First I met Greg again (who I saw on Tuesday) and we eventually all made it in the park… We were both there for the opportunity of all… Twins baseballs – since they opened their new park “Target Field” this year- we were hoping to grab a Target Field commemorative baseball.

Jenna met me at 6 – by that time I already had 5 baseballs. The first one I asked for by a #62 on the Mets who was shagging flies in left field. I asked for it and he turned around and gunned it right to me – pretty hard too – I almost wasn’t expecting a throw that fast. So I caught two balls in Mets portion of BP – not bad for a Friday – but once I saw the Twins out I had a goal to hit the Twins dugout.

For a few minutes I got to watch Ron Gardenhire and his coaches throwing knuckleballs to each other in front of the Twins dugout before their BP started. We exchanged a brief hello, which was cool, and then once he finished throwing – I don’t remember if I even had to ask, but he tossed the ball right to me.

From there I went out to right field because the Twins have a lot of lefties and they were (I hoped) ready to put on a show. A few balls trickled down – I asked Matt Guerrier to toss me a ball and got it in the right field corner. Then all of the sudden – a home run comes almost directly at me off of Justin Morneau’s bat. People behind me were already playing for it, I was caught on the edge of one of the walls that extends out to the Modell’s part of right center… so I got ready real quick as people were ready behind me and stuck out my glove as high as I could and ‘smack!’ caught it on the fly.

Then as batting practice was about to end – I took my usual favorite nesting spot in right center by the bullpens – got Nick Blackburn’s (I believe it was him) attention and he threw a ball about 30 feet to get it to me. That’s 6 – one shy of my Citi Field and current high.

Here they are…

These were our seats for the game… a good view.

Here were the six…

The game went by really fast – so fast that we only snuck down during the 9th inning. Which is where I saw Greg again and we made sure to stay out of each other’s way. This was our view in the 9th.

After the game ended – we waited for the Twins relievers to walk back to the dugout and, low and behold, Matt Guerrier tosses me my seventh ball of the day – since I was the only one decked out in any Twins gear. Matched the record! Then I got this photo with Jenna with #7 on the day.

7 balls (1 home run)
TIED PERSONAL HIGH
NEW SEASON HIGH
1 – #62 ? I’m not sure who he is but he gunned it right to me!
2 – ? (it was in center though!)
3 – Ron Gardenhire (Twins Dugout)
4 – Matt Guerrier (Right Field)
5 – Justin Morneau HR caught on fly (RF)
6 – Nick Blackburn? (I believe it was him in Right Center)
7 – Matt Guerrier (Twins Dugout – Postgame)

9 straight games with at least one ball

So here was the line to get in at around 4:55, right before the gates open at 5pm. Ouch by the way, you only get to see 30 minutes of Yankees batting practice. Here is their bag check, by the way…

So it took me about 2 minutes to get in, get to the right field seats and get a ball tossed to me by Mark Melancon (who got optioned to the minors the next day- ouch) but I already thought, hey this Yankee Stadium must not be that bad – and Thank goodness I’m not shut out! After that, I went over to the left field seats (since the righties were hitting) and tried for a few home run balls. Came very close, even with me still keeping on my ankle brace on for safety, to two homers but just missed out on them. Very different to get homers at Yankee Stadium than Citi Field, since you’re judging where the ball will come down about 10 feet lower than you would at the giant walls of Citi.

You’re right on top of the field which is nice. Soon enough TJ got there, the Orioles went on the field and the crowd started to fill up.

Soon enough, security emptied everyone out of the section who did not have a ticket… somehow I got by that (TJ did not, ah the magic of sneaking past by the row) and soon enough a ball hit the warning track, my only competition was another security guy asking for my ticket. So I fumble around, forgetting where it went, and by the time the ball lands I ask if I can go ask for the ball… he says “you can try.” That made me run over and roll my eyes, thanks to you driving everyone out – me and 3 others are the only ones here. So I go over in the above corner, near the bullpen, ask (who I believe was) Matt Albers for the ball and he flips it right to me. Twice as many as I was probably expecting at Yankee Stadium.

After that we went picture crazy, this is TJ and I before the game and the next one is our seats (twice)…

Now the one comment I had about this place was… everyone had a beer in hand. Even going to the bathroom, people were holding a beer and going to the bathroom. It was a very different experience. The Yankees won in what turned out to be a very fast game, who knew the Yankees could play a 7:05 game that ended before 10pm?!?

6 straight games with at least one ball