I've been away for a while, yes. But I have been ballhawking! I've steadily hawked at Miller Park without blogging, until now. Something happened tonight that will change that. The only thing I regret about today is leaving the camera at home. Bear with me.

The day started out like any other. After munching on the standard California Club sandwich, the ballhawking began. Mike Rivera launched a DEEP drive to left center, which I retrieved after hopping a few fences, Baseball #1. A few of the miller park regular ballhawks resorted to questionable tactics, figuratively taking a several balls out of my glove. Childish. Whatever, I'm a big believer in karma. Time for the park to open, time for me to switch over to the National's gear. Standing over the dugout, Anderson Hernandez flipped me his pre-game catch ball, giving me Baseball #2. I soon positioned myself behind SP Craig Stammen and JD Martin. One glove wag and shout out later, Stammen tossed me Baseball #3.

Moving out to left center, I take my "golden spot" behind the TV cameras. Nyjer Morgan caught a deep, deep fly ball. After hollering and making it known I was the lone National fan in the ballpark, Nyjer hurled the ball in my direction. Now, a kid was standing to my left for the duration of the event. As Morgan tossed me the ball, the kid began hitting my left (gloved) arm... I drop the ball.

"You're an *******." I says.

"Dude, I've been here for a half an hour."

I wanted to say "DUDE I've been coming here for eight damn years. That's like ¾ of your life," but I kept my mouth shut... until he opened his.

"Nice team spirit," the kid says. Jumping the railing and considering the Friday's Front row antics, I let loose.

"Shut your mouth ****face." I pick myself up Baseball #4 and walk away.

After batting practice concluded, I positioned myself above the National's bullpen. Julian Martinez, the Nats' bullpen catcher, tossed me Baseball #5. I watched Collin Balester throw in the pen, and took my seats. Game time.

It is no secret the Nationals can hit... It's also no secret that Adam Dunn is a monster. He's hit baseballs farther than the eye can see, and tonight would be no exception. During the 4^th inning, Dunn steps up to the plate against Brewer's spot starter Carlos Villanueva... Dunn centers on a 1-0 80-something MPH fastball and does what he does best: crush the ball. I knew the ball was coming my way, I just didn't know how far it was going. It was a moon-shot, I had enough time to stop, stare, say "holy s**t" and "that's mine." I saw it sail over my head and out of the stadium, and I was off!

I sprint to the gate... but there was no time for gates. I just hop over the fence and run the fastest I've ever ran. I'm pretty sure I jumped over a small child and juked someone on my way to the door. I never slowed down, I almost pushed the door off the hinges. To my delight, the concourse was EMPTY. I get about 50 feet from the door, and I hear the crowd screaming at me. I look back, and astonishingly, the entire RF concourse that overlooks the parking lot was giving me directions!

"LEFT! TO THE LEFT!" they collectively yelled and pointed.

I knew the ball was mine, so I decided to milk the situation. Jokingly, I say and point "right?"

"NO, NO LEFT!". I scan the bushes, and lo-and-behold, the ball was lying under an evergreen bush. I (effortlessly) scale another fence, and pick myself up Adam Dunn's 304^th career home run, my 8^th career game home run, and Baseball #6. It has a nice concrete mark on the top of it. Nearly simultaneously, they begin the "THROW IT BACK" chant. Nah, I'm not gonna do it. That doesn't mean I cant have fun with it right? I fake throwing the ball back to the crowd's delight, and then I hear someone yelling to my right. The FSN camera crew apparently captured the whole thing. Slowly walking towards the crew, I hold up the ball and get my face-time.

As soon as it started, it was over. But how do I get back in? I had friends trying to sneak me in, and people trying to tell me where to go. I walked to the door which I had barged out only moments prior, only to see a lone usher, shaking his head no and giving me a sarcastic, childish waive. What a load of crap. Soon enough, a good friend (and managing usher) let me in. In your face, old usher man! Now I had to get the ball signed.

After the game, I snuck behind the Nat's dugout. However, Adam Dunn was defensively replaced. When the Nationals recorded the final out, I got Rick Eckstein's attention. "This is Dunn's homer. Can he sign it please?!?!?"

He looked around for a second, gave me a puzzled face, and said "Toss it here." I cautiously handed it over. "Stay right there," he says. I begin to worry. What if he keeps it? What if he gives me another ball? What if I get kicked out? About 45 seconds later, he emerges with the ball, signed beautifully by Dunn. I place it in a plastic baggy, thank Rick and make my way to the car, my day complete.

Including the games I have not blogged about, my new season total is now 125.

Today the White Sox would be in town, as well as a boat load of their fans. I would need to grab a few baseballs early in BP so I could relax by the time the crowd of 40,000+ settled in. I ended up making it from work, in my uniform, to my table at Friday's Front Row Sports Grill, in all my Brewers gear, in 40 minutes flat (it's much more impressive if you know where I work). With weekend traffic the same trek would take triple that, and this was during Friday rush hour. Whatever, it all worked out.

Outside the ballpark, I ran into a few more readers... Inside the ballpark I got my favorite table and ordered the same thing as always. The California Club with a soda. I'm a very superstitious individual at the ballpark. Feel is real. The outer portion of the restaurant was full, but only one other fan had a glove... the bad news: he was seated right next to me. I devour the sandwich before BP even begins, to give myself the most time to ballhawk. Seconds after eating the last French fry on my plate, a baseball is smacked in my direction. It lands 40 feet short, on the warning track. Brewer's utility player Craig Counsel was in left field for some reason, talking to Brewer's video coordinator and resident party-pooper Joe Crawford. Joey hates seeing the local ballhawks get baseballs. Craig retrieves the ball and one glove wag and shout out later, he tossed me Baseball #1:

Moments later, a baseball off the bat of Ryan Braun landed 10 feet to my left, in the fenced out area known to Miller Park attendees as "the point". I hopped a few fences and picked myself up Baseball #2:

And that was that for my time at Friday's. The park would open half hour early today, so I figured I would try my luck in the left field bleachers. My extra half hour was uneventful, in exception to a little interaction with LHR Mitch Stetter.

Anyone who has spent any time around the Milwaukee Brewers during batting practice knows they are extraordinarily stingy, the stingiest being Mitch Stetter. Mitch never throws baseballs to fans. I've seen him throw a grand total of two baseballs to fans at Miller Park YTD... until today. From up in the bleachers, I hear a little kid holler for a ball from the left field corner. Lo and behold, Mitch threw the kid a ball. I was floored... I had to say something. As soon as he turns around, I let it go: "ATTA BOY MITCH, THAT WASN'T SO HARD, NOW WAS IT?" Mitch whipped around and stared me down. He just looked at me for a good 45 seconds. Everywhere I moved to, he was looking over his shoulder, staring daggers. Funny stuff... loosen up Mitch!

Brewers BP ended with my tally sitting at two. I made my way down to the left field corner, near where the White Sox pitching staff would play catch. I managed to get a picture with Don "COOOOP" Cooper:

After the photo-op, pitchers Jose Contreras and Octavio Dotel begin to play catch directly in front of me. My mom decided to come today as well... she was standing next to me. They began to play catch:

Octavio Dotel has a live arm. And he also has a wild one. While I look down between my legs and search through my backpack, Dotel lets a two-seamer loose. It sailed wide left of Jose Contreras' glove, striking my mom right in the shoulder. I hear a loud thud... and laughter! She laughed off an Octavio Dotel 70 something MPH pitch. Needless to say, everyone was frantic.  "ARE YOU OKAY?"s came from every direction. After tending to my laughing and uninjured mother, I look between my legs to find the ball that struck her. I pick up Baseball #3 and hand it directly to her. She earned that one! She calls the baseball-sized bruise "a battle scar" and wears it like a badge. Good stuff! Octavio and Jose come to her after playing catch and apologize and sign a few autographs. When my mom asked for a picture with Octavio, he tells her this: "I charge for picture. We make talk like lonely." Octavio was... a... friendly guy I guess you could say. Disaster averted, ball snagged. Here are a few pictures of the incident:

After making sure everything was okay for the 1000^th time, I make my way over to the right field visitor's bullpen area. My favorite White Sox John Danks fielded a deep drive to right up against the outfield wall. One "Hey Johnny D, up here" later, he threw me Baseball #4. After the game, the home plate umpire threw me Baseball #5... a game ball, rubbed for game use.

5 baseballs today

88 on the season

Short and sweet... I just don't have the time right now.

June 9^th:

4 ON FLY

1 EASTER EGG

7 TOSS UPS

11 BASEBALLS

June 10^th:

1 EASTER EGG

3 ON FLY

4 TOSS UPS

8 BASEBALLS

19 TOTAL OVER BOTH GAMES

83 on the season

I guess I got a lot of readers at the ballpark now. Thanks to all my fans for reading!

Today's game would be the first weekday day game of the season that I attended. The kids are in school yet not to mention it was a cold and rainy day. Good stuff for ballhawking, right? Not so much. The day would turn out to be the polar opposite of what I expected. I did get a nice photo op though...

Now, the last time I attended a Major League Baseball game and did not leave with at least one baseball was on Saturday, May 5^th of 2003. Several estimates have placed my streak at around 100 games in a row with one baseball, when in actuality it is at 409. That is in the last 409 games I have attended, I have left with at least one baseball. Now, you would think the chances of a ballhawk of my caliber being shut out are miniscule, especially with the anticipated conditions. Not so fast...

I arrived at the ballpark at 9:30 AM, just early enough to park in the front row. There were a few fire trucks parked on the concourse, as well as a giant blow up grub worm. Strange stuff. Nonetheless, the concourse was empty until about 10 o'clock... as soon as the clock hits 10, three school busses pull up and drop off LOADS of kids. I'm talking the entire Milwaukee Public School district was in attendance, or so it seemed. Kids everywhere... not good. Friday's Front Row Sports Grill would not be open until game time today as well. Disaster!!!

The park opened its standard 4 minutes late, and I was off to the races. I knew I would have to earn my baseballs today. Toss ups would be limited to the kids and I've already been recognized by a few players as having tons of baseballs. There were no Easter eggs in the bleachers. Upon further inspection, I realized only one team would be taking BP today, and that team would be the INCREDIBLY stingy Milwaukee Brewers. I played for BP homers from the lefties and for toss ups from Jody Gerut. A group of kids got 6 straight baseballs from 2 players. Other than that BP was dead. Nothing hit and nothing thrown... boring! Batting practice ended with my glove empty. Nothing, zero. What a scary feeling. I was being shut out.

The game was rather exciting; the Brewers kept it close but couldn't hang on. They dropped 2 of 3 to the Cards as well as sole possession of 1^st place. Both Trever Miller and Ryan Franklin pitched... what a treat! I came to the conclusion that my best chance to get a ball was behind the winning team's dugout. The players would be on the field and the bullpen staff would need to walk right in front of me. The final out was made and I scurried down to the Cards dugout.

Player after player ignored me. Duncan, Motte, LaRue, Barden, Rasmus. No dice. No ball, rather. Nearly the entire team had walked under me without even waiving or nodding, let alone throwing a ball to me. There was one player left walking in from the bullpen: Joel Pineiro. I half-a$$ed a glove wag at him, accepting defeat. Out of nowhere, he pulls a ball out and tosses it right to my extended glove. Wow. Talk about taking it to the wire. I was within 5 feet of being shut out for the first time in 410 games. Whew. Too close for comfort.

One (1) baseball today

May 26^th... Cardinals Round 2

Today would be another special day in the way of fan-player interaction. The day prior my mother and I had a long talk with Cardinals LHP Trever Miller, and got a ball from Ryan Franklin. Today the script would be flipped... Let's not get ahead of ourselves though.

I got to the ballpark rather early today, so I figured I would try and watch the players and broadcasters arrive. I arrive at my destination above the tunnel and see a few familiar faces...

That would be ESPN color commentators Steve Phillips, Dan Schulman and Orel Hershiser talking to FSN Wisconsin's Bill Shroeder. Cool stuff. They soon disappeared into the tunnel and no sooner a gentleman with a blue hat and black backpack approached me.

"Hey man." He says.

I timidly reply with "sup?" He hands me a stack of business cards. I figure its some of those cliché "NEED CASH FAST!?!?!?" flyers, so I pocket them and say thanks. The fella continued walking away so I began to inspect the stack of cards he handed me...

Yeah, that's right. He gave me 24 free admission tickets to local strip joint "Silk". One of the weirder items I've gotten at the ballpark (it doesn't beat the parakeet I caught though). That was that for the outdoor portion of my day at the ballpark. Time for the usual meal at Friday's Front Row.

Soon after getting our seats over the bullpen, Brewer's pitcher Jorge Julio fielded a liner about 100 feet in front of me. Asking for the ball in Spanish, he tosses the ball directly to me and the small crowd that had converged in my area. I inch my glove out in front of a rival ballhawk to catch myself Baseball #1. The rest of Brewers batting practice was relatively quiet until stud Ryan Braun fired me Baseball #2. It was a perfect strike directly to the web of my glove. This one was meant for me. Our one hour time limit on the table was up, and it was time to change into the Cardinal's gear.  

The gates opened and soon after Cardinals RHP Chris Perez signed my baseball. Trever Miller, whom we talked with quite extensively the day before, gave me a head nod and fist pump. What a guy! A few moments later Ryan Franklin made his way over. Extending his hand for a handshake he asks "how ya'll doin'?". I reply with my standard "Great, how about yourself?". We went on to talk about his family, taking another trip down to Saint Louis, golfing, poker, Trever Miller, Ron Villone and various other things. Ryan Franklin and Trever Miller have to be the most fan-friendly players in the league. As soon as Franklin headed in to SS and began to take ground balls, I get swamped. "WHO ARE YOU? HOW DO YOU KNOW HIM? WHO WAS THAT? ARE YOU FAMOUS?" came from every direction. I just gave general answers. "A friend of mine. He's a good guy. Ryan Franklin. Kinda." I managed to get a picture with my guy:

Ryan Franklin's vacated spot was soon filled by pitcher Kyle Lohse. Everyone began to demand a ball, calling him things like "dude" and saying "I need a ball right now". Waiting for a lull in the action, I tell my mom "watch this". It quiets down and I put myself in a golden position: making it known you know who a player is. I holler "hey Kyle Lohse!" and wag my glove in his direction. He points and acknowledges me. He fields a grounder only seconds later, scans the crowd and points to me. He threw me a knuckleball for Baseball #3. That was it for batting practice.

I make my way behind the tarp, the place where opposing players will stretch out for the game after batting practice and before the national anthem. I sit down and begin to get grief from one of the regular autograph hounds. They like to call him "G-Rob", I have no idea why. He sells EVERY one of his autographs by his own admission and has a massive scar across his face... not to mention mannerisms of a crazy person. He had some not-so-nice things to say about ballhawks. This is the same fella that (purposefully) pushed my mother in the back, making her fall over so he could get Joe Torre to sign a few pictures. "G-Rob" apparently enjoys selling autographs and pushing women, all while talking trash. If you see this fella, ask him how much he sold his most recent autograph for. The guys a bum.

After watching the players stretch, I make my way out to the bullpen. Wainwright had a stellar bullpen session, his curveball was really working. After the warm-ups were over, I made my way to the seats. Out of sight from my previous location, I spot this gem:

Do you see what I see? Lets take a closer look:

That's right; it's a commemorative ball of some sort. More on this later. The view from my seats:

In the middle of the uneventful Cardinal blowout, something catches my eye. There is a gray blur in my peripheral... It ends up being this guy.

Yep, a squirrel was running around on the field. Good stuff. He soon disappears, as well as the Brewer's chances. After the game, I made my way over the commemorative ball from a few paragraphs ago. I get bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy's attention. "Jeff, can I get this ball?" I ask.

"I just threw you one yesterday!"

"But it's a commemorative ball!"

"A whaaa...?"

"A Twins ball... special logo for the last season at the Metrodome!"

Murphy walks over, inspects the ball, shows it to me and shrugs. It has a phrase written across the sweet spot, a practice common among Brewer BP baseballs. I shrug back and extend my glove. He gives me a look and reluctantly tosses me Baseball #4. The phrase reads "Bubble's is here". I'm thinking it's a reference to the Metrodome. Any Ideas? The gem:

After all the players had left the field and the action had resided, I made my way to the second deck in an attempt to get an Orel Hershiser autograph. The extremely rude and unprofessional Miller Park security/usher staff notified me that would not be possible. Moments later, an "e-Bayer" wanders down the steps I had just been kicked down with several pieces of signed Hershiser memorabilia. I love it how Miller Park and the people that work there blow. I think my good friend The Happy Youngster said it best: "I have no desire to ballhawk here any longer." Mr. Attanasio, wake up. Your staff is extremely unprofessional and your prices don't match the product, on the field as well as off. Wait until the Brewers suck again and we see who the real fans are.

I'll leave you with a few snap shots:

Telly Hughes and I:

The Happy Youngster doing what he does best:

Franklin deals:

4 Baseballs today

63 on the season

Memorial Day... what a great day to watch a game... not so much for ballhawking. Tons of people tailgating, the park opening half hour later than usual holidays, plenty o' kids, only one team taking batting practice and a geographical rival in town. That spells disaster for ballhawking. I knew today would not be a high total day, and I was fine with it... Why, you ask? Answer: Trever Miller and Ryan Franklin. I wouldn't be doing much running around or blending in. Let me explain...

Let's go back in time, say, to the end of July 2005. On a whim, we decided to go to two games in Minnesota and see the Twins take on LHR Ron Villone's Mariners. Ron is the player who threw me my 1^st career baseball and jump-started my ballhawking career a few years prior. The day before we leave ends up being July 31^st, also known as moving day for about 50 players around baseball, also known as the non-waiver trading deadline. Pretty much every left handed reliever or 4^th outfielder is on call to be moved, as well as players without (and a few with) a no-trade clause. But I digress... Ron ends up being traded to the Florida Marlins the day before we leave. We now have no one to see in Minneapolis.

Begging for a few autographs, all decked out in new Mariners gear, every single Mariner walks by without even waiving... except one: Ryan Franklin. Ryan tosses me a ball covered in Astroturf stains and signs another ball. We tell him about how he is the friendliest Mariner on the team and the discussion shifts to Ron Villone. We tell Ryan about how we expected to see Ron. We find out the two of them were locker mates and how much of a "good guy" Ron was. Exit 2005, enter 2006. Ryan Franklin is now on the Phillies. We attend all 3 of the Phillies v. Brewer games where Ryan recognizes us as "them fans from the Metrodome". We end up following Ryan's career, traveling to various places in the country to say hey and watch him pitch. We're pretty much on a first-name basis.

Let's stick in 2006... but at an Astros v. Brewers game... A left handed specialist named Trever Miller ends his pre-game warm ups and tosses young Ballhawk Shawn a ball. Then another. And yet another. Three in a span of 5 minutes. Whether he did this on purpose or not, I do not know. All I know is that such great display of fan-friendliness and generosity should be recognized. A few years, baseballs, cardboard "TREVER MILLER'S #1 FANS" signs and a trip across the country to see him play in Tampa later, we've gotten to know each other.

Fast forward to 2009. Both of my favorite players end up on the same team: the Saint Louis Cardinals. This would be the first time all three of us are in the same ballpark at the same time. The gates open exactly 5 minutes late and I jog my way down the 50 feet to the left field corner to begin taking snap shots.

The Cardinals finish stretching and begin to play catch. Ryan Franklin throws with fireballer Jason Motte, Trever Miller with Dennys Reyes.

Brad Thompson managed to sneak his way into my pictures. A few simulated ABs and obligatory knuckleballs later, they were done tossing. Trever Miller spots us in the crowd and meanders his way over. "How y'all doin'?" he asks. "Good, how about yourself?" I respond with. On his way over, Trever extends his right hand for a shake. I've only seen one other pitcher shake hands like that and put his livelihood quite literally in the hands of a stranger (and that player was coincidentally Ryan Franklin). We talked about his family and him being back in the NL Central division. Trever Miller is a class act, what a guy! As soon as it started, it was over. He scooted back toward center field and that was the end of our Trever experience for the day. I had to answer all the "How do you know him"s and the "who are you"s, making me stand out even more.

Ryan Franklin was a little more discreet about his greeting and salutation. Ryan would usually come over and talk like Trever did, but his group had already shifted to left-center field. He's just as good of a guy as Trever; he signs anything and everything with a smile on his face and stays long enough for everyone to say hey. A Cardinal's righty rips a line drive down the left field line that settles in the corner about 50 feet away from me. Two people have begun to use the "cup trick" to try and snatch baseballs off the field from the second deck. Seeing this, Ryan Franklin runs over to the corner and scoops up the baseballs. He takes a look at one of them and begins to scan the crowd. He finds me, gives me the "whats up" head nod, smiles, points, and fires me a perfect strike for Baseball #1. I holler thanks, give him the nod and smile back. Ryan knows whats up. He then moves to the infield and takes a few ground balls at shortstop. I guess that ball was special because it was the only tossup of batting practice that I saw. BP ended and I was fine with my one ball, today meant a lot to me.

Yovani Gallardo carried a no-hitter into the 6^th inning, and not to be out done, Chris Carpenter took a perfect game into the 7^th. Neither historical event grew into fruition. The game was managed horribly on Ken Macha's part in my opinion. Nonsensical hit-and-run call and a gaffed call to the pen/double switch. I'll definitely take the 1-0 victory. I couldn't sneak behind the dugout today; in fact my rear never even touched a seat bottom. How unprofessional are those Miller Park ushers going to get? I return to my seat in right-center and find it a bit more favorable than behind the dugout. Bill Hall's walk off single dropped in right in front of me, and I got Cardinals bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy to toss me Baseball #2 after the game.

A several Brewer fans found it necessary to throw elbows at me as they passed, because I was wearing my red "USA Baseball" jersey. Roughed up for wearing a USA jersey on Memorial Day. Who would have thought? Milwaukee... we have some of the most classless fans in the nation. There is a certain team that plays down I-94 with worse fans, but Brewer fans are getting there. Why? Why is it necessary to push me in the back because I am wearing a USA Baseball shirt on Memorial Day? Oh well, it wouldn't ruin my day, a day which I regard as the best of the year. I'll give it a go again tomorrow!

I'll leave you with a few more pictures...

Trever Miller fielding a grounder:

Ryan Franklin's monstrosity of a goatee:

The Crew doesn't wear red all that often:

2 baseballs today

59 on the season

This day would be the most awkward, quirkiest and nonsensical day I've had at the ballpark in a very long time. This entry may be hard to follow, but bear with me.

I got to the ballpark early. Very early. About two o'clock... I like to watch the players arrive and wish them good luck. I then move on to Friday's Front Row and you know the rest... but not today. I met my ticket taker Joe and we began to have a discussion about the expected crowd. A man exits the team store and eventually exits the building. He takes about three steps out of Miller Park and freezes. He comes back through the doors and says to Joe and I "You guys got a parakeet out here." I thought he was joking.

We took a stroll outside, and sure enough... a domesticated parakeet was rummaging through the garbage. I'm no P.E.T.A. activist or anything, but I like animals. Having a parakeet as the family pet didn't help either. I ventured into the team store and asked for a cardboard box. I took a New Era hat box outside and wrangled the yellow and green little bugger. I took him to my car and slipped a few of my sunflower seeds into the box. When my mom arrived later in the day, she skipped out on the game to take him home and then to a family friend's house. What a trooper (she also managed to snag a few of her own baseballs today as well). I'm told he was given the name "Bernie" after Bernie Brewer. I apologize, I don't have any pictures of the fella, you'll have to trust me on this one. You can't make this up.

I got inside of Friday's Front row, and nothing had changed from the day before. Deep drives to my left, deep drives to my right and nothing right at me. Toward the end of my meal, Jorge Julio tossed me Baseball #1. It was time to change into the Marlins-themed gear.

The Marlins began their routine... pitchers playing catch in the LF corner and position players throwing near the tarp. I asked a few players for a ball, and they proceeded to ignore me. A woman to my left was bugging the players to "throw a ball to the cuter one", talking about why she should get a ball and I shouldn't. I noticed pitcher Dan Meyer walking around by himself, with a ball in his hand. I holler for him, hold up the empty glove and boom; I caught myself Baseball #2. I got pitcher Burke Badenhop's attention and alerted him to a baseball-less toddler near me. He hooked the kid up and told the lady complaining about "cuteness" effectively to go away. I made sure she heard me say "I guess the cute ones did get a baseball", referring to the little kid and myself. She huffed and puffed and stormed away.

After watching the action calm down in left, I made my way out to left center, under the scoreboard. I yell for pitcher Hayden Penn and give him the glove wag. He shags a fly ball and whips me Baseball #3. I got a pretty clean Baseball #4 from a Marlins pitcher; I couldn't tell who it was. It may have been Renyel Pinto, although I'm not sure.

The rest of batting practice was lame; the Marlins were as stingy as the Brewers. The day before, Marlins coach Jim Presley shut me down on about 3 attempts for a ball. Today, after batting practice, he was gathering all the baseballs and putting them in a bucket. All the Milwaukee fans crowded around the dugout were screaming for "coach" and demanding "GIVE ME A BALL". I step about 5 rows behind them and let a "Jimmy!" loose as loud as I can. Everyone shuts up and looks at me like I'm crazy. "Hows about today?" with a big ol' grin on my face. He looks at me and smiles. He mumbled something about "you got me" or "yeah I got one today". He threw me a very dirty Baseball #5. The Marlin's clubhouse kid flipped me Baseball #6 out by the Marlins bullpen. I began to watch Ricky Nolasco warm up and snapped a few cool pics...

The game was weird as well. Nick "Happy Youngster" (http://thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com/) caught Chris Coughlan's 1^st career home run. The Marlins wanted the ball back. Long story short, they would end up negotiating near the dugout after the game. Remember that. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Return to the 3^rd or 4^th inning.

Standing on the concourse, looking into the Marlin's pen, I hear someone ask "Are you Shawn?" I turn my head so fast I almost got whip lash... Turns out I have a faithful reader by the name of Brian B. I shook Brian's hand and we talked for half an inning. He said he reads and enjoys my blog frequently. This was awesome. I couldn't believe I was getting recognized! I expected someone to ask the usual questions: why I always wear the other team's outfits or if I'm from [insert visiting team's city here]. I never thought I would meet a fan. Crazy stuff. Thanks for reading, Brian, it is much appreciated! Readers... feel free to say hey next time you see me at the park!  Brian and I:

After the Brewers beat the Marlins, Leo Nunez tossed me Baseball #7. Now comes some outrageous stuff. Remember when I told you about Nick catching Coughlan's 1^st career homer? They wanted the ball back and were open to trading for the ball near the dugout after the game. Maybe 20 minutes after the game ended, Happy, a few friends of his and I take a seat near the on deck circle. Happy starts talking to the Marlin's public relations director and a few other Marlins front office people... some very important Marlin's personnel.

Every security guard in the building is standing by the dugout and every usher is standing behind us. An extremely rude usher by the name of John storms over and begins to yell at me and the rest of the small entourage. He says we need to leave immediately. He is obviously senile. John clamied that the Milwaukee Police Department came and forcefully removed Happy, Me and Happy's friends from the ballpark earlier in the game. WHAT!??!? When was I arrested? None of our party was arrested or removed from the stadium. I was in section 101 ALL GAME. I have multiple ushers that can confirm this, not to mention I was on TV literally all game. I'm sure the Milwaukee Police DPT would be happy to run my name and tell grampa I wasn't arrested tonight, or ever for that matter. He had me mistaken. Regardless, he told me about some fictional $240 ticket I would be getting tonight for trespassing.

When we refused to leave, he asked what made us more important than the rest of the people in the park. "Thirty thousand other people want to get by the players, what makes you more special that them?" he asked. Wh-wh-whaaaaaat? Did you not understand the 1^st career home run part?

After I explained the importance of a player's first home run, he was stumped and proven wrong. Searching for something to say, John threatened to knock me out. I was laughing my you-know-what off. Lets see... an 18 year old college kid versus Katharine Hepburn's great grandpa. I think we know who would win... I leave the seating area and move to the concourse. John the usher proceeds to chase me up the stairs and onto the concourse. He gets in my face, maybe an inch away from my nose, and tells me the following: "Boy, I'm an ex-fighter. I wouldn't hesitate to knock you out." I begin laughing hysterically and ask how to spell his last name. He replies with "J-O-H-N" and scampers away. That's Miller Park for you: The Ushers threaten to knock you out, even when you did nothing wrong. What a great way to run a team.

This isn't the first run-in with Johnny, a Reds player tossed me a ball by the dugout  (which John stands atop of after games) last season, and he kicked my glove to knock it loose. He picked it up and gave it to some other person in the stands. A few games prior, he jumped in front of a ball directed at me from a player, and pulled the same nonsense.

And that ends that.

7 baseballs snagged today, all thrown.

1 bird snagged today.

1 fictional trespassing citation snagged today.

57 total baseballs this season.

The day started out like any other. Little did I know the day would get MUCH more interesting. To be more specific, the hour AFTER the game will end up being more exciting than the actual game...

I got to Friday's Front row and the place was empty. The Brewers showed me NO love toss wise or long ball wise... that is until pitching coach Bill Castro came out to watch Yovani Gallardo get some work in the bullpen.

Bill Castro threw me a ball lying in the back of the bullpen, Baseball #1. That was it for the Brewers part of BP. Time to switch over to my standard "USA Baseball jersey" and Marlin's cap.

The park opened and I jogged down to the left field corner. Within 15 seconds of the park opening, I got Baseball #2 from Hayden Penn. I saw Renyel Pinto tossing the ball with right hander Carlos Martinez. I asked Renyel for the baseball in Spanish, and all he did was wave back. So I made my way toward the dugout where Cody Ross was playing Catch.

Baseball #3 Came from infielder Chris Coghlan, halfway between the pitchers and Cody Ross.

"I think that was awesome when you went in to pitch a few weeks back, Cody!" I hollered. I was talking about his April 26^th outing (http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20090426&content_id=4434306&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home&c_id=fla).

"Haha, thanks man. You liked that?" He replied. A few seconds later, an unidentified Marlins player threw a ball WAY over my head into the empty stands. I'm talking maybe 20 or 30 feet over my head. It landed in the empty seats a few rows behind me, and I scampered up the stairs and retrieved Baseball #4. After chatting it up with Alfredo Amezaga for about 5 minutes, I headed back to the left field corner, where Renyel and Carlos finished playing catch.

One glove wag at Pinto and he threw me Baseball #5. I cleaned house in the left field corner, so it was time to move on to the right field corner.

As soon as I got to the right field corner, I saw Brett Carroll shagging fly balls. I made sure to make myself known as a "Marlins fan". The very first ball that Brett caught after our interaction, he whipped at me from about 100 feet away for Baseball #6. Little did I know, I would have a chance to speak with Mr. Carroll a little later... you'll want to keep reading for that, trust me.

I headed out to the bullpen and began talking to the bullpen coach Steve Foster. Steve and I had quite the conversation about his middle name, "Eugene". No luck with the baseballs.

Batting practice was about over, and I made my way to the Marlin's dugout. A huge crowd of grown men was swamping a corner of the dugout. Usually that means a big name player is singing autographs. I squeezed my way in and got Hanley Ramirez to sign a ball I got earlier in the day. I then moved over the top of the dugout.

A Marlin hit a baseball off the net in front of third base. It rolled towards me, stopping about 30 feet short. Matt Lindstrom came in after batting practice, picked up the ball and threw it right to me for Baseball #7. He didn't hold much back on the throw, either.

After all the players settled in the dugout/clubhouse, I moved to the bullpen once again. The starter for the Marlins would be John Koronka, a journeyman to say the least.

 It would be his Marlins debut. Koronka threw an amazing about of fastballs; I can only count 5 or 6 breaking balls out of his 40 or so warm up pitches. He concluded throwing and bullpen catcher Jeffery Urgelles threw me the warm up ball, Baseball #8.

During the game, I played for Bill Hall's 100^th Career HR, but no luck. My good friend Roy did snag Rickie Weeks' HR, barehanded.

After the game I got a mystery ball, rubbed down for game use... very possibly a third out. The Happy Youngster later informed me that it was Jorge Cantu who rolled the ball over the dugout, Baseball #9. It was a good day at the ballpark, and the most awkward event of the day was still to come.

Last season, a good friend and part-time ballhawk/full time autograph aficionado Dan B. camped out in the parking lot after CC Sabathia's first day in Milwaukee. We hopped the fence after the game and got CC to sweet-spot our baseballs. We like to call ourselves the first Milwaukeeans to get his autograph. That night we also got Ryan Braun to sign in the parking lot as well (an EXTREMELY rare occurrence). It was pouring out that night. We have quirky luck in the parking lot. That leads me into what happened on this night....

Long after the game ended, we're talking maybe an hour and 15 minutes after the final out, Dan and I were chilling near the player's lot. We congratulated the Brewers as they came out and noticed a line of cabs.

Four Marlin's players, one of which was Josh Johnson, got into the cab on the bottom of the picture and took off. The rest of the cabs waited for about 30 minutes, and figured no one else was coming out... and they left.

Ten minutes after the cabs leave, Marlin's player Wes Helms comes out of the tunnel and looks around. He seems very, very confused seeing an empty lot. He looks up at Dan and I and asks "Where's the cabs, guys?" in his southern drawl. I explain to him that Josh Johnson left with a few other players, along with the cabs. He immediately whips out his iPhone and starts texting. He looks back down the tunnel and hollers "HANLEY, THEY LEFT!" Wes Helms, Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu and Brett Carroll were stranded! They walked around aimlessly in the parking lot, and Dan and I approached them near the traffic lights. Dan got Jorge Cantu to sign a card and I got a nice picture with Brett Carroll.

Thats Brett Carroll. Wes Helms is on the right, and Hanley Ramirez/Jorge Cantu are even more to the right.

We then returned to our post above the tunnel and watched Ryan Braun get into his car. Braun pulls up next to the Marlin's players, honks his horn, and waives them over! They all catch a ride with Ryan Braun. Funny stuff.

The gems:

Odd baseball:

9 baseballs at this game.

All 9 thrown.

50 this season.