April 2010

A Flashback by Turning Your Back

Once you enter the bedroom in my house, you don’t see something. When you turn your back after you enter my bedroom, you see a flashback into sports history and the evolution of ticket stubs. You see, like Todd Cook, I have saved all my tickets from the games I have went to. I put them up on a bulletin board, which is why many of the tickets you see below have holes in them. Scroll down to the bottom of this entry to see the bulletin board. If I tried to show you all of my tickets and describe each game, it would take 5 years, so here are some different tickets from different years. 

The oldest baseball ticket on that wall is from a doubleheader in 2002 when the Mets hosted the Diamondbacks. That is NOT my first game ever attended. That is for another story. Also, this ticket does not have a stub, unlike all of the newer ones.  
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Back in 2003, the ticket was the same. This was from when I used to write the score on the ticket. Apparently the Mets lost 6-3. It was fun when they had 12:30 starts. I would go with my day camp and sit in the nosebleed seats. Still, no stub on the ticket. 
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So, if you are keeping track. The tickets from 2002 and 2003 are the same. 
For some unknown reason, I could not find a ticket from 2004. So, I had to look one up on Google images, and I came up with this. It is unknown if it has a stub. 
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This ticket is different than the tickets listed above, and it is different than the ones you will see below.
 I am making the conclusion that this is the year the Mets changed the ticket design. 
The tickets in 2005, 2006, and 2007 are all the same. The one on the top is from my birthday in 2005. The one in the middle is from Lastings Milledge’s first MLB home run. Finally, the one on the bottom is from John Maine’s almost no hitter in 2007, the day before the Mets first collapse, which was 2 years after the first ticket. 
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The tickets from 2004-2007 are pretty much the same. 
The 2006 ticket has seen more light, and has faded more than the other ones. 
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Since 2008 was the final year at old Shea Stadium, the Mets commemorated it with their tickets for that year. This is a ticket from a ticket plan. The one underneath it is a typical box office ticket that I got from Zack Hample’s blog because I don’t have one.
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I personally think the Shea Stadium final year logo is one of the better logos in recent memory. Especially compared to the Citi Field inaugural year logo, which can be seen below. This is your typical box office ticket.. 
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The tickets below are both from ticket plans, one is from 2009 and one is from this season. IMG_5968.JPG
I have not found a 2010 regular generic ticket yet, but when I do, I will let you guys in on what it looks like. So, from 2003-2009 at least, generic box office tickets are the same with the blue and white stripes, although the logos inside change. I will leave you with a final picture of my bulletin board, which contains tickets from almost every professional sporting event that I have every gone to, with some exceptions.  
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The picture of K-Rod is part of my 2010 Mets calendar. Most of the tickets are not from baseball, but some are. Hopefully I will add to this board soon. 
Thanks for Reading- Howie 

April 9, 2010 @ Citi Field

I got to Citi Field yesterday. It was on such short notice, that by the time I found out I was going to the game, it was 3:45 and I had almost no chance of BP. My friend Danny took me to todays game and we got there at around 6. I finally got my picture with the Shea Stadium Home Run Apple. Of course the H in home run was not in the picture. 

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I like what they did with that. It is better than last year when it was in a corner behind the bullpens. Like I said, I got there at around 6 and had tickets in section 113, which is right behind the Mets dugout. I stayed there and tried to get one of the Nationals to throw me a ball, and it failed. Then I went into the corner near the dugout and got Alex Cora’s autograph. Here is a short video of him signing that I posted on Youtube. I got him on a card and a ball, which can be seen below. 

                   After getting Cora. The weather took a rapid spike. It got cold and windy fast. So, Danny and I went to our seats 5 rows behind the Mets dugout. To make a long story short, I tried for 3rd out balls and tried to get Razor Shines, the Mets first base coach, to toss the first baseman’s warm up ball to us, but it never happened. During the game, it was so cold and windy that I needed gloves.  The Mets won 8-2 behind Mike Pelfrey’s solid outing and 2 homers by each Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas.  After the game, I stopped at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. 

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Here are today’s Alex Cora autographs. 
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Sadly, I wont be at another game for quite some time. I have gotten some TTM autographs. HERE is a link to my YouTube account. Feel free to watch whatever you want.            Thanks for Reading,
                       Howie
Also, the Mets only win when I go to the games.That is actually true now. (2-5) I think I need more tickets for more games. 

April 5, 2010 @ Citi Field *Opening Day*

I went to Mets Opening Day on Monday at Citi Field. I had a great time, so let us get right to it. 

My father and I arrived at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda gate at around 10 AM. We were right at the front of the line and that was a good thing. I also was armed with a new yellow t-shirt. 
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That is correct. I got the Happy Youngster t-shirt.  It is a long story, and a special thanks to the Happy Youngster himself for the shirt. (The link above goes to his blog.) As soon as the gates opened at 10:30, I was off and running into the stadium. I chose to take the stairs rather than the escalator, and even though I tripped like 5 times wile running up the stairs, it was a good idea. 
I was running in the concourse down the third base line and I saw a security guard standing on the field holding a ball, I sprinted down the steps and asked him for the ball, and he tossed it straight into my glove, and within 2 minutes of me running into the stadium, BALL #1 was in the books. It was also a Citi Field commemorative ball from last season. Ball #1 is shown below. 
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It was the first ball given to a fan during the 2010 regular season  at Citi Field and the first Citi Field commemorative ball that I have ever snagged. On my mygameballs.com page, I counted it as a found ball because I found the security guard holding the ball. Literally a minute after I got this ball the person standing next to me noticed Nate Robertson of the Marlins was walking back to the dugout, and we asked Nate to sign, and he said sure. I got him to sign a separate ball that I had brought to get signed. He even signed  it on the sweet spot. Thanks Nate!
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Then I settled down in a good spot in the front row right behind where the Marlins started playing catch, but first during the end of Mets batting practice, Luis Castillo, hit a hard foul ball down the line bounced foul on the field then went into the stands and hit me in the thigh. I said, “Ouch.” as I bent down and picked up BALL #2, also a Citi Field commemorative ball. Here is that ball: 
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You could say I was a little happy. 
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During this time, I got so unlucky that I don’t even want to share the details on the blog. My bad luck changed when Anibal Sanchez threw me BALL #3. It was pretty much brand new, except for a small green mark on the sweet spot. After  he threw me the ball, Jose Veras, a reliever on the Marlins, started signing, and I got him to sign the ball Sanchez just gave me. 
Here is a picture of him signing:
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If you can see me, I am in the teal Marlins hat. Here is ball #3, which was signed by Veras. verassignedball3.JPG
Then, after with a quick photo with the 3 balls, we were off to the seats for the game.
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The game went great. The Mets won 7-1 behind David Wright’s 2 run homer and Johan’s solid outing.
See you next time from Citi Field
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Thanks for reading- Howie

Apology and a Long Winter

Before I say anything, I would like to apologize for not blogging pretty much all winter. It was baseball’s off season, and I guess I took an offseason also. The winter was long, and baseball is finally almost back. I wish José Reyes’ injury was an April Fools joke, but it sadly is not. But since I had a long time away from the blog, my mail stack grew larger, and I will share that with you guys now. 

Former Brave and Pirate, Sid Bream, who is most notably known for a play simple known as “The Slide”, signed my cards. For those of you who don’t know what “The Slide” is, click HERE.
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Former 3 time all star pitcher, Dan Plesac, signed a card. 

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Met Legend and 1969 Miracle Met, Bud Harrelson, signed 2 cards, and one of the cards is from the Long Island Ducks team set. 
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A man whose birthday is in less than 2 weeks, Woodie Fryman, signed a card in black pen, making the signature pretty hard to see. 
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1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillie Del Unser signed all 3 of my cards. 
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A man who has been in baseball for over half a century, Don Zimmer, signed all my cards, my index card, and even personalized one of the cards. I appreciate him for that. 
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You have to remember Jon Lieber, he signed all 3 of my cards. 
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(Is my scanner really that bad that I missed the top of all the cards?)
During spring training, I wrote to a couple current players, no superstars, just a few pitchers. 
Orioles starter, Koji Uehara, signed a card. He either signed it or scribbled on it and wrote 19.
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Ryan Rowland-Smith, Mariners reliever, signed a card. 
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Lastly, White Sox pitcher John Danks signed a card. 
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That is all for the ttm cards. I will be at Citi Field for Mets Opening Day on Monday. 
Thanks for Reading. 
Howie
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