Today was going to be a large crowd due to a post game performance by KC and the Sunshine Band.  I enjoy weekday games much more – its almost like having your own personal batting practice because there’s no one there.

The first 30 minutes of each game are for season ticket holders only – and I would go on to get a majority of my balls in that time frame today.

Upon entering the stadium, I ran to look for Easter Eggs in left field foul territory.  That turned out to be a bad choice.  Not only did I find any, I found out that there were a couple in the left field bleachers.  Bummer.

I got ball #1 of the day from Denny Bautista.  I asked him for a ball in Spanish.  He looked at me, turned around for a minute – then turned back and threw me the ball.  I then told him, “Gracias.  Buena suerte hoy.”  I waved his hand.  I do believe that’s my first career ball from Denny.

I soon got ball #2 of the day off the bat of Andrew McCutchen.  He hit a high fly ball towards the bleachers.  I positioned myself in the fourth row back, and waited for the high hop off of the warning track. 

Ball #3 was a home run off the bat of “Mr. Smooth” Luis Cruz.  He hit a shot that I chased down to my right.  My wife snapped a picture of me on the way back.

Then wanted me to pose with the ball, but I was afraid to take my eyes off of the batter’s cage.

STATISTICS:
Game:  5 balls (5 hit, 1 thrown)
Season:  316 balls (166 hit, 92 thrown, 59 device)
Games: 65 games (7 of which didn’t have BP)
Average:  4.86 balls per game
Career:  482 balls
Streak:  80 consecutive games attended with at least 1 ball snagged.
Attendance:  32,570