Steiner Sports Mets Signing 6/29/15

A couple weeks ago, I finally used my Steiner Sports gift cards that I have had for years.

They were hosting a signing with former Mets pitcher Jesse Orosco and current Mets outfielder Juan Lagares. To make this entry short and to the point, I won't get into all the specifics. I used up all my gift cards and paid less than $20 to meet both Lagares and Orosco.

After a long wait on line, Lagares signed a ball on the sweet spot for me and took a photo with me.

And Orosco signed a photo and took a photo with me.













It was a good signing, but I wouldn't have gone if I didn't have the gift cards.

That's it for what may be my shortest entry ever. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!

Ron Darling Signed Baseball Update

About four weeks ago, I met Darryl Strawberry at a Citibank. He wasn't the scheduled guest that day, the scheduled guest was Ron Darling, who cancelled at the last minute. Since I didn't have any stuff for Strawberry, I ended up getting a baseball signed. The Citibank people got a bucket of baseballs and handed them out to get signed.

While at the signing, the Citibank representatives were handing out forms asking for people's information. They said that Ron Darling wanted to make up for not being able to come to the signing, and the form would be for a signed baseball that would be mailed to your house. I filled out the form with all of my basic info and my address. There was an option for either a personalized or not personalized ball, and I chose to get a personalized one. A few minutes after filling out one form, I was handed another form. I figured that I'd fill out one for my dad and get it not personalized.

Fast forward a few weeks. Two packages arrived at my door. When I opened one up, this is what I saw inside.

I honestly didn't think I was going to get this in the mail. I honestly thought that the Mets and Citibank were just going to forget about everything, but this was a pleasant surprise to find in the mail. 

When I opened up the ROMLB box, I was delighted to see this. 

Perfect. The cube they included was unwrapped and unopened, and a perfect place to display the ball. The personalization isn't the best, but it works. Darling probably had hundreds of balls to sign, and I can't blame him for rushing the personalization. The signature is spectacular though, and wrote out all of his name. 

I opened the other package to find the unpersonalized ball, also with it's own cube. 

Also included in each package was a letter from the Citibank branch manager thanking me for coming to the signing and for being a Mets fan. She thanked everyone's loyalty and I'm sure everyone who got one of the balls was happy to open their mail one day. Just a pure class move from the Mets and Citibank right here. 

That's it for this entry. I'm back in Albany, so I don't know whose autograph I'll get next, but that is what makes this fun. Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Nationals @ Mets 8/13/14 and 8/14/14 at Citi Field

I was at the final two games of the New York Mets recent series against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, and I figured I'd combine the two games into one entry.

Wednesday August 13
The decision to go on Wednesday was a last-minute one, as the weather forecast wasn't looking good until a few hours before the game was set to begin. Ultimately, the decision was to go and go early for batting practice.

My friend and I arrived at Citi Field at about 4:45 p.m. When we got to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda gate, there were two lines of people waiting to get in the gate. The lines were formed behind two tables that would be used for bag checks. There was a third table set up about 30 feet to the right of where the second line formed behind Zack Hample. I knew the third table was going to be a line, so my friend and I decided to start the line. Within 15 minutes of starting the line, dozens of people were behind me.

Since I was in the front of the line, when the gates opened at 5:10, I was one of the first people inside. I went down the third base line where I figured the Nationals pitchers would be warming up. When I was running down the stairs, I saw a security guard holding a ball while making a throwing motion. I raised up my glove in acknowledgement of him, and within a few seconds we made eye contact. The guard threw the ball as far as he could, but I was just too far away for him. The ball clanked off a seat two rows in front of where I was. But, since nobody was there, I walked down the stairs and picked up the ball off the floor. I waved and thanked the security guard before going to my normal spot.

Eventually, I made it to my normal spot and watched the Nationals pitchers warm up. A few other people were standing near me, but I had enough personal space to myself. After wandering for a few seconds, my eyes widened when I saw a ball in a puddle. When I noticed nobody looking at me, I quickly snapped the photo on the left, then picked up the waterlogged ball. It was completely soaked when I picked it up. As I'm writing this entry a few days later, it is still wet and heavy. Right after I picked it up, someone told me, "Nice grab." I'm guessing the person saw the ball, but just didn't get to it before I did. Within five minutes of entering the stadium, I had already gotten two baseballs. I was off to a good start.

Most of the Nationals pitchers were warming up just a few feet in front of me. The closest player was Doug Fister, who was playing catch with fellow pitcher Tanner Roark. When they were finishing their catch, Roark was walking closer toward Fister. At the end, the two of them were throwing the ball to each other from behind their backs and through the legs from about five feet away. After Fister signaled that he was done, Roark turned his back to the crowd and flipped the ball into the stands. It landed a row or two behind me and hit a seat back. I ran over to grab it, and snatched it off the ground with my bare hand as a sea of other hands descended on where the ball was. I had snagged three baseballs, and didn't need my glove for any of them. Those were all the baseballs I snagged on Wednesday. Here are the balls and the sweet spots. Don't go away, there is more that happened on this day.







Shortly after getting the third baseball, a message was shown on the scoreboard that got my attention. Former Mets and Montreal Expos great Rusty Staub would be doing an autograph signing at the Verizon Studios in center field from 6-7 p.m. Since I was going to be back the next day, I figured I'd go to the signing and get a guaranteed autograph instead of standing around in the cloudy weather. After a brisk jog around the Citi Field concourse with my friend, we made it to the Verizon Studios behind a short line. After about five minutes of waiting, we went inside. No outside items would be signed, just the 4x6 photo they were giving out. My friend and I each went inside and got the signed photo from Staub. About a half hour later, after a rain storm had went through Flushing, I put on my sweatshirt and a different hat. Looking different than I first did when I met Staub, I went inside and got a second photo signed as there was almost no line. Below are the signed photos I got from Staub. That was it for Wednesday, as my friend and I just went to our seats and watched the game after meeting Staub.

Thursday August 14

Less than 24 hours after leaving Citi Field, I was right back at it with a different friend. Unlike the day before, I wasn't at the front of the line. After entering Citi Field, I went right behind the Nationals dugout with my friend. We saw Jordan Zimmerman signing for people further down the line, but couldn't get to him before he ran back to the dugout. Many different Nationals including Bryce Harper and Michael Taylor signed, but not for many people. Thankfully, I did get an autograph from one of the Nationals. 

Adam LaRoche was walking toward the dugout after taking batting practice when a kid in a Nationals jersey asked him to sign. LaRoche stopped, and the kid threw LaRoche a ball and pen. LaRoche signed the ball for the kid, then signed a few more, including mine, before going into the dugout. He actually dropped my ball when I there it, but got it, dusted it off and signed it for me. He used the first kid's black pen for all the balls. He has a nice signature, as you can see on the right. That was the only autograph I got from a member of the Nationals in this series. 

Shortly after getting the autograph from LaRoche, batting practice was over. One of the last players to leave the field was former Met Scott Hairston. He was walking to the dugout with a ball on his hand. As he got closer to the dugout, I asked him for the ball. He then looked up and tossed the ball to me underhanded while walking down the dugout steps. Within two minutes of that, all the players were off the field. One of the Nationals ball boys was tossing balls into the crowd on the other side of the dugout, so I ran over there and got one of the balls that he threw into the crowd of Nationals fans. Within a few minutes, I had quickly snagged two balls, which is all I would catch on the day. Here they are. Keep scrolling down though, I'm not done yet.

Once Nationals BP was over, my friend and I headed over to the Mets side to try and meet one of the best signers in the MLB, Curtis Granderson. Over the course of the season, I noticed that Granderson signs pretty much every single game, just before the game began, in the exact same spot. In hopes of  not getting kicked out by a security guard, I took a seat a few rows back from where I hoped he would sign. After the national anthem, Granderson came right over to where I thought he would be, true to his form. The security guards made everyone form a single file line on one side of the aisle. Here's a short video I took when Granderson walked over.

Eventually, I made my way to the front of the line. The person in front of me was getting a jersey signed, but didn't have a pen. I handed Granderson my blue sharpie and waited for him. As he signed the jersey, I thanked him for coming. While many people were getting baseballs signed, I figured I'd try my luck with cards since I don't usually get them signed at games. I handed Granderson three cards, one on top of the other. He signed all three rather quickly, handing them back to me one at a time as he signed them. It isn't much of a signature, but with a name as long as his, he can be forgiven. I thanked him, then went back toward my seat for the game. You can see the cards below.

My friend got a ball signed on the sweet spot. It seemed like Granderson was only signing balls on the sweet spot after personalizing them. Unfortunately for my friend, Granderson spelled his name wrong. In the crowd yelling for him, something must have gotten lost in his ears. Granderson signed for about ten minutes before going into the dugout at about 7:05, right before the game would begin. 

That was everything I got at these games. It was a good two days autograph and baseball wise. But for the Mets, it was terrible. I won't go into that, as I'm sure you know that already. Thanks for reading. Good luck graphing! Feel free to follow me on Twitter for live updates of what I'm up to. 

Strawberries and a Darling

The past few weeks haven't been too busy for me in terms of getting autographs, but I've done a few things. Here's a quick summary of a few signing that I've been up to recently.

I met Jadeveon Clowney a few weeks ago, but he wasn't the only athlete I met that day. The Meet Mr. Met Tour was near me at a Citibank that day, and I decided that I was going to go. Originally, the signing was scheduled to be with former Met and SNY analyst Ron Darling. However, the day before the signing, it was changed to Dwight "Doc" Gooden. I arrived about 20 minutes before the signing was going to begin. While I was standing on line, one of the Citibank representatives said that Gooden couldn't make it and Darryl Strawberry would be "pinch hitting" for him. During that time, I had a picture taken with Mr. Met. 

For me, that news was sad because I had cards of Gooden that I was hoping to get signed. I wasn't the only one, as people were holding photos of Gooden and other items for him. During the wait for Strawberry, the Citibank representatives were very friendly, handing out water and cookies for people to enjoy. Also, they were giving out forms for people to sign. The forms were for Ron Darling signed baseballs. The Citibank people said Ron Darling felt bad that he couldn't make it and he wanted to make it up for everyone. I filled out a form with my name, email address, mailing address, and whether or not I would like a personalized ball. (I'll take a personalized one, thank you.) The baseball hasn't came yet, but I'll be on the lookout for it.

Eventually, Darryl Strawberry showed up, parking his car in the middle of the street for a Citibank person to move it. I took the photos below of him coming in. I shook his hand as he walked past me into the building.

The line through the Citibank moved quickly. However, few people had stuff for him to sign. People mostly gave him baseballs or generic items to sign. Eventually, as I was getting to the front of the line, a Citibank representative went to the table with bags full of Modells products. During the signing, one of the people had went to the store and bought buckets of baseballs for Strawberry to sign. There was actually a group of people that didn't have items to get signed that were waiting for the baseballs to arrive. Here's a quick video I took of him signing. 

I soon made my way to the front of the line. I thanked Strawberry for coming on short notice, asked if I could get one of the baseballs signed, and thanked him. He then reached into the bucket, grabbed a Rawlings Official League baseball, not an official Major League ball, signed it, and handed it to me. Then I took a photo with him, thanked him again, and soon left the Citibank. The ball is a cheap ball, and the autograph should fade very soon. I knew that when I got it, but I had nothing else to get signed. I wonder how long it will take to fade.

Fast forward a week, and the Meet Mr. Met Tour was going to be back in town. Like the previous week, Ron Darling was supposed to be the scheduled guest. Also like the previous week, the website changed from Darling to Darryl Strawberry. Expecting to just see Darryl Strawberry, I brought a card and a large 5x7 card from the early 1980s that I found in my dad's old collection. Since I assumed it would be just Strawberry, I didn't bring anything for Ron Darling or anybody else.

I arrived about 45 minutes before the signing was going to begin, and the line was much longer than it was for the one the previous week. I got a good spot in line, just outside the front door of the Citibank branch. The line eventually went out the door, and around the corner of the block.

While talking to the people near me on line, one of the Citibank reps told us that Ron Darling would indeed be at the signing with Darryl Strawberry. As I was getting angry at myself for not bringing any Ron Darling items, the Citibank people said there would be photos of Darling and Strawberry available for signing. The rep also told us that no posed photos with Darling and Strawberry would be allowed because of the size of the line.

Once inside the store, everyone had the opportunity to take a photo in front of a green screen with Mr. Met. Since I took one the previous week, I figured I didn't need another. As I was moving my way through the line, a couple Citibank reps and a Nassau County police officer were trying to figure out a way to manage the line more efficiently. People were still entering the bank for banking purposes, and they had to deal with hundreds of baseball fans. 










Eventually, I made it to the front of the line about a half hour after the signing began. The person in line before me handed Strawberry a photo similar to THIS one, and Strawberry chuckled as he signed it. When it was my turn, I handed him the normal size card and larger 5x7 card. He signed both without saying much, then handed them to me and said, "Here you go." I thanked him, shook his hand, and proceeded to move on to Darling. With Darling, I asked for one of the giveaway photos. He grabbed one off the pile, signed it beautifully in blue sharpie, writing every single letter of his name on it. I thanked him, shook his hand, and got off the line.

Here are the autographs I got at the second signing. The Ron Darling photo is an 8x10. The Darryl Strawberry big card is the one with the white border, and it is 5x7 in size. It is made out of the same material as a baseball card, and even has stats on the back. It is a 5x7 card. I don't have much info on how these came to be on how many there are, I just found one in my basement. I wish the Darling photo was one of him playing, but it is a pretty good picture nevertheless.

That's all I have for this entry. It should be a fun month of August ahead. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! 

UPDATE 8/28/14: Click HERE to see if I got those Ron Darling signed baseballs. 

Sweet Mail Stories

I haven't wrote an entry about some cool mail that I've gotten in a long time, so here it is. If you are interested, StarTiger is the website that I get all the addresses and find out who is a good signer. I highly recommend it. It costs an annual rate, but it is worth every penny in my opinion. I'll get right into the fun stuff, hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment with any questions.

Former UNC Tar Heels great and current Golden State Warrior Harrison Barnes did something that I haven't seen before with athletes that are currently playing. Soon after his season ended, Barnes posted THIS on his Facebook page. The day after I saw that post, I sent a 4x6 photo on it's way to California. About two weeks later, I came back to my mailbox to find the photo on the right inside. All I could say after getting that back was, "Wow." The fact that Barnes got a PO Box for the summer just so he could sign for his fans makes him one of the classiest players in the NBA today. If you want his autograph, make sure you follow the rules specifically, including a photo of you holding the item you want signed, but hurry, summer won't last forever and he easily has hundreds of requests.

Switching sports, I sent a request in spring training to Washington Nationals pitcher Ross Ohlendorf. After almost two months of waiting, I got the card returned signed. This card was very glossy when I got it, so I had to prepare it to get signed, and as you can see, it was worth it. Want to know how to prepare a card like this? Click HERE. This trick usually works for glossy and/or chrome cards and it is very helpful.


One of the great managers of all time, Jim Leyland, retired after the 2013 season. Since he is living in Pennsylvania, I figured I'd send him a card and see what happens. Over four months later, I was delighted to come back and find that he had signed my card beautifully. I rarely get Allen & Ginter cards signed, and getting this one back was extra gratifying. He will be in Cooperstown one day, but it's just a matter of when. With some mail successes, like this one, it takes a very long time, but in the end it is worth it. This is one of the longest waits I've ever had for an autograph that actually came back signed, not a return to sender or unsigned stuff.


A man more known for his nickname than playing ability, Bill Lee, signed two card for me from his home in Vermont. He has the nickname 'Spaceman' and was famous for throwing an eephus pitch, which is nothing more than an overhand lob pitch. I'm pretty sure I sent him three cards, but he only signed two of them. That's fine by me. He wrote 'Earth 2014' on one of the cards, which is an interesting inscription and one that I will likely never see again. He has been at the center of controversy for his opinions on many subjects. If you have time and want to learn a little more about him, click HERE or HERE.

Another former Red Sox, 1986 American League Championship Series MVP Marty Barrett signed four cards for me. Three of them are 1987 Topps. My dad collected a lot of those when he was a kid, and now I'm getting some of them signed.




That's it for this entry. I'll be attending one of the Mets games against Oakland this week. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!

Dodgers @ Mets 5/20/14 at Citi Field

It's good to be home. It was time for my first game of the year. I went to Citi Field on Tuesday night for the Mets game against the Dodgers. After purchasing a ticket on StubHub the day of the game, I was off to Flushing.

I arrived right on time for the gates to open, and saw Zack Hample waiting patiently for the gates to open as well. He was about 15 people ahead of me in line, and when the stadium opened, he went to left field as I went to my usual spot down the third base line. 

Within 10 minutes of going to my spot, a few balls got hit toward one of the Mets coaches that was hitting fungos back to the bucket. He tossed one to a gloveless fan near me. So, when the next ball was hit over to him, I asked if he could toss it up. He looked at me, and threw a perfect strike right to my glove. I thanked him, and he went back to fielding the balls and I went to a different spot down the line. I later found out that it was Tom Goodwin, the Mets first base coach. I took the photo of him on the right after he threw me the ball. 

One of the highlights of batting practice was watching Yasiel Puig hit. He was hitting bombs into the second deck in left field seemingly on every other pitch. He easily hit at least five up there, and the two or three people up there got many chances to catch some home runs. I moved down toward the dugout near the tarp to try and get some autographs. 

Many people signed, but I was in an unlucky spot. Puig, Clayton Kershaw, Scott Van Slyke, and Don Mattingly all signed for people at the dugout, which I wan't able to get to. Carl Crawford and Dee Gordon signed for people about 10 feet to my left. When getting autographs, 10 feet might as well be 10 miles because I was stuck in a mob of people and I couldn't move an inch. 

Both Crawford and Gordon were signing in the five minutes right before the national anthem. At about 7:05, after the anthem was played, Matt Kemp finished warming up in left field and walked over to the mob of people wanting his autograph. He signed for about three minutes, signing for as many people as he could. I walked over to where he was, and got my hand in with the mob of people within arm's reach of Kemp. He took my baseball and signed it on the sweet spot quickly before handing it back to me. I took two photos of him signing, then he ran back as the Mets took the field to start the game. You can see the ball he signed at the bottom of this entry. I am happy to say I emerged from the mob with all of my limbs intact.

That was all for before the game. The game itself was an interesting one. The nine inning game took over four hours. It was one of the longest, if not the longest nine inning game in Mets history. The Mets lost 9-4, and there were a lot of runs, pitching changes, and runners left on base to go around. Here are some pictures I took of Yasiel Puig and Brian Wilson. I think they are pretty good pictures.

For the whole game, I was about five rows behind the ball boy on the third base side. I didn't end up getting a ball from him, but I saw him give balls to a bunch of different people, mostly kids. As the four hour marathon game was winding to a close, I went toward the dugout where the umpires walk down the tunnel. I had gotten a few balls there like THIS game last year. At about 11:20 p.m. the game ended and home plate Larry Vanover walked toward the tunnel with the rest of his crew. See what happened next below.

Yeah, he gave me a ball. Good thing I was on the left side of the tunnel farther way from the dugout. That ball justified me staying for the entire game. I had considered leaving, but figured I would stick it out and see if I could get a ball after. After I got the ball, I ran as fast as I could to catch the LIRR back to Long Island, and made it home shortly after midnight.

Here are the two baseballs I got at the game. The Larry Vanover ball is the one on the right, and it is rubbed up with mud, ready for game use. If the last pitch of the game was a foul ball, he probably would have given the ball I got to the pitcher.

Here is the Matt Kemp signed ball. Not the greatest signature ever, but better than others that I have gotten throughout they years. This is all I have for now. I may be back at Citi Field again soon. Good luck graphing! 

Through the Mail Tales

Now that I am home for the Thanksgiving holiday, today is a good time to catch up on some autographs that I've gotten in the mail over the past few weeks.


Way back in April, I sent a card to Curtis Granderson in hopes of getting some sort of response. Now a free agent, Granderson is known for sending signed photos to people who send him requests in the mail. After seven months and an entire season, I found my SASE on my desk. When I opened it, I found my card unsigned along with what you see on the right. So what if it's a little faded, it's still a great autograph from a great player. Hopefully he goes somewhere where he won't kill the Mets next season.



This next autograph fits right in with the theme of baseball and the Mets. I sent a few cards to former Mets closer Billy Wagner at his home in Virginia. After a few months of waiting, my SASE came back to me. When I opened it, I was happy to see all of the cards I sent perfectly signed in black. Wagner is one of the few people around that writes out all of the letters in his name. The Mets card might be a little smudged, but overall this is a great success from one of my favorite pitchers.


On another subject, I sent an email to former Colts coach Tony Dungy through his website. I asked for an autograph on anything. A photo, business card, pamphlet for his book. I included my address in my email in case they actually wanted to send me something. To my surprise, I got a large envelope from Dungy's foundation a few weeks later. When I opened it, I was happy to find a signed 8x10 photo of the great coach.


That is all the mail autographs I have to share in this entry. I've been to a few Albany Devils games and will blog about those as soon as I can. If you want any help graphing, feel free to comment or tweet to me. Have a great holiday season!

Cardinals @ Mets 6/11/13 at Citi Field

 Last night, June 11, I went to Citi Field for the Mets game against the St. Louis Cardinals. As you can see on my ticket, there is no price as these were complimentary tickets. It was Citi Tuesdays, and I was lucky to get two free tickets.


After taking the train, we arrived at Citi Field about 20 minutes before the gates were going to open. There was already a short line forming in front of the bag check tables, but I decided to start another line. I went right behind another one of the bag check tables, and was first in line. About 10 minutes later, security started to tell people toward the back of the original line that there were indeed two lines, with me at the front of the second one.

When the gates opened, I raced down toward to the first row on the first base side of the field. I was going to try to get some autographs from the Mets today. I was the first one to get down toward where veteran pitcher LaTroy Hawkins was shagging balls during batting practice. Once he fielded a ball, I asked him if he could toss one up. He looked in my direction, and launched it in my direction from about 40-60 feet away.
I moved a few steps to my left, and made the easy one handed catch. Ball #1 was in the books, and you can see it on the left. Hawkins is circled in yellow in the photo on the left, which I took after moving to a better spot for autographs. Feel free to click on that picture, or any other ones in this entry to get a better look, even though some may be out of focus. Unfortunately for me, that would be the only thing I got during Mets batting practice. When they left the field, nobody stopped to sign, and then the Cardinals took over the field.

After the Cardinals took the field, I ran over to the third base side. Within five minutes of getting to my new spot down the third base line, someone yelled, "Heads up!" I looked up and around to see a line drive come flying into the seats, over the heads of several people that ducked to avoid getting hit. The ball bounced off a seat back about five rows directly behind me, popped up straight into the air, and I barely had to move from my spot while making the one hand catch with my back facing the field. I was actually sitting on the ledge between the stands and the field when I made the catch, and I had to push myself back up to avoid falling backwards onto the field. People actually applauded that catch, which surprised me. Maybe it was because it went straight into the glove, no bobble. I then asked who hit the ball, and a person decked out in Cardinals gear told me that it was probably Jon Jay, so I'll go with what he told me. That would be ball #2 on the day. I took the picture of the ball from the spot where I caught it, and this one is more in focus.

After trying, with no success, to get a toss-up from every single Cardinal that fielded a ball, left handed Matt Adams stepped into the cage. A few swings in, he hit a screaming line drive hooking toward the foul line. The ball hit the warning track dirt in fair territory, and was curving into the stands. Again, the girls standing next to me hit the deck to protect their faces. I saw the ball coming toward me, so I instinctively stuck out my glove, and watched the ball come flying right into my glove. When I tried to squeeze it shut, the ball popped out for a split second. However I got it back in my glove before it could fall to the dirt or any other fans could get their hands on it. Ball #3 was safely in my glove when I checked to see if it was still there. I took another, slightly out of focus, picture with ball #3 facing the infield where I caught it. That would be the last ball I got on the day. I got two balls during the Cardinals portion of BP in literally the exact same spot. I guess that it was the luck of the redbirds.

A few minutes later, most of the Cardinals left the field without signing any autographs. To my surprise, Shelby Miller emerged from the dugout and came over to the corner near the tarp and started signing for the fans. I tried my best to get into the scrum, but I was stuck in the third row, well out of Miller's arm reach. I slowly inched my way closer toward where Miller was signing, but I still wasn't close enough. Someone in the first row was offering to help get autographs for people that were further away. I handed him my ball and pen. No more than a minute later, I could see Miller signing my ball on the sweet spot with the pen I had just given the helpful person in the front row. I got the ball back, thanked the guy in the front for helping me out, then took the video of Miller signing that you can see below. You can see the signed ball at the bottom of this entry.


That would be the only autograph I got on the day. Miller has been great this year, and he actually writes out every letter of his name, which you don't see too often. I finally met my friend, who had unsuccessfully tried to snag a home run during batting practice, and he took the picture below.
The game was pretty bad from a Mets perspective as Jeremy Hefner imploded in the fifth inning, allowing five runs. Michael Wacha got his first career MLB win, leading the Cardinals past the New York Mets 9-2.


Shelby Miller signed ball:

Today's Baseballs:                                                        And the sweet spots:

That's all for another game at Citi Field. Thanks for Reading! Good luck Graphing!