Even though Kelly and I did not hop on the light rail until about 3:30, we still made it down to the stadium at 4:00. When we got to Gate H, Grant Edrington was the first in line. Grant is also a ball hawk, but he goes to school at Villanova, making it a little tough for him to attend most of the games during the semester at Oriole Park. But, last time he was at Oriole Park for a game, he snagged a game home run — his first ever — on the flag court hit by Quintin Berry (then with the Red Sox).
Of course, we were in the bag check line; it is impossible to ball hawk (or spend more than five hours at the stadium) without a backpack. Obviously, you need it as a place to keep your baseballs, but, especially early in the season, you need to bring a long jackets for later in the night. Tonight, the jacket du jour was the ever-hated rain jacket. Bleh. Forecasts said rain on and off for most of the game. Even though it was not going to be hard enough to delay the game, according to most meteorologists, sitting out in the rain is never fun.
But, checking bags at Camden Yards is brutal. The employees who check the bags are some of the least personable people working at Camden Yards. You would think after seeing a person every day you come to work, that you would recognize them, and maybe act nicely towards them. Nope. I’m not even sure these women recognize I’m there every game, and they are just as nasty to me as they are to everybody else. And do not even get me started on how lazy, and unmotivated to work they are. It may seem like I am being harsh on these people, but when you deal with them 60+ times a year, you will realize what I am saying is true.
Also, notice the turnstiles in the picture above. That photo was taken a little after 4, not long after I arrived at the gates, so there is no reason for there to be anyone working at the turnstiles. However, the gates to the stadium open at 5; always have. Today, when the clock hit 5, the turnstiles looked just as they did at 4. There were exactly ZERO employees ready to scan tickets (aka do their job).
When the gates finally did open, the worker at the turnstile I was planning on going through did not have her scanner on. They quite literally have one job: scan peoples tickets.
The overall experience of dealing with the employees you first encounter at Camden Yards is honestly embarrassing. When you first get to a stadium — whether it be your first time or your 500th — you should feel welcomed and that you are entering a well-working, prepared stadium. Instead, the employees outside Gate H, the stadium’s most popular gate, make people feel as if they are a burden.
Okay, end of my rant.
Since the scanner was not working at the turnstile I originally chose, I had to wait until just about everybody else in line went through so I could get my ticket scanned by someone else.
It may seem like I am making too big of a deal about being one of the first people in the stadium, but getting in early could make a big difference on the day’s ball hawking stats. Remember, when the gates open at 5, the Orioles have been taking batting practice for at least 30 minutes. While there are groundskeepers and ushers who are supposed to clear all the balls out of the seats and throw them back onto the field before the fans enter, many times they miss a few. So, if you are one of the first people in the left field bleachers, you get some easy pickings.
Of course, Alex Kopp and Grant both got into left field before I did. Heck, even Kelly did. And yes, there were a few balls that were around for them to pick up.
Orioles’ BP was kind of bland. As always, Chris Davis was mashing balls, but the majority of those went to the right-center field bleachers.
Kelly took a few photos, though. Here I am manning my spot, waiting for something to happen:
Here is one with Alex Kopp manning his spot in front of me:
And here’s a panoramic:
The only real fun we had in left was when Jonathan Schoop took his cuts; and boy did he take some cuts. The kid has some serious BP pop. He was consistently knocking shots over all the seats and way over my head. He even hit one here:
No, not to Grant and his lion-ous mane at the bottom of the photo. And no, not to the guy in the back row. You see that “Plumbers & Pipe Fitters Union” sign on club level? Yeah, Jonathan Schoop cleared that.
Not long after that blast, the Orioles wrapped up BP early. While the Blue Jays were still doing their pre-BP warm-ups, I went to right-center field with my ball retriever. I had seen a ball fall into the gap a couple minutes before that, and I figured this break in action would be a better time than ever.
When I got to section 88, I said hello to the very friendly usher who works the section. I really cannot stress it enough: he is really a great guy and always makes me, and everyone else, feel welcomed. And he certainly is not the only one. There are numerous of ushers around the outfield who I see every game and they always recognize me and say hello. I can really tell they enjoy their job. Not all Camden Yards employees are like the ones outside of Gate H, I promise.
Back to that ball in the gap. Check it out:
As you can see, the ball was kind of close to that pipe, making it a bit more difficult to retrieve. But it was not really a problem for me. All I had to do was knock it away from the pipe, and pull it up.
The best part was that no one was around the ball. As I have mentioned before, I always give away the balls I get with my ball retriever. Most of the time it is because the ball fell there in the first place because a young fan dropped it. This time, it simply ended up there after being hit, and there was no one standing over top of it. So I just pulled it up, put it in my pocket and went right back to left field with my first ball of the day.
At the time, I had no idea. But apparently, Kelly snapped a photo of from left field while I was fishing the ball out:
After quickly realizing the first group of Jays batters were mostly left-handed, I went back to the right-center bleachers. Kelly and I fought through the usual Eutaw Street crowd and made it to the tunnel behind the bleachers. I originally was planning to enter the seats through the entrance between sections 94 and 96, but a guy was standing right in the middle of the walkway, taking a picture of God knows what. Instead of moving him, I just went down the stairs that go a quarter of the way down the middle of section 96.
I guess I have to thank the guy taking the picture because right when I walked down the steps, a ball was coming right towards me. Since for some weird architectural reason the stairs end rather abruptly, I had to climb over two rows of seats while tracking the ball. As I was doing so, a guy a few rows down stood up with a glove in his hand. He looked like he was going to make the catch. Knowing how poorly most fans catch, I was simply worried about catching a deflection into my face. But the ball kept carrying and went over his glove and sailed to my right.
Thinking quickly (but not very smartly), I reached out with my bare hand. The ball hit my middle two fingers and fell into the seat in front of me. Luckily, I was able to grab the ball before the guy in front of me could, marking my second ball of the day. My hand was stinging pretty good, and I felt pretty stupid about doing that. But I am happy to say that none of my fingers are broken and my hand is okay as a whole.
After putting that ball in my bag, I grabbed a spot on a full stairwell.
Another Jays’ lefty sent a shot towards me. Initially, I tracked it down the steps, but then retreated back. I ended up making a clean backhanded grab over my head, for my 3rd ball of the day.
When the first group of Jays finished up, I went back to left field, knowing the big thumpers of Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista were going to be up. Per usual, they did not disappoint. But, with a growing crowd in the seats, there was not much room to run for them. I did end up out-hustling some people to grab two balls out of the seats, marking balls #4 and #5 on the day.
I ended up back in right-center for the Jays’ 3rd BP group, but came up empty. I headed back to left field for their fourth group and was able to make a clean catch off the bat of Erik Kratz, my 6th of the day.
Kelly and I spent our time sitting here for the game:
Adam Jones had a long fly out that looked good off the bat and caused me to race down the stairs after it, thinking it would carry out. Of course, that did not happen, and I left the game once again without a home run and without a 60th Anniversary commemorative ball.
Season Stats:
4 games
17 balls
– 9 hit
– 5 ball retrieved
– 2 thrown
– 1 found
