet spots:
STATISTICS:
Game: 5 balls (5 thrown)
Season: 405 balls (211 hit, 124 thrown, 70 device)
Games: 80 games (10 of which didn't have BP)
Average: 5.06 balls per game
Career: 571 balls
Streak: 95 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 26,831
After missing yesterday's (Saturday's) game due to rain, I decided that I had to make it to the park one last time, even though it was raining when I left my house.
When I arrived at the park, there was basically no one there at all. Many people stayed away early, which turned out to be a good thing.
Around 11:15, pitchers began to meander out of the Pirates dugout and head toward the bullpen to sit and await to rain to ease up.
I stood by the fence above the bullpen and hoped someone would begin to throw.
Eventually, Charlie Morton (hidden by the bullpen roof) started to throw with Luis Dorante, the Pirates bullpen coach. I watched them finish up at 11:29, one minute before the gate would open to allow me to get close enough to ask for a ball.
Luckily, the Pirates security staff was prompt and opened the gate at precisely 11:30, which happened to be precisely the moment that Morton was walking into the Pirates bullpen. I stuck my head over the railing and asked Charlie if I could have a wet ball. He had three in his glove, and figured he wouldn't mind getting rid of the ball that he had just thrown through the rain drops.
He flipped up ball #1, and I was quickly on the board.
Right around when the gate opened to allow access to the seating bowl, the Pirates pitchers came out to stretch, and then began to throw.
It was a perfect situation. There were maybe 10 pairs of players throwing, and there were TWO people standing behind them. I watched as the Dodgers began to throw around the same time on the opposite field, and there was no one behind them. Surely getting a warm up ball would be easy.
When Paul Maholm finished tossing with trainer Frank Velazquez, I simply held up my glove, and he tossed me ball #2.
I didn't want to open my mouth or draw attention to myself, because I was afraid if the players saw me get a ball, that they'd be more apt to give the ball to someone else that hadn't just gotten one. After Maholm tossed me the ball, I quietly gave a nod and a wave to say thanks, and he waved back.
Denny Bautista and Virgil Vazquez finished tossing next. Bautista looked around for someone to give a ball to.
He looked at me, then looked to his right and saw one other person on the lower level who wasn't even paying attention. I held up my glove, and Bautista flipped me ball #3. Vazquez said, "That's two now!." I told him that I was planning on giving one ball away a little later - a promise I would keep (except I would give away one of my decoy balls).
A few minutes later, Steven Jackson finished throwing, and looked for someone to toss a ball to.
He had his choice of me, or some random Cincinnati Reds fan (the Pirates were playing the Dodgers) - so of course, he had to go with the home town fan. He tossed me ball #4 as he walked off the field.
In the meantime, today was Fan Appreciation Day. The Pirates scoreboard operators typically test out frames on the screen that they will use during the game. Last year, when there was a Max and Erma's lucky section, they would flash the lucky section around 5:10 on the scoreboard. I would then go sit in that section during the 6th inning and get handed a $25 gift card. Well, today, the Pirates flashed up every winning seat(s) for every winning prize on the scoreboard.
As you can see below, the seat is shown for a dinner for two at the local Casino on the right side of the scoreboard.
The prizes were game worn jerseys, gift cards, season tickets, and a trip to the 2010 All Star game. I was half tempted to go buy tickets in Sec 127 Row M to get a $25 gift card to Eat N Park, but the ticket would've cost $27, so I figured it wasn't worth it. By 11:45 AM, I had determined that I wasn't going to win any prizes today. I figured the tickets shown on the scoreboard had already been sold, otherwise I definitely would've picked up Sec 116 Row H, Seat 1, so I could've gone to the 2010 All Star game.
Anyway...Around noon, there was still a few Dodgers playing catch, so I went over to stand behind them. I was rather pleased with four quick baseballs on a non-BP day, so I decided I wasn't even going to try that hard. My plan was to get an overthrow. Typically, I would change into my Dodgers gear to stand out and get a ball, but today it was rather chilly, and I just didn't feel like changing.
I saw this guy in the front row:
I noticed him because he is known as the Joe Beimel superfan. He advertises his YouTube videos on his jersey. Remember him.
There were two pairs of Dodgers playing catch.
I noticed that Ramon Tronsoco didn't have a partner. I held up my glove and asked him if he wanted to throw a little bit. He nodded and tossed me a ball. Wow. I was finally going to play catch with a major leaguer. In uniform.
We began to throw, and after about ten tosses, I handed my phone off to a random guy behind me to take some photos. He had been asking me questions like, "Do you play for the Pirates? Are you friends with him? How do you know him?"
He got the following photos of me:
When I got home, I checked out Youtube for #1 Joe Beimel fan TroyfromWV, sure enough, he had uploaded a partial video of me and Ramon throwing together. Click here--> VIDEO PROOF!
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tytId_U-9vQ
After we threw for awhile, Troncoso's throwing partner finally emerged from the dugout, and Troncoso tossed me the ball and indicated that he was done. I had ball #5. What a way to get it! I thanked Troncoso, and gave one of my decoy balls to the daughter of the guy that snapped some pictures of me.
When the game began, center field was too crowded to have a great chance at toss up balls.
Plus, the usher told me I had to stay out because I didn't have a ticket. He was nice about it, and told me there was a big issue on Saturday Night where someone was injured in a fight for a toss up ball. He said the man was going to sue the Pirates, and that outfield between inning toss ups would be discontinued after this year. I was hoping he wasn't serious, but he seemed to be.
In the second inning, I went up on the right field wall, and got Garrett Jones to pick me out and throw me ball #6 - oh wait, he grossly underthrew me, and the ball hit some guy that was sitting down. The ball caromed off of him, and rolled behind his wife's backside and sat on her seat. It took them about 10 seconds to find it - and I could've easily grabbed it, but it would've been too awkward. I watched them oodle over the ball they had just snagged by accident, much to my frustration.
I decided to quit ballhawking and went up to sit in my season ticket seats one last time. I hadn't sat there much at all this year, but I felt like I needed to say goodbye.
Even though the seats are cheap, and offer no chance at getting a ball - I always liked to just sit and watch a game there. In my seats you've got a great view, and they are in the front row of the section.
In the 7th inning, I sat behind home plate,
in hopes of snagging some promotional items from Pirates announcer Steve Blass in the "7th inning throw down." Blass threw out a bunch of left over giveaway hats, grocery bags, Pirate dolls, candy, etc.
I got my finger tip on a Pirates Alternate hat, but it was just out of my reach and floated down to a lady two rows below me. I didn't come away empty handed - I caught a piece of Double Bubble bubble gum. Yay.
For the 8th inning, I snuck down and sat behind the Pirates dugout. The Pirates ended up scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to acheive a walk off win.
I was expecting the players to toss their hats and a few baseballs into the crowd as a thank you to the fans - they've done it the past three years on Fan Appreciation Day.It didn't happen. The players disappeared into the dugout, gave their jerseys to those fans whose seats had been chosen, and disappeared for good. Nothing was thrown into the crowd. Very disappointing.
I stayed around until almost everyone was gone, and took one last look at PNC Park.
Was this my last game of 2009? Maybe...
Today's baseballs:
Sweet spots:
STATISTICS:
Game: 5 balls (5 thrown)
Season: 405 balls (211 hit, 124 thrown, 70 device)
Games: 80 games (10 of which didn't have BP)
Average: 5.06 balls per game
Career: 571 balls
Streak: 95 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance: 26,831
Wow. You guys got off from school for the G20. Lucky.
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Ooh... suspense! I'm excited to read about your final snag as well as the new Ballhawk League results, Erik!
~Matt
http://bloggingboutbaseball.mlblogs.com/
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