BAL v. NYY
DET v. CLE
TB v. BOS
LAA v. TOR
KC v. TEX
CWS v. OAK
MIN v. SEA

9 Home, 6 Away

Results:

6-9 .400

29-50 .367

Home Team Record: 13-26 .333
Visiting Team Record: 16-24 .400

AL: 14-23 .378
NL: 15-27 .357

BAL v. NYY
OAK v. DET
TB v. BOS
TOR v. KC
MIN v. SEA

5 Home, 3 Away

Results:

3-5 .375

23-41 .359

Home Team Record: 10-20 .333
Visiting Team Record: 13-21 .382

AL: 10-20 .333
NL: 13-21 .382

I'm not sure why the Home/Visitor and AL/NL numbers are the same...

BOS v. BAL
NYY v. CLE
OAK v. DET
TOR v. KC
SEA v. CWS
TB v. TEX
MIN v. LAA

Home Team: 9
Visiting Team: 6

Record:

7-8 .467

20-36 .357

Home Team Record: 7-18 .280
Visiting Team Record: 13-18 .419

AL: 8-18 .308
NL: 12-18 .400

A good day...

BOS v. BAL
NYY v. CLE
OAK v. DET
TOR v. KC
SEA v. CWS
TB v. TEX
MIN v. LAA

5 Home, 10 Visitors

Results:

3-12 .200

13-28 .317

Home Team Record: 2-14 .125
Visiting Team Record: 11-14 .440

AL: 5-14 .263
NL: 8-14 .364

I'm really bad at this...

We started to map out the trip and throw some dates around.  The first step was to look at the schedules of teams from here to Minneapolis to see which ones were playing at home.  Early June was the obvious timeframe because it had the most teams on their home stands.  The trip was decided to start on June 3 (the day after my graduation) and we would return home on June 11.  My brother Thomas is in middle school and didn’t get out until later in June so he couldn’t join us on the trip.  However, he did come with us to the first stop: Philadelphia - June 3.

Philadelphia:  Citizens Bank Park, June 3.  Phillies v. Giants

My dad, my brother, and I hopped in the car after church in the morning rushing to Philly for the 1:35 P.M. game.  The gates open two hours prior to the game but we got there around noon.  It didn’t matter much though because batting practice was rained out.  The rain was supposed to start falling in the early innings and rain out the game but it actually held off so they could get all nine innings in.

Snagging wise, Philly was very dead.  Very few players throwing before the game + my lacking a Giants hat = no baseballs from Citizens Bank.

The game featured Tim Lincecum starting against Freddy Garcia.  The game got off to an exciting start when Randy Winn deposited the second pitch of the game into the right centerfield seats.  Garcia went on the strike out the next three hitters and sent the Phils up to bat in what became an uneventful bottom half of the first.  Bengie Molina led off the second inning with a home run and then Garcia settled down for the next few innings until the Giants put up a three run fourth then a two run fifth. 

The only real excitement for me during the game was when Barry Bonds was a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh.  We were sitting in the cheap seats over the first baseline when Bonds came up the dugout steps.  He hadn't been standing in the on deck circle so I didn't know he was going to hit, leaving me in foul territory (and two decks too high).  But the baseball gods answered my prayers and the Phillies changed pitchers, giving us enough time to run to right field in case Bonds sent one deep...

He didn’t. But it was exciting anyways.

The Phillies answered the Giants' two long balls with four of their own, including a walk off home run by Shane Victorino.  A fitting end to Shane Victorino Hula Figurine Day. 

Final score:  Giants - 8, Phillies - 9
Oh, and it was very, very rainy.

Pittsburgh:  PNC Park, June 4.  Pirates v. Dodgers

My dad and I checked into our hotel after a four hour drive across Pennsylvania’s wonderful, never ending road construction.  We headed over to the stadium as soon as we dropped our bags in the hotel room.  Parking was very easy with all of the lots right next to PNC, making for a short walk to the ticket booth.  We bought $27 tickets right behind the plate.  What a deal.  The Dodgers were on the field taking BP when we walked in so I ran out to right field to start begging for baseballs and competing for home runs.  Unfortunately only one ball made it’s way into the right field bleachers and it landed 10 rows above me and then bounced 10 feet to my left into the hands of an unsuspecting lady.  Chad Billingsly completely ignored my requests for a ball as did Rudy Seanez and Takashi Saito... if only I knew another language besides English and Spanish.  No balls from PNC.  Tragic, I know.

Derek Lowe started against Paul Maholm. Maholm wasn’t much to speak of, going 6.2 giving up four earned runs on eight hits while striking out three.  However, Derek Lowe WAS much to speak of as he carried a no hitter through the sixth inning.  He unraveled in the seventh, giving up three runs and even a home run to Xavier Nady.  The Bucs rally fell short in the end, losing six to five.

Final Score:  Dodgers - 6,  Pirates - 5

After the game we got lost for about five minutes in Pittsburgh's confusing highway jumble.  After going right to bed, we woke up early and drove to Cleveland.

That's all for now, I'll try to post the rest of the trip but I'm leaving for college in five days so I can't promise anything...

Go Twins

BOS v. BAL
NYY v. CLE
OAK v. DET
TOR v. KC
SEA v. CWS
TB v. TEX
MIN v. LAA

Results:

7-8 .467

10-16 .385

Home Team Record: 2-9 .182
Visiting Team Record: 8-7 .533

AL: 2-10 .167
NL: 8-6 .571

TB v. DET
MIN v. KC
SEA v. BAL
CLE v. CWS

Results (first result is that day's games, all others are season stats):

3-8 .273

3-8 .273

Home Team Record: 0-5 .000
Visiting Team Record: 3-3 .500

AL: 0-4 .000
NL: 3-4 .429

In his 10 starts, the Twins have scored 36 runs, 3.6 runs per game.  The only player who seems to be helping Santana is Justin Morneau, he has homered six times in the 10 starts.

In WINS: 25 runs, 5 runs per game
In LOSSES: 8 runs, 2 runs per game
In NO DECISION: 3 runs, 3 runs per game

I'm not saying Santana should be 10-0, just maybe 7-2.

But his wins should start reflecting his stats because he is pitching phenomenally again...
May (last four starts)
25 IP
21H + 7 BB = 1.12 WHIP
2.16 ERA
35 SO
6 ER (4 by way of the long ball)

So if Santana eliminates the gopher ball, he would be really close to pitching shut-out baseball.

11 days until Philly...

June 3rd, San Francisco @ Philadelphia, 1:35 P.M.
June 4th, Los Angeles @ Pittsburgh, 7:05 P.M.
June 5th, Kansas City @ Cleveland, 7:05 P.M.
June 6th, New York Yankees @ Chicago White Sox, 7:11 P.M. (what a gimmick)
June 7th, Drive to Minneapolis, all day.
June 8th, Washington @ Minnesota, 7:10 P.M.
June 9th, Washington @ Minnesota, 7:10 P.M.
June 10th, Drive home.

We are skipping Detroit because we have already seen it and frankly, don’t like the Tigers.  Other than H.H.H Metrodome, I’ve never seen any of the parks we will be going to, so I really can’t wait.

As for my baseball collection, I finished last season with a total of 30 balls.  I’d like to get to 50 by the end of the trip, but it will be difficult because I don’t have a printer on the road, so I’ll either have to print all of the rosters before I leave or go without them.  This trip is definitely more about the fun of traveling around the country from stadium to stadium than collecting baseballs, though.  So I won’t be upset at all if I don’t come home with a single baseball.

I'll see what happens... but hey, only a few more months until spring training.

Go Wild!

The Minnesota Twins took over the American League Wild Card lead yesterday with a victory over the Chicago White Sox.  The Twins played excellent come-from-behind baseball with everyone in the lineup contributing.  Ozzie Guillen was quoted in saying: "If we don't wake up, they will sweep us in the weekend."

Oh, how sweet a sweep would be.

By the way, Detriot...

Only 5 games back...

As we (my dad, my brother, and I) were walking up to the ticket booth to purchase seats, a man approached us about selling our Melvin Mora bobbleheads (it was the second promotion this series! first Miguel Tejada bag night, then Melvin Mora bobblehead night! Oh my!).  This man said that he works in Baltimore but he can't go to the game but his kids at home NEED these bobbleheads.  We didn't really care for Melvin Mora bobbleheads, so we sold him three for $20.  That's a few hot dogs.

Once I was in the park I went straight to the left field line where the Twins pitchers were warming up.  Only Twins fan in sight.  Easy ball from Matt Guerrier (it's nice when the Twins come to town because I don't need a roster to recognize them).  Dennys Reyes was still long tossing with Juan Rincon once the Twins BP started so I figured I would get another easy one from him.  I asked him politely if I could have it when he was done.  He didn't acknowledge me, but I'm sure he heard me because he was only seven feet away.  I noticed Matt Garza was standing about 20 feet away on the left field line.  I congratulated him on his first win and he pointed back at me.  He wouldn't come over and sign the ticket stub though because he was protecting Reyes from being hit by any baseballs.  Too bad.  The Twins will be back in September.  Back to Reyes-Rincon.  Rincon overthrew Reyes and the ball was caught by a man sitting in his seat next to his girlfriend.  Reyes said he would give the man the ball once he was done.  Darn.

I still hadn't gotten a ball from Joe Nathan this series, so I went to right center (where my seat was) to try him out.  He usually rewards Twins fans.  The problem with him was that he was standing more in front of the scoreboard, so he would never field a ball and then flip it to me because he was too far away.  I had to readjust.  I ran up the stairs, across the standing room only, into the right field foul line seats, down the steps, and stood on the railing.  I needed someone to hit the ball to right field.  Cue Torii Hunter.  It was work-on-hitting-the-ball-the-opposite-way round in BP, so he was hitting everything to right.  Joe Nathan came over to pick one up.  I yelled his name.  He looked up and floated me one.  Green stamped Training Ball, ewwwwww.  That was the conclusion of my snagging for the day, so I'll tell some stories now.

Story One:
Back when I was on the left field line, my brother came over to me from right center to tell me how he got a ball.  He was eating his hot dog in his seat, not trying to get any baseballs (he has 9 total) when a homerun was coming his way.  He ducked.  The ball landed in the seat next to him and stuck there.  How lucky is that?!  Here I am working for some balls and he gets one just eating a hot dog.  I told him to go away and buy another hot dog.

Story Two:
While I was making my way to the right field seats to get the Nathan ball, my dad stopped me in the standing room only section to tell me this story.  There was a guy running around catching every ball that was hit up there.  He caught four or five in a row on the fly.  He collided with my brother, knocking my brother down causing him to scratch up his leg, while making a catch.  My dad had one hit his hands and fall to the ground, where the guy picked it up.  Eventually, an usher told him he had to leave the standing room only area.  My dad asked the usher why he made the man leave.  The usher had two points: One, he is stealing balls from little kids.  Two, he already has nine balls.
Those are stupid reasons.  One, there are no little kids in the standing room only section because it's really dangerous for them.  The balls come flying in really, really fast.  Plus, the kids would probably get trampled by the mob chasing after the ball.  Two, who cares how many balls he already has.  There is no rule saying you aren't allowed to catch this or that many balls and it's not up to the usher to decide how many is enough.

During the game, we had some fun interaction with Michael Cuddyer carrying over from last night.  Whenever he would come back to right field after picking up an RBI the inning before, we would go to the wall and tap our noses at him.  He would smile and tap his nose back.  It's nice to have players acknowledge and interact with their fans, it is proof that baseball is the best game on there is.  Can you see T.O. chatting up with some fans before the game on how his hammies are feeling?  I talked to Rondell White about his injury and how he was feeling two days in a row.  He remembered me from the day before and he told me he was DHing today and is happy to be back and playing (he ended up getting a single).

Stats:
2 balls
30 lifetime!  I reached my goal for this season.  Next up is 50.
I'm averaging 1.8 balls per game this season... just above the snagging Mendoza line.  18 balls over 10 games.

Goodnight, Camden Yards... see you in a month.

My dad, my brother, my friend, and I decided to buy right center field tickets for $15 in row AA -- right on the wall.  We bought our tickets at about 5:02 and the gates open up at about 5:05 (ahh... I love Camden).  For the second straight night, I stuck to the standing room only area to catch some homeruns.  Nothing.  At Camden, only season ticket holders have access to the entire park at 5:05; the rest of us have to wait until 5:30.  Once the clock struck 30 past five, I headed down to the Twins dugout where Ron Gardenhire was throwing with Steve Liddle (bench coach).  Next to them, Mike Redmond was throwing with Michael Cuddyer.  I called out, "MIIIIKE!" He looked over at me. "YOU GOTTA SMELL EM! (as I tapped my nose).  He laughed along with Gardenhire.  If you don't understand what I'm talking about, click this link and scroll all the way down to the last question and read it.  Once Gardy and Liddle finished throwing, Liddle tossed me the ball -- number 26th ball all time.

I left the dugout and went to the left field line where some pitchers were warming up.  I asked Carlos Silva if he could toss me the ball after he was done, but he stiffed me.  Dennys Reyes was throwing with Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan.  Joe finished up and tossed his ball into the left field seats.  Behind Dennys there was me, my brother, two other Twins fans, and a little kid in a black Orioles hat.  The black hatter wouldn't leave Dennys alone.  "Hey, Twins pitcher, pitcher pitcher pitcher, pitcher, give me that ball, hey, listen to me, I want that ball, Twins guy, hey man, give me the ball, ball, ball!"  After about three straight minutes of this, Dennys turned around, looked at the kid, and said: "Hey man, chill out, I'll give it to you when I'm done."  I really hoped that little kid didn't end up with that ball.  Fortunately, I wouldn't have to stick around to find out.  Someone had laced a line drive into the corner where Boof Bonser was standing.  Boof picked it up... surveyed the crowd... and tossed me the ball.  After that, I went out to left field so Thomas (my brother) could work on that Dennys Reyes ball.

I saw that Pat Neshek was standing by himself in left center and there were no Twins fan behind him.  Yay.  I walked over behind him and called out: "NESHEK (pronounced knee sheck or knee shack)... LOVE THE WEBSITE MAN!"  He smiled and waved.  The next ball he got, he tossed to me.  That was the conclusion of my snagging for the day, but I was happy.  I talked to Rondell White for about a minute about how he was feeling.  He told me he gets of the DL today and is happy to be back.  He really is a nice guy, too bad he can't hit the baseball this year.

Matt Garza started warming up in the bullpen, so I went over to watch him.  He looked good.  Check out my view.

That is Josh Rabe standing in like a batter for Garza.  Garza was mostly whistling in 95+ mph fastballs until he mixed in a curveball which started out going right for Rabe's head and then took a 90º turn into Mauer's glove.  Sttttttttriiiiiikeeee.  After the pitch, Rabe turned to Mauer saying: "I told you I'd flinch [at that curveball headed for my head]."

Garza looked good and he was good.  He went 6 innings with ZERO earned runs picking up his first Major League win.  Ticket stubs everyone.

Stats:

3 balls
28 total balls

I'll be back today for the third game of the series.  Hopefully I won't get recognized.