There was something about this Monday night game against the Rays that brought all the ball hawks out to Camden Yards. Of course, there were the regulars of me and Alex Kopp. Also outside Gate H with us was Rick Gold — a ball hawk who cleaned up back in the Bash Brother days in Oakland, and continues to be one of the best in the country. And there was also Zack Hample, often cited as the face of ball hawking today since he has caught more than 7,000 baseballs in his life.
And with the ball hawks was a decent-sized crowd for a weeknight Rays game:
Must be the $6 tickets.
After I was once again harassed by the bag check lady, we all made plans for when we got inside. Zack was more than happy to give Alex and I the head start getting in to left since he was invading our territory. But I already had a plan in my head to go to the right-center field seats first since I’m not usually the first one into left field anyway.
But when the gates opened, I managed to be the first one to get my ticket scanned and go through the turnstiles (with no issues this time!) Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I quickly got over to left field before any other ball hawk could. I ran down the steps, looked through each row and saw nothing until I reached the first row. There was a ball sitting there, so I scooped it up and kept running towards the third base line where most of the balls usually are. Unfortunately, there were no balls there, leaving me with only one ball for my efforts.
With a lull in BP, I snapped a photo of my lonely baseball:
Orioles batting practice went a lot better than it had been, thanks in large part to a seemingly now-healthy J.J. Hardy. Even though I did not get one off of his bat, he still gave me many opportunities.
I was able to catch an opposite field blast off the bat of Chris Davis that just managed to avoid Zack Hample’s glove.
Also, some time during that first group, I managed to scare the baseballs out of myself. While tracking a ball to my left, I saw I had an opportunity to make a catch by stretching out over the railing on the stairwell. Well, with a combination of how quick I was moving and my long stretch, I managed get myself stuck in a bad position. I had hit the railing so hard that my momentum continued to carry me over top of it. Yes, at one point, I was upside down and perpendicular to the ground. Luckily, I had a firm grasp on the railing and was able to right myself. But, woah.
Of course, everybody else saw me hanging upside down, too. Even ushers that work over by the flag court. I have yet to hear the end of that…
Now that we are done with that, the second group of hitters supplied me with my second ball of the day. While I am not entirely sure who hit it, there was a blast sent deep into the left field seats by a right-handed hitter. Since it was well over my head, I had to track the ball up the steps and to my right. Of course, the ball landed before I could make a grab on it, and it started to trickle down the rows. Luckily I was able to smother it with my glove just before Rick Gold could grab it.
With Orioles’ BP over, and knowing how infamously terrible the Rays are during their portion of batting practice, I headed down the third base line where I hoped to snag some grounders off the warning track.
While over there, I ran into a good friend of the Orioles:
Grant Balfour was getting some work in with Rays’ bullpen catch Scott Cursi.
Knowing the guy has some physical injuries that affect how well he can throw a pitch, I had to spend my time watching both the hitters in the catch and Balfour so I didn’t get hit with any baseballs.
No Rays hitters hit any balls my way, and Balfour managed not to overthrow Cursi.
When Balfour was done throwing, he gave the ball to Cursi and walked out to shag some flies. Cursi grabbed his equipment and started to put it away in his bag. Most ball hawks would have asked Cursi for the ball, but I have mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of toss-ups (unless I really need a ball that day, or they are using special commemorative, or it’s a game home run, etc). So I continued watching the batters and left Cursi alone.
During a break in the hitting, I looked over to Cursi and we made eye contact. A new song had just started to play over the PA system.
Cursi: “Who sings this song?”
Crap.
I figured he was doing to me what my dad does all the time: asking me to name the singer of a song that he grew up with, quizzing me on how much old music I know. Most times, I get it right. Sometimes, though, I get it so wrong that I embarrass myself with the answer.
I had to stall. I don’t like being wrong.
Me: “This song?”
Cursi: “Yeah, this song!”
The song had just started, and I really wasn’t listening to it — they are the same set of songs we hear every day during BP. Once I started listening, however, I recognized the tune. When the singer started to sing, I was certain I knew the answer.
Me: “U2!”
Nailed it! It was U2’s new song “Invisible” that debuted during the Super Bowl.
Curise: “Right! Here you go.”
He flipped me the ball that he was just using to warm up Balfour.
Thank you, Bono, for having a unique voice. And thank you, U2, for having a unique sound.
Cursi and I talked a little more about the song. He asked me if I had downloaded when it was free on Super Bowl Sunday and we talked about how it was a pretty good song (he thinks its catchy and goes back to the older-style music).
It was yet another fun memory at the Yards. While Cursi isn’t a well known player — or even a player at all — he is a really nice guy and always has been. It’s always a pleasure to interact with him.
Sometimes, not asking for a ball gets you more than if you ask.
After getting my 4th ball from Cursi, I moved just inside fair territory in left field, hoping someone like Wil Myers would hit one to me. In case you do not know, Myers crushes in BP. He did it again here, too. But everything seemed to go just over my head, and it was a little too crowded to move around.
When that group finished I went to the right-center seats where I had more room.
Check out the area I had to my right (the guy standing with the orange shirt, orange hat and glove on is Rick Gold):
Here was my view:
But nothing came out to me.
After BP, I hung out with Alex Kopp near the sod farm and waited for Orioles’ pitching coach Dave Wallace to retrieve a pair of balls that were left out there. See them?
Bullpen coach Dom Chiti grabbed them instead, and threw them up to some people standing in the standing room only section above the bullpens.
At this point, I am not quite sure if Chiti and Wallace recognize us and don’t like giving us balls. Oh well. We have months to figure that one out.
For the game I sat out in left field by myself. I had plenty of room to move, but also a wicked headache.
Evan Longoria was one home run away from being the Rays’ all time leader, a ball that Longoria would certainly want returned to him. But he never went deep, and neither did anyone else.
Wednesday, 4/16:
Of course, Tuesday’s game was rained out, and Wednesday’s game was a scheduled 12:35 get-away start. I had class until 12:15, but was able to slip out early and drive down to the stadium. I had a parking pass for Lot D, which is on the other side of M&T Bank Stadium. So, in leaving Towson University just before 12, stopping home, driving to Lot D and running to the Yards, I think I made pretty good time: I arrive with two outs in the top of the 1st inning.
As has become normal, this weekday 12:35 start was pretty darn crowded. Check out right-center:
And left field:
It got even more crowded than that.
I ended-up hanging out with Alex by the flag court:
A ballpark friend of mine, Ed, stopped by the flag court to say hi and show off his fancy Wil Myers foul ball he just caught. Here he is showing it off to one of the TV cameras:
The game didn’t have any home runs, so it was kind of boring for me out on the flag court. But the good thing is I was in the sun, so I wasn’t too cold. But I was still wearing layers and could definitely see my breath. Oh yeah, and I managed to get a sunburn on my nose. What the hell?
In the top of the ninth inning, Alex and I went behind home plate to try to get a ball from the home plate umpire after the game. Here was my view for the final out:
Not bad for paying $6, right?
Here’s the tunnel that the umpires leave out of:
Home plate ump Greg Gibson only had two baseballs, and was handing them to two little girls in the front row. As he was doing that, Alex asked him if he could have a ball, and Gibson rudely barked “NO!” He handed the balls to the girls and said something like “thanks for being good today.”
Weird.
Season Stats:
8 games
28 balls
– 14 hit
– 7 ball retrieved
– 5 thrown
– 2 found
2014 Game Home Runs: 1
Colby Rasmus – #101 in career – 4/13/14
