8/16/09 @ Miller Park

August 20, 2009

It was Sunday.  I was anxious. 
A day game you say?
Just this once.

Without further ado…my 1st home day game of the 2009 season.
(Opening Day doesn’t count)…

I walked up to the stadium and noticed the roof was closed…

…roofs are overrated.

I did not have a ticket for the game.  So, I utilized an extremely cheap ticket option…

…it’s called “The Uecker Line.”

On the day of each and every home game, exactly 108 tickets are sold to the first 108 people who stand in line at Window 12.  Each ticket can be had for the modest price of $1. 
Yeah, just a buck.  The seat location??  Named after beloved Brewers radio announcer Bob Uecker, the seats are located on the terrace level (top deck) behind home plate. 
The catch??  Of course there’s a catch…the seats are obstructed view seats that are located behind two gigantic green support pillars.  But hey, it gets you in the stadium.  Hardly anyone who buys “Uecker seats” actually sit in those seats, anyway.  So, who really cares, right??

Be advised:  If you want to purchase four (4) Uecker tickets, all four people in your group need to be in line or standing close-by.  If you want to purchase six (6) tickets, all six people need to be in line, etc, etc.  Also, tickets don’t go on sale until the gates to the stadium open.  Which, as you all know, is bad for ballhawking.  Who wants to be standing in line for tickets when others are already snagging baseballs??

But, as I already mentioned, it was Sunday.  I knew BP would not start until 11:30ish. 
The gates were opening at 11:00am, so, I had time.
You see, on Sundays at Miller Park, only one team takes BP.  Of course, the home team Brewers get first chance at it.  If they decline, they offer it to the other team.

Here’s my buck…

…and…

…here’s my ticket…

…!!

Not a bad deal, eh?? 

Okay, so, technically speaking…I could attend every home game at Miller Park for the grand sum of $81!!

That’s if I had a ton of extra time to stand in line to buy a ticket for every single game.
A good option for many…just not me.
(Remember, these tickets are not sold in advance)

When I FINALLY got my ticket (on game day, window 12 is *usually* just used for the sale of Uecker tickets-but not this time.  I swear two guys were applying for jobs at the window it took so long), I entered the stadium and observed a BP prepared field.  The only problem was that there were no players.  No problem, I thought.  Soon enough.

In the meantime, I noticed Astros pitcher WANDY RODRIGUEZ was signing autographs down by the Houston dugout.

So, I joined the crowd and eventually, I handed him my ticket stub.  Wandy was signing a baseball card with a blue sharpie at the time he grabbed my ticket. 

When he was finished signing the card, I said, “You can sign with the same marker if you would like.”

What does he do??  He hands the kid his signed card and the marker and grabs another fans’ baseball and ballpoint pen.  He signs the ball and then signs my ticket stub with the same pen.  That’s great.  Just great.

Here’s the stub…

…oh well, no big deal.

I’m used to it by now.

When BP finally got rolling, I was up in the left field loge bleachers.
I ended up snagging a Mike Rivera bomb on the bounce for Ball #1. 
I was relieved that I was on the board. 

When Brewers slugger Prince Fielder started to hit, I exited the left field bleachers and found myself standing right in big Prince’s home run alley in right field.

I wanted to snag a Prince Fielder BP homer for the little lady pictured below…

…seated in the middle.

Her name is Lexi and she’s pictured above with her sister (left) and friend (right).
Lexi was celebrating her 11th birthday with her family at the ballpark (no better place to be).

As you can see by the picture, I DID manage to snag her a Prince Fielder ball. 
Happy B-Day Lexi!

My 3rd and final ball on the day came via a tossup from Brewers 3B Casey McGehee. 
Casey is one cool dude.  If you see him, be good to him…he’s one of the good guys.

Near the end of BP, check out who stopped by…

…that’s Todd (Pops) and Tim (son) Cook.
They are easily one of the coolest Father/Son duos I have ever met in my entire life. 
I met Todd & Tim for the very 1st time back on 6/10/09 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
I just can’t find enough good things to say about those two…they rock!

After we chatted it up for awhile, we parted ways.  We would be seeing each other the following day down at US Cellular Field in Chicago.  Yay!

I had made an agreement with my wife that I would leave after the 3rd inning to take care of a prior commitment.  No questions asked…no problemo.

Baseball Is Life…for sure.  But, sometimes there’s other things, ya’ know?

Two (2) of the three (3) baseballs snagged…

…one (1) was given to Lexi.

2009 BALLHAWKING STATS

• 3 total balls 8/16/09

2 batted baseballs

1 tossup baseball

ATTENDANCE:  41,863

2009 TOTAL BASEBALLS

4/7/09   = 5   baseballs
4/8/09   = 10 baseballs
4/9/09   = 10 baseballs
4/10/09 = 3   baseballs
4/11/09 = 5   baseballs
4/12/09 = 5   baseballs
4/13/09 = 11 baseballs
4/14/09 = 6   baseballs
4/21/09 = 5   baseballs
4/27/09 = 15 baseballs
4/28/09 = 9   baseballs
4/30/09 = 4   baseballs
5/01/09 = 7   baseballs
5/02/09 = 4   baseballs
5/08/09 = 11 baseballs
5/09/09 = 1   lousy ball
5/12/09 = 14 baseballs
5/13/09 = 12 baseballs
5/19/09 = 8   baseballs
5/22/09 = 3   baseballs
5/23/09 = 2   baseballs
5/26/09 = 3   baseballs
5/29/09 = 6   baseballs
5/30/09 = 5   baseballs
6/01/09 = 1   baseball
6/02/09 = 9   baseballs
6/09/09 = 4   baseballs
6/10/09 = 0   baseballs
6/11/09 = 2   baseballs
6/12/09 = 9   baseballs
6/23/09 = 6   baseballs
6/24/09 = 9   baseballs
6/26/09 = 9   baseballs
6/27/09 = 4   baseballs
6/29/09 = 3   baseballs
6/30/09 = 5   baseballs
7/07/09 = 6   baseballs
7/10/09 = 3   baseballs
7/20/09 = 7   baseballs
7/24/09 = 6   baseballs
7/27/09 = 8   baseballs
7/29/09 = 3   baseballs
8/04/09 = 4   baseballs
8/11/09 = 7   baseballs
8/12/09 = 6   baseballs
8/15/09 = 4   baseballs
8/16/09 = 3   baseballs
___________________

282 baseballs (47 games)
6.00 average per game

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Written by mlblogsthehappyyoungster Posted in Dailies Tagged with ballhawk, ballhawking, Casey McGehee, Mike Rivera, Miller Park, Nick Yohanek, Prince Fielder, The Happy Youngster, Todd & Tim Cook