Tagged: Big Glove Bob
6/24/09 @ Miller Park
It was blistering-hot in Milwaukee. I had not even started to ballhawk and I was already drenched in sweat. Disgustingly drenched.
When the gates to the stadium opened at 5:30 pm, I ran in and searched for “easter eggs.” As luck would have it, I found not one, but two!! One in the right field bleachers (field level) and one in the right field loge level bleachers (2nd level).
BALLS #1 & #2 were in the bag.
Good start.
BALL #3 came (on the bounce) off the bat of this young phenom…
Brewers 3B MAT GAMEL.
If you don’t know the name, you will. He’s an absolute hitting machine with a bright future.
How I snagged #3 was actually a bit interesting.
Even a bit more odd was the fact that it was a Twins commemorative ball. Somehow, the Twins commemorative found its way into the Brewers ballbag.
Hmmm…
YOVANI GALLARDO ————————————————>
fielded a baseball. I yelled for the ball and he
turned and looked up into the bleachers. He wasn’t looking at me. So,
I waved my glove and yelled again. I was standing in about the 15th
row of the right field loge bleachers (2nd level). He spotted my position and
lofted the ball to me. It fell about 4 rows short, but, I ran down and easily claimed BALL #4.
The Twins were now on the field.
The Twins right handed hitters (Crede, Cuddyer, Gomez, Young) had hit well the previous day. So, I headed to the left field loge bleachers.
Soon, Twins RF MICHAEL CUDDYER hammered one in my direction that I caught on the fly for BALL #5. When I inspected the baseball, it appeared to have once been a gamer that was retired to the BP bucket.
A few more baseballs were hit up in my area but it had gotten crowded and hard to move.
NOTE: For those that think Miller Park is an easy stadium to ballhawk in, guess again.
Try ballhawking in a stadium that averages nearly 40,000 but only opens up 1 & 1/2 hrs. before gametime. Not to mention, there’s no real spot at Miller Park that’s open and easy to roam around in. Strict ushers/security add insult to injury.
Sheesh.
The Twins righties were finished hitting. I headed back to right field.
When I made it out to right field, I noticed Twins pitcher FRANCISCO LIRIANO was standing in centerfield shagging BP. I congratulated him on the victory the night before. When the next baseball was hit to him, he turned and tossed it to me for BALL #6 on the day.
When I inspected it, I noticed it was almost brand-spanking new. Not as new as the Cuddyer BP homer I had caught the day before, but, almost.
In the next 15 minutes, I managed to snag 3 more baseballs (all on the fly) from the following players… 
JASON PRIDIE – BALL #7 (given away to a young Twins fan)
BRIAN BUSCHER – BALL #8
JOSE MORALES – BALL #9
That was it for BP.
Did I mention it was hot??
90 degrees with a heat index of over 100…hotdamn!
During the game, a very special family stopped by my seat to say “hello”…
…that’s “Brewer Jamie,” his awesome wife-Mary and their adorable daughter Rachel.
Another Miller Park regular stopped by the section…
…the young man’s name eludes me at this time.
In his hands, he held the newest addition to his growing memorabilia collection.
A Jason Kubel gamer bat cracked during BP and given to him directly from Mr. Kubel.
Cool stuff.
I didn’t mention it in my last game blog (6/23/09), but I had the chance to formally meet another fellow member of our BALLHAWK LEAGUE.
Big Glove Bob was in the house.
For those of you who don’t know, Bob is a diehard Twins fan who has gained notoriety for sporting an oversized glove at the Metrodome.
Hence, the nickname “Big Glove Bob.”
Bob’s blog tells it like it is and is always a funny read.
If you haven’t already, check his blog out here.
I had met Bob (briefly) back on 5/23/09.
But, this time…
What a great guy!
The game ended with the final score:
Happy – 9
Brewers – 4
Twinkies – 3
Only 8 are shown (1 was given away to a small Twins fan).
A final look.
Yeah, baby.
2009 BALLHAWKING STATS
- 9 total balls 6/24/09
7 batted baseballs (4 caught on fly)
2 toss-up baseballs
ATTENDANCE: 34,480
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
___________________
204 baseballs (32 games)
6.375 average per game
5/23/09 @ HHH Metrodome
The game was at 6:05pm.
We were still at The Mall of America at 4:00pm.
I would not be attending BP today…time was short.
We ended up getting to the Dome at 5:30pm. When I ran in, the cage was being taken down and the field was empty.
I
went down to the only area of the Dome where the glove trick is
“do-able.” It’s a large open section closest to centerfield on the
left field side. It’s a spot where the seats start to disappear into
the hitter’s eye.
When I looked down into the big gap, there was one ball lying down there.
I glove-tricked it for BALL #1. I was relieved that I would not be shut out on the day.
Upon closer inspection of the ball…
…and…
…hmm. The Brewers were scribbling all over the Twins commemoratives, too.
(As I discovered back on 4/27/09, the Brewers write words and sayings on most of their BP balls)
The game you ask?? Nothing to write home to Mom about.
The Twins spanked the Brewers yet again.
Final score: Twinkies 6 Brewhahas 2.
After the game, I headed
down for an ump ball. No luck. Charlie Reliford had called a pretty
poor game. He put his head down and darted off the field.
There
was nothing happening on the Brewers side, so, I headed over to the
Twins side for a possible batboy game ball. I really wanted a rubbed
up Twins commemorative ball for the collection. The BP commemoratives
were nice, but, I wanted the real deal.
So, I waited above the ballbag as the ballboy/batboy gathered the equipment down in the bullpen area.
About 10 minutes passed. Then, I was approached by a familiar face holding a gigantic oversized glove.
It was BIGGLOVEBOB!
We made a quick acquaintance before the ballboy returned. When he was
directly below me, I politely asked for a game ball from the bag. The
ballboy blew me off.
That’s when Big Glove Bob stepped in and used his Twin Cities celebrity
pull. He said, “hey Adam, he came all the way from Milwaukee.”
Adam reached into the ballbag and grabbed out a beautifully rubbed game ball and flipped it up to me for BALL #2.
Even though I had missed batting practice, getting that game ball made it all worth while.
I couldn’t have done it without the help of Big Glove Bob. Thanks Bob!
The commemorative game ball…
…rubbed up and game used. You can see why the ball made it to the ballbag. There’s a scuff from hitting the dirt directly above and to the right of the commemorative logo.
So long Metrodome…I won’t miss you.
2009 BALLHAWKING STATS
- 2 total balls 5/23/09
1 toss-up ball
1 device
ATTENDANCE: 40,547
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
___________________
150 baseballs (21 games)
7.14 average per game
The Happy Youngster...Brew Town's Ballhawk 