However I’m almost pissed that now I find out that most of the characters are composites of many people, some of the stories are outright fiction and that kind of gets me mad. It’s a compelling story so I guess you should call it somewhere around non-fiction because it’s true but many of the stories out there have been said to be fabricated.

That was followed by their Dolphin Show at the Aquarium – nice and indoors too – because it was scorching out!

After that we went back to our Hotel room and then off to Camden Yards – where our “Season Ticket Holder” tickets got us in at around 4:40 because there was a Season Ticket Holder “State of the Orioles” meeting with the O’s Team President taking questions from the audience before batting practice. The only answer that stood out to me was when he said that “no player is untouchable” while the players were stretching, playing catch, getting ready for BP in right field. You can see the view here – pre BP.

Meanwhile, in Center Field Jake Arrieta was having a catch with a bullpen catcher. Once he finished throwing he started to walk in towards the bullpen so I called out for him and asked for the ball. Being practically the only one there… he tossed it right to me.

Behold the first ball I’ve ever caught outside of New York!

A little briefly after that BP started – the crowd started to fill up a little bit and the O’s starting hitting them out to left. Camden Yards is small and both teams make it look that way – you need to be able to move amongst the seats and not be that close to the front rows to grab homers here. So here I am waiting for the O’s to start hitting them out.

Here was my view for much of Orioles’ BP.

So about a third of the way into BP, Ty Wigginton laces a shot towards my section. I race down about 3 rows where there’s a small crowd developing in the row below (very competitive for homers here – especially on a Saturday), stick my glove out and reach for the highest point and ’smack!’ my first Camden Yards home run caught on the fly!

Then later in the Blue Jays portion of batting practice – I had moved down a little and was in practically the same section. A righty smacked one deep towards my section, I scooted down into an open aisle and as people below me were reaching up and missing the ball – it landed in the palm of my glove on the fly. Home Run #2! ALSO – first time I’ve caught more than one home run on the fly in any park. Pretty cool eh?

What was really cool was the ball was one of the cleanest I’d ever seen! We took a picture when we got to our seats – here take a look!

Jenna and I went and grabbed Lemonades after BP – I drank through all of mine quickly (shocker) but Jenna had hers still with her at the game. We bought an O-shaped pretzel along the first base side of the field level (practically behind our section that night – 17). But back on topic – in about the middle of the game – there’s a family next to us (mother – grandmother?/aunt and daughter) who are about to go walk down to the concourses so we needed to get up. So they’re walking down the aisle and the little kid says “ooo” and takes Jenna’s lemonade, Jenna starts to look at me (I didn’t notice yet) and gives me a weird new signal I haven’t seen before. So I let them pass as I’m standing out of the aisle for them. So when I sit down, Jenna tells me “she took my lemonade!!” We had noted how everyone was so friendly in Baltimore but we didn’t realize this would happen – we laughed it off – a lot. Then when they came back, what did they have? A new Lemonade.

We had to leave early out of this game to go have dinner – our pick for the night? Fogo de Chao – a Brazilian steakhouse nearby. This (blurred) picture is the best I got of how they serve you …

everyone walks around with skewers and asks you whether or not you’d like a piece. See here Jenna is trying the Brazilian flavored steak. A great place to go! Here was my plate after a little while.

We also tried the fried polentas and they were good too! Overall a great place to go for a good meal. I know where I’m going again when I get a chance!

The other good news was: since the O’s had a malfunction in ordering the Brooks Robinson Jerseys promotion – we got vouchers for sending out to get a jersey which comes with a coupon for discounted tickets in September/October!

3 balls (1 home run)
1 – Jake Arrieta (Left Center)
2 – Ty Wigginton HR (Left)
3 – Blue Jays TBD HR (Left)

10 straight games with at least one ball

With that, guess what is now full?

Jenna’s gift to me of a baseball holder is now filled with baseballs! (Chronicled before here Baseball Collection)

So far this year I have been to…
7 Games
26 Baseballs  (3.7 per game)
(of those ones I’ve caught they have been
2 Game Balls
6 Home Runs – 5 of which were caught on the fly

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

I also met Greg – who I met at Citi Field with Zack and a few others on 4/7/10 at Citi Field – and we tried to work around each other and not get in each other’s way… it seemed to work out.

So I got in early to batting practice and it was a very slow day. The Mets didn’t hit many home runs at all.. So I decided to move over to, the always reliable, right field. I used to not think it was reliable at all but it turned out to be where I caught every ball on the day.

The first ball I caught was in right center and I called out for Raul Valdes and he tossed it right to me. The second one was a little more fun. Ike Davis hit a bomb to practically where I was standing in right center – all I had to do was stand, extend my arm and pluck it from the sky. Davis has crazy power – he tends to hit a ton of homers to right center. For the third ball, I called out some Tigers players. First, I called out another player but someone grabbed the ball before I could – old guy got it so I was okay with it. However, he then decides to show his other family members the ball by throwing it to him – and the throw lands short and back onto the field. Oops. Soon after I called out Eddie Bonine for a ball and he tossed it right to me. Tigers baseballs have a nice sharpie mark on them – it is unique.

When the game started (after a long Shake Shack line- worth it) I sat with work friends and my brother Matt  arrived; however, so did the rain. Here’s a cool shot of me giving a look while someone sports a funny umbrella.

Then the rain – and a rain delay came down  which was okay because it meant we got to explore the (then packed) Caesars Club. Weird – I couldn’t find a Caesar salad in Caesars Club. However, I did get a picture with the three baseballs I got that day.

I was really anxious the first 20 minutes when there was no real activity so I started to get worried – I was banking on at LEAST 1-2 because I wanted to give one away. Luckily it worked out and I gave the first ball I caught to Jodi later – happy birthday!

So later on – once the rain stopped and play began – we went back and enjoyed a met win. Later on I got this photo with my brother Matt who came after working in the city.

Cool stuff. Mets won 14-6 – they are great at home so far.

3 balls (1 home run)
1 – Raul Valdes
2 – Ike Davis HR on the fly
3 – Eddie Bonine

8 straight games with at least one ball
6 of last 8 games with attendee getting at least one ball

#1 The Hurt Locker

#2 Inglorious Basterds

#3 Precious

#4 Up

#5 Up In The Air

#6 A Serious Man

#7 An Education

#8 District 9

#9 The Blind Side

* Will soon change when I see Avatar – if I had to guess – Avatar probably won’t do better than #3 because the first two are great films. In fact I’d probably say #3-7/8 are almost interchangeable.

However there are more jokes… (Oops no photos – sorry!!)

We got to the park super early and I got in and what did I see? Mets infield practice, ouch. The Mets are coming off an off day so I should have thought this was going to happen, oh well. So the crowd filled in a little – a little competition – and then the Mets started hitting.

My first action was a Jeff Franceour line drive home run that I played perfectly off the bounce and picked it up in front of a guy. Jenna had to go to the bathroom and missed it – but I got a phone call 5 minutes later (when I noticed she kept calling)… so I answered.

She says, “look what I got” in section 128 or so down the left field foul line she is standing with a ball in hand! She tells me she saw me grab the first one, and barely after that, a David Wright home run comes flying toward my section. I move down one row and in a few seats, cell phone in hand with Jenna watching from afar, and catch it on the fly. How about that for a first home run caught story…

After that we moved over to right field where I got a ball from John Maine and then the Phillies began to hit. The Phillies did something that most teams SHOULD do: they used their portion of batting practice to actually PRACTICE. All the players started by hitting the other way – off the end of the bat. I got one ball from the Phillies, calling out Brad Lidge who saw me ask and tossed the ball right up to me for ball #4 of the day.

With a crowd of 33,026 there… things were a little tough – but we did alright. Of course all that practice DIDN’T pay off for the Phillies as R.A. Dickey struck out 7 Phils en route to an 8-0 Mets win.

4 balls (2 home runs)
1 – Jeff Franceour HR
2 – David Wright HR on the fly
3 – John Maine
4 – Brad Lidge

7 straight games with at least one ball
5 of last 7 games with attendee getting at least one ball

So I put all the 2008 Yankee Stadium balls  got in the top row, followed by 3 balls marked “Practice” on them. The three Citi Field baseballs I caught this year are on the 2nd row (soon to be joined by more – and maybe Target field balls?!!), the third row are the two game balls I caught this year and the All Star Game ball I snagged last year. The 4th row will probably fill up as baseballs from 2009 then 2010.

So now my goal, obviously, has to be to fill it! Another reason to try and go back to Baltimore!

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