I had made big plans for this game, as I was at Point Park to work on an article for the student newspaper. I was really looking forward to interviewing students about the topic but the moment I got off of the bus it started to rain. This angered me, as no students were any where near where I was and Pirates BP was at risk.
After waiting for a little while I walked down to the ballpark and the rain had stopped. I was somewhat surprised to see that the grounds crew was pulling the tarp off of the field and that the Pirates were getting ready to take BP. This was going to be great as there was a chance to see more BP.
I went to the game by myself, and got close to the front of the line. The usual suspects were there, and Ian and I who were separated by two baseballs at the time were ready.
I had a feeling that because the Nationals are a good bp team, that today had the potential to be a career day for me.
When we were let in, I searched for easter eggs, and came up empty-handed. In fact most of the Pirates BP was very uneventful. The only Pirate that really was tossing up was Chris Resop, and he had already tossed balls up to Erik and Nick. I started to get a little discouraged until Resop came over to talk to Nick and I. He asked us about BHL and how things worked. Between the two of us, we probably spilled out a little too much, but it was well worth it as Chris is a very cool guy. As the conversation ended, he told me that he would toss one up to me.
Sure enough, a ball was hit in the direction of Pirate Daniel McCutchen and Resop asked him for the ball. Shortly after Resop threw a perfect strike right into my glove for ball number 1. Thanks Chris!
For a long while afterwards I fell into another drought. Ian however was nowhere to be found and I had crept up to one ball behind him. His cousin on the other hand was getting baseballs left and right and ended up with six. The fact that he was a kid hurt me a little bit. As Pirates bp ended, I felt stupid as I only had one baseball and considering the circumstances, I was not happy.
Nationals BP got under way pretty quickly as the Pirates had a late start. I decided to play center field as I have fared pretty well there during recent batting practice. Again I was getting unlucky as I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Ian’s cousin was getting some more toss ups and if there was ever a time to be patient, then this was it.
Things changed for me when Adam Dunn stepped to the plate. He was hitting monster home runs and sure enough one went onto the riverwalk and after being bobbled by at least two people the ball went into my glove for ball number 2.
Ball number 3 came shortly after on another Adam Dunn home run. I almost snagged another Adam Dunn home run, but Ian got to it a second before I did. He had and finished with two snags on the day meaning one more snag and I tied him for third best ballhawk at PNC Park.
BP ended without another snag but I had an extra ticket and I decided to search the ivy outside of the stadium as there was no penalty. Sure enough I went out there and one minute in, found ball number 4. This tied me with Ian but more importantly tied my single game record for most snags in a single game. That would be the only ball I found in the ivy, but it was well worth it.
I then went into the ballpark again, and went by the bullpen to try for a toss up. Everything was going well but at the last possible second I missed out on the ball from starter Zach Duke as he threw it to a girl. My record attempting snag would have to wait.
I spent the majority of the game with Ian and his cousin. My tickets were listed for the 300′s section, however two generous people gave me a ticket to section 139 and I played a couple of toss ups from over there. My closest call while there was in the fifth inning, when the ball was meant for me but a guy got his hand on it at the last second. I was not pleased as I wanted this record very badly.
After a while and a Kent Tekulve autograph, Ian and his cousin left the ballpark and I aggressively tried for the “elusive” fifth ball of the day.
My quest took me to the bullpen where Herbie Andrade was throwing a ball up to a kid who was having a little bit of trouble. I motioned for Herbie to throw it to me and soon after ball number 5 was in my glove. I made sure to give it to the kid and Herbie gave me a thumbs up. Luis Dorante (and his new beard) saw the whole process and tossed me ball number 6. I thanked them both and left to try and get the last Cutch toss up.
The toss up was going to be in section 140 and I was stationed for it and it was a little to my right. I did make the catch however for ball number 7. I gave the ball away.
As a quick side note, congrats to legendary ballhawk and my buddy Jim Saylor for catching his second home run of the season. He caught a Ryan Doumit home run. Long live the king!
With my seven baseball performance that day, I had caught up to and passed Ian and also set a personal record. Because of the success of the day, I made a snap decision to attend the next day’s game. How would I do? You’ll have to read my next post.
