Never Seen That Before
As I have mentioned in some of my previous entries, I collect baseball cards.
In my basement, there are boxes upon boxes of cards. I would have to make the over/under for the number of individual cards that I have 15,000. Occasionally I go through some of them. The oldest cards date back to the early 1970s. But recently when I got a few packs of cards at my local card store. I got a new brand, 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen. In a pack, I saw a thick card, and when I got to it, I saw something that I have never seen before. Have a look below.
(No picture here because MLBlogs is not letting me upload pictures. So HERE is a link that I posted the picture on.)
If anyone has any information on what this is or how rare it is, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for Reading- Howie
4/22/11 @ Citi Field
First off, I would like to apologize for not writing frequently during the offseason. It was the offseason, and baseball was not in the front of my mind. But now, on to this game.
WIth spring break winding down, I decided to head out to Citi Field with my friend Richard after buying cheap tickets on StubHub. Too bad we didn’t sit in those seats once, but I’ll get to that later. After waiting on line for a good 15 minutes and watching many others walk into the stadium ahead of us, Richard and I got a good spot down the left field foul line in foul territory.
After about 10 minutes, a guy wearing a Diamondbacks hoodie and thick gloves just leaned up against the railing a foot from Richard and I. We thought he was just a trainer/coach, so we thought nothing of it. Eventually a small child approached him and said, “Mister, can you sign my ball?” After reading his signature, we realized the man standing right next to us was none other than Armando “Mr. Imperfect” Galarraga. After scrambling through my bag to get something for him to sign, Armando signed a ball and a page in my autograph book for me and a ball for Richard. You can see what I got signed at the bottom of this entry. Then right before he left, he took a photo with me. Thanks Armando!!
As you can see, everyone around me was oblivious as to what was happening.
Shortly after that, a foul ball flew over my head, hit a chair pretty hard, and was snatched up by the guy standing right next to me. That’s my luck with BP balls recently. I can’t catch a break.
Then I got another autograph, this time from pitcher Barry Enright. Here is a short clip I took of him signing for some people. Thanks Barry!
Then, shortly before the game, I got another autograph from former Yankee pitcher, Ian Kennedy. Thanks Ian! Here is a clip of what NOT to get signed at the dugout.
I’m going to pause with this entry for a second to talk about something that is my pet peeve.
When a player is signing autographs at the dugout. Make sure you have something that you can throw easily. Ian did sign this guy’s card, but he could have easily thrown it out and left. Just bring a ball/hat/glove or something like that. And make sure you have a pen.
That was all the stuff I got before the game. However, I did manage to run into published author and possibly the greatest ballhawk ever, Zack Hample. Richard and I talked to him for a few minutes while he signed my copy of his most recent book, The Baseball. I HIGHLY recommend it. It provides a new perspective on the baseball itself with new information that you probably don’t know. Zack managed to snag 3 balls on the day, and you can read his account of the day on his blog by clicking HERE. Then we took a picture together. Thank You Zack!!!
The game itself was very entertaining. Mike Pelfrey pitched 7 great innings on a sick stomach. I won’t go into details, because I don’t want you to do what Mike almost did on the mound. Joe Saunders also pitched great, leaving without allowing a run through 6+ innings. Then Ike Davis came to the plate and smacked one off the deep center field wall. It was originally called a double, but I noticed that it never hit below the orange line on the wall in center field. As soon as the umpires ruled it a double, I was in the aisle screaming home run and giving the homer signal. The umpires agreed with me and changed the call to a homer. Watch Ike’s blast HERE.
You can see me in the blue circle below when Ike came home.
Fast Forward to the bottom of inning number 8. As you can see by the above photo, I ended up sitting in great seats (Not the ones we bought.) So when Daniel Murphy hit a Juan Gutierrez foul and Mets third base coach Chip Hale ended up with it, I was down the stairs in the front ball waiting for Hale to throw it to someone. He lobbed it straight in my direction, and about ten different hands all went up for the ball, and since I was the only one with a glove, I had the upper hand. All of a sudden, BAM, the ball went right into the webbing of my glove, and after pushing a guy off my mitt, the ball was mine. My first ball during a game this season. It is a beauty, rubbed up in mud with visible marks of dirt and grass on it, as you can see at the bottom of this entry.
That was it for the game as the Mets held on to win it 4-1.
After the game I bumped into Zack, who didn’t get a ball at the Diamondbacks dugout, and we took another photo together, and I am the one who is holding a ball. (It was cold, that is why I am wearing gloves in many pictures)
A very successful day at the ballpark for everyone.
Today’s Autographs:
Barry Enright Ian Kennedy
Armando Galarraga I got a ball I snagged at a game last season signed.
The one baseball I snagged today:
Thanks For Reading- Howie
Meeting Ike Davis
First off I would like to apologize, it is the off season, so I am taking most of the winter off. But about a month ago, I had a fortunate experience and I was able to meet Mets first baseman Ike Davis. It was on December 18, 2010.
The signing was scheduled to be at a Citibank from 1:00-2:30 PM. I got there just before 11, and after taking care of other business, I got on line at 11:30 AM. There were about 20 people ahead of me. After entertaining myself for about an hour, my father, who has relations with Citi, told me to come with him to, “See something in the bank.” Reluctantly, I followed him and left my spot on line. I then entered a small room filled with couches, tables, and good food. Then I realized that I was in the VIP room. At about 1 on the dot, everyone was asked to form a line. I got on line second. Then, one by one, each family was called into a room for a special meet and greet with Ike Davis. This next picture describes what happened next.
It was very personal and Ike is a very friendly man. Ike signed a few things for me, and here is a video of Ike signing for some people. Ike signed, and signed, and signed. The pubic must have been getting antsy when this happened.
Here is a hat that I got Ike to sign.
Overall, a very successful day.
I will have more entries up as the season approaches
Thanks for Reading-Hoiwe
October 1, 2010 @ Citi Field
In terms of quality, this was an o.k. day at best. In terms of quantity, this was a great day.
My birthday was last week, so my dad got tickets for my friends and I and we went to Citi Field right after school last Friday. I wasn’t optimistic that there would be BP, and I ended up being right. Originally, my friends and I went down near the Mets dugout to try to get autographs. However, I quickly went over to the the Nationals side when their pitchers started warming up. Soon after that, John Lannan, from Long Island, to sign a ball for me. He kept on moving around and I literally had to run in circles to finally get him.
After they were done warming up, Craig Stammen and Tyler Clippard to sign the same baseball. Below is Stammen, who is wearing his glove on his head, and Clippard is on the right.
Then, closer to the dugout, a player that my friends and I could not recognize was signing near the dugout so I got him to sign the baseball and I also got a picture with him.
Later, I found out it was rookie closer Drew Storen. I took a short video of him signing. You can check it out HERE. The first baseball he signs is mine. Shortly after that, another pitcher stopped and signed for the small group of fans. It was Joe Bisenius, a reliever who has only had a cup of coffee in the big leagues. He also signed my baseball. Here is a video of him signing.
After that, the last two players on the field, veterans Miguel Batista and Joel Peralta walked in, and both signed my baseball. I had to throw and catch the ball while holding the camera at the same time, which was difficult. These would be the final Nationals autographs on the day.
Finally, after getting 7 Nationals autographs before the game, I went back over to the Mets side and got Manny Acosta to sign a different ball for me in a big scrum.
That was all for pre-game. 8 autographs and no baseballs. Right before the game, Jose Reyes signed and I was so close from him, yet I didn’t get him. I got a video, however, check it out HERE.
Finally, after 2 years of going to games at Citi Field, I finally ate shake shack. Single shack burger, fries, and a chocolate shake. Very filling, especially for a ballpark meal. After that, my friends and I settled in our seats in right field and saw an unlikely pitchers duel between Pat Misch and Jordan Zimmerman. Pat Misch struck out 10 over 8 innings and Zimmerman went 6 innings and allowed one run.
Then came the bottom of the 10th, the game had gone by quickly, and rookie catcher Josh Thole stepped in. He got the count to 3-1, and I said, “Put on the green light, risk everything.” I guess Thole heard me because he sent the next pitch in my direction. I jumped out of my seat, however I could do nothing but watch the ball sail straight over my head. You can check out the footage HERE. I am circled in the screen shot below. I was wearing my Nationals hat, and I didn’t even realize it until I took it off until I got home.
That gave the Mets their 78th win of the year, and a good one. That makes 3 different catchers that have hit walk-off homers for the Mets. Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, and now, Josh Thole.
Unless I somehow get Yankees playoff tickets, it looks like my 2010 season is over.
Here are my final autographs.
Manny Acosta Miguel Batista & Joel Peralta
Drew Storen & Joe Bisenius John Lannan, Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen
That’s all for now. I’ll make a full season recap soon.
Thanks for Reading- Howie
Who’s on First?
While in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown last week, one of the exhibits was a TV screen playing an old skit from a play called, “Who’s on First?” After watching it for the first time I was throughly confused and found it hilarious, even though I had no clue what it was. I’ll let you watch it now before I continue on. Here is, “Who’s on First?” by Abbott and Costello.
If you are throughly confused after watching this, click HERE, and now you should be less confused. That’s all for now. I just felt like I should share this tidbit of baseball culture with everybody.
Thanks for Reading- Howie
Cooperstown!
This past week, my family and I took a vacation, and one of the stops was in Cooperstown. After a long drive, we parked on main street. Then, after a short walk down the block, I was in front of this building.
(Does anyone else think it is odd that the U in the word museum looks like a v?)
My family bought tickets that were good for 2 days. We entered, and spent a good chunk of time in the plaque gallery. If you are unfamiliar with the hall of fame, the plaque gallery is where all of the plaques of people that have been inducted into the hall are held and displayed. The first class inducted into the hall of fame was in 1936, and their plaques are displayed right in the middle of the room. If you want to see a close up, click on the picture below and zoom in.
After the plaque gallery, I spent some time exploring the 2 floors of exhibits and artifacts. There was the extremely old…
…to the more recent…
Also, there were many other different interesting and unique artifacts.
One of my favorite ones was a wall that had the game balls from every no hitter and perfect game thrown since 1940.
A hat from each of the Ryan Express’ 7 no hitters.
Everything except the ball from Bobby Thomson’s shot heard round the world.
If you are curious about what happened to the ball, check out this book. I found it very interesting, and it explains what people have been wondering. What happened to the ball?
This artifact is definitely the only one of it’s kind in the world.
There were thousands of different baseball cards on display from many different years.
There were also many exhibits honoring Hank Aaron, one of which is his uniform, and right next to it was an autographed ball from his final career home run.
After leaving the hall of fame, I went down main street looking at all the memorabilia stores. There were quite a few things to choose from.
The only thing I bought was a Ryan Zimmerman signed card for $20. Not a bad deal in my opinion.
I capped off the day by taking some swings at the Doubleday Batting Range. I’m not exactly the greatest hitter, but I got good contact on some of the pitches.
I had a great time in Cooperstown, and any baseball fan, no matter what age, must go to the Hall of Fame at least once in their lifetime. It is one heck of an experience.
Thanks for Reading-
Howie
August 24, 2010 @ Citi Field
First, I would like to apologize that this is the first entry I have written since June. I went away for the summer and got back just a few days ago. Since I got back, I attended the Mets game on August 24. They were hosting the Marlins, and I was looking forward to having a good day.
After taking the only working train on the LIRR, I arrived at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at 4:30, right before the gate was set to open and I was at the front of the line. As soon as I entered the stadium, I went straight to right field to look for easter eggs. Unfortunately, there were none. After throughly searching every single row, I saw that Mets star Mike Pelfrey was holding a ball in is hand. I asked Mike for the baseball and responded by flinging it underhanded toward me. I lunged over the wall as far as I could, but missed the ball and it rolled into the Mo’s zone and stayed there. I waited and waited, and eventually rookie outfielder Jesus Feliciano picked it up and tossed it to me. Right after that, I met my friends at the corner near the Mets dugout to try to get some autographs. Once Mets batting practice was over, my friends left to go to the Marlins side and I waited because I saw Chris Carter signing for people near the dugout. As he was about to go into the tunnel, the people around me, along with myself started yelling at Chris to come and sign. He obliged. I got Chris Carter to sign the ball that he threw me on June 24. I brought it because I heard he is a great signer, and it paid off. Then Chris started signing odd items, like a country club hat, and he even signed some autographs with a pencil. It was kind of odd. Since I was stuck in the corner, I also got to take a picture with him, which was good because I rarely take pictures with players. I took a video of him signing, and you can see that HERE.
After that, I met my friends on the Marlins side and got rookie catcher Brett Hayes to sign a ball for me. I snapped a picture of him right before he left for the dugout.
Shortly after that, a light mist started to fall and BP went dead. All I had was a ball and two autographs. Not great, but I was happy just to get anything.
Then, with a light rain falling, my friends and I settled down in our seats, which were about 10 rows behind the tarp on the 3rd base side. I have always wanted to see knuckleballer R.A. Dickey pitch live, and tonight was my lucky night, as he was facing Marlins ace Josh Johnson.
The game went back and forth, with the Mets and Marlins having multiple lead changes. The biggest one was in the bottom of the 9th, game tied at 5. Will Ohman was pitching for the Marlins and the Mets had runners on first and second for Luis Castillo. To my surprise, Castillo lifted a bloop single into shallow right field, scoring rookie Ike Davis to give the Mets a 6-5 win.
It was a good win for the Mets, because they were trailing after 7 innings but never gave up and got the win.
Today’s autographs:
Chris Carter
Brett Hayes
Today’s baseball:
That’s all for today, I will be heading to Cooperstown next week, so expect an entry on that when I get back.
Thanks for Reading- Howie
June 24, 2010 @ Citi Field!
I went to Citi Field yesterday. My father bought tickets for the front row in right field from Mets.com for face value. Earlier in the day, at around 2:30 PM, the sky opened up and these were in my front yard:
Yeah, I got hail. It was nuts. It felt like there were bombs going off all around my house. My whole block lost power, and on the way to Citi Field, there were no traffic lights and that made getting there difficult. I was not optimistic that there would be BP, but we decided to go early anyway. To my surprise, when I arrived, the Mets were already hitting. I went to the area where my seats were in right field. I promptly found TWO easter eggs, one sitting in the front row, and another near the foul pole. Right after that, one of the mets coaches, who is circled in the photo below, threw me ball #3.
Shortly after that, my father, who was in foul territory down the line, snagged a ball hit by one of the Mets. It landed in the seats, and he couldn’t find it, so I had to tell him to go down a ro, move to his left, and pick up the ball. This all happened within the first 5 minutes of entering the stadium. That was all I would get for Mets batting practice.
Then, the Tigers came out for BP, and I changed into my Tigers hat. Shortly after, something odd happened. Some Tigers pitchers were standing around and chatting. Out of nowhere, the batter hit a fly ball right towards the Tigers pitchers, they were not paying attention, and the ball NAILED Jeremy Bonderman right in the head. It looked like it hurt. Then, since the Tigers don’t have enough class, they blamed US for not telling them, “Heads up.” Very classy Tigers, blame the fans for your failure to see the ball and lack of attention span. Here is a picture of some Tigers talking to us.
Then, a security guard came out and gave Bonderman a helmet, which he wore for 2 minutes before giving it back. Then, the Tigers trainer came out and took him off the field. I later saw the ball hit him on the head in SportsCenter. Shortly after that, the Tigers gained some class back when Joel Zumaya tossed me ball #4. That was it for BP.
It had 2 weird black marks on it. After that, my father and I took a picture with the baseballs we snagged during BP. I snagged 4, my father snagged 1. 
After that, I saw something that I have never seen before at a baseball stadium. It was in the fan fest area, in the store. This was pretty awesome.
CANDY! I got some, but it was gone pretty quickly. They had 3 levels of candy: Sugar Fix, Sugar Rush, and Sugar High. I got the middle one.
Before the top of the 7th inning, Chris Carter tossed me his warm up ball. I stood up out of my seat, he threw it right to me, piece of cake. Ball #5 was in the books. Here is a picture of me holding the ball Carter threw me with him in the background.
As for the game itself, the Mets made a dramatic comeback, but it fell short. They lost to the TIgers 6-5. Phil Coke struck out David Wright with the bases loaded and the tying run on 3rd.
This is going to be my last game for a little while.
Here are today’s baseballs. 
The top row is balls 1,2, and 3. The bottom row is balls #4 and 5. Here are the sweet spots. Notice the practice stamp on the Mets balls and the black mark on the Zumaya ball.
I am going away for the summer, so this is going to be my last blog entry until mid August.
Thanks for reading, Have a great summer- Howie.
Lets Go Mets!
The Collection Keeps On Growing and an Umpire is Choking
There are two things that I want to deal with in this entry. First off is Armando Gallaraga’s recent “perfect game”. Right before the controversial play, my father took out his iPhone and started filming, he caught both of our reactions to the play live. I am laughing because I actually thought he was safe and that it was funny that he would lose it on the final play. Once I saw the replay, my opinion changed. I posted the video on YouTube within 10 minutes of the game’s conclusion. Here is said video:
On my computer screen is a picture of Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays manager, as I was reading an article on umpires coincidentally and Maddon had something he wanted to say on the topic. Everyone knows what happened. Nothing else need be said on that.
Also, I have gotten a bunch of through the mail autogrpahs lately, they just keep pouring in. I am not going to type any more words about the autographs after this, because they are pretty self-explanatory. So, here they are:
That is everything for now. I’ll try to get an entry or 2 in soon because I have school finals and I am going away for the summer. Thanks for Reading: Howie.
Some Problems
I have this device, that was given to me as a gift a few years ago. It shows live inning by inning scores and up to date standings. This is perfect if you are not going to be home and can’t follow your team. After yesterdays Mets game, I went to check the standings, and I saw this:
The score of the game (sadly) was correct. The standings…not so much. I was going to write a list of all the problems here, but there are just too many. Click on the picture, zoom in and see for yourself. The white mark next to the NL EA is something that I had to delete from the picture, my full name. I don’t need everyone knowing all my information. If you really want some of my information, click here.
The Mets have been in a recent slump, capped off by their walk off wild pitch today.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more.
Thanks for Reading,
Howie
Howie
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