I went to Citi Field for the Friday game of a weekend series between the Mets and the Cincinnati Reds last week. I didn't take as many photos as I usually take at the games, so I'll let the words do the talking for this one.
I got to Citi Field about a half hour before the gates opened and was fifth in line to get in after a guard added a new bag check station. Eventually, the gates opened right on time and I ran in as quickly as I could.
Instead of going to my spot down the third base line, I went straight to right field this time. The Reds have a lot of strong left handed hitters, so I figured I could try and catch some homers from them during batting practice.
As soon as I got to the front row in right field, a righty on the Mets laced a line drive that rolled to the base of the wall a few feet in front of me. Mets reliever Hansel Robles came over to pick up the ball. I asked him to throw it to me. He underhanded it to me from about 10 feet away. I made the underhanded catch in my glove. See the ball on the right. I was on the board not even 10 minutes after walking into the stadium. No more than five minutes after Robles threw me the ball, the Mets were off the field and BP was over.
That was it. The Reds didn't take batting practice, probably because they had a 13 inning game in Pittsburgh the night before and didn't get to New York until about 4 a.m. I don't know if that's when they got in, that is just my guess.
While waiting for anything to happen, I moved over to the usual spot down the third base line and waited for something to happen. First, I went over to Zack Hample and congratulated him on catching the ball Alex Rodriguez used for his 3,000th hit. Click HERE to read more about that.
Eventually, a few of the Reds pitchers came out to play catch. One player was putting loose baseballs that were lying on the field into a bag a few feet in front of me. I didn't know who it was, but I held my glove up to try and get his attention. Without even saying anything, the player tossed a ball to me. The ball is an old Bud Selig ball that was quite worn when I snagged it. I was told the player who threw it to me was injured pitcher Raisel Iglesias, but I don't know for sure.
A few minutes after I got the ball, I saw a Reds pitcher signing some autographs down the line. Before I could figure out who it was, I was running down to try and get his autograph. Since I didn't have much to get signed and I didn't know who the player was, I got the player to sign the ball I was just thrown, even though it was a pretty beat up ball. I was told the player was rookie pitcher Michael Lorenzen. Here is the signed ball.
For a while after getting Lorenzen's autograph, pretty much nothing happened. Then, shortly before the National Anthem, a few Reds players came over and started signing. Billy Hamilton was way too far away. But the one person within an arm's reach was Todd Frazier. He signed a clean ball for me, then I used my GoPro camera to take the below video. He signed for a bunch of people before the National Anthem was sung.
After the national anthem, the main target of the day walked in my direction. That would be Brandon Phillips. I got his autograph in 2013, but I wanted to try again because he is one of the best players in baseball. The video below shows everything that happened once he came over.
As you can see, he signed my card. He also messed with my GoPro, which was hilarious. When he touched the camera, I was actually bending down to pick up a pen that I dropped. Phillips is a great guy, and I'm happy I have the video to prove it. His birthday was a couple days after the video was shot, so that's why I told him happy early birthday.
After that, I just watched the game with my friend. It was a good one, as the Mets won in less than two and a half hours. Here are the autographs from Phillips and Frazier:
That's it for this entry. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!
For the first time in many months, I was able to get to a baseball game in time for batting practice. You probably know what happened in this game already, but I'm obligated to share my tale anyway.
I found a good ticket deal online for the Tuesday game between the Mets and Giants, and my friend an I decided to go and meet at the game. I got to Citi Field at about 4:40 and was first in line at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda when the gates were going to open. My friend arrived a few minutes later, and we were in a good spot when the gates opened.
Now, I didn't have a regular ticket stub for this game, nor did I have a print at home ticket. I had an e-ticket, which I accessed from Passbook on my iPhone. As I got to the gate, I showed the ticket taker my ticket and a small type of ticket-type paper was printed out of a machine and handed to me. It says on the paper that it's not a ticket, but it's used as a ticket because people figured out that e-tickets can be altered to show many possible seats. I'll call it a receipt. On the right is what I got when I entered the stadium. If you notice the time, it says 5:10:17 PM, which is just seconds after the gates opened.
After fumbling to put the receipt in my pocket and grab my glove, I raced toward the third base side of the field in foul territory. I was one of the first ones to get there while the Mets were still taking BP, and as I was grabbing something from my bag, I heard the crack of Anthony Recker's bat. He sent a line drive foul ball into the empty seats a section behind me. I raced up the stairs and saw the ball rolling down from row to row in the middle of the row of seats. After picking the right row, the ball rolled right into my waiting glove a moment before another guy stuck his hand out to try and make the snag. On the left is a photo I took of the ball from the approximate spot I snagged it.
The rest of batting practice was pretty boring. The Mets left the field soon after that and during the Giants portion, Joaquin Arias threw a ball toward me, but it sailed a couple feet over my glove. That was pretty much it. I was getting ready to head back toward my seats on the first base side when I noticed a person in a Giants uniform standing in the tunnel near the Giants dugout. The same tunnel where I got baseballs from umpires last season.
Once I walked over to the tunnel, I was told that it was former big leaguer Shawon Dunston. He played 17 years in the major leagues for six different teams. He was an All-Star twice and was a pretty good shortstop. He briefly played for the Mets and finished his playing career with the Giants in a 2002 World Series loss. I went over to him and asked him to sign a blank Giants history card I had on me, and he was happy to sign it. He works in the Giants front office, and he was letting fans try on his World Series ring from last year. I didn't get to try it. Here is a video I took of him signing autographs.
After taking that video, I went toward where my seat was on the first base side and met up with my friend. We wanted to meet Curtis Granderson once again. I met him a coupletimes last season, and I think my argument is justified when I say he is the nicest player in the league. He usually signs right after the national anthem, so I headed over toward the spot he usually signs from. After the national anthem, he high-fived all the pitchers going to the bullpen, then walked over and signed. My friend and I were at a good place in line and I'll let the video below describe everything else.
My friend Larry was very happy to see the video. As you can see, Granderson signed two cards for me then shook my hand. Nice guy. If you're keeping track, Grandreson has now signed six cards for me over the last year. I have no more cars for him to sign, so if I want to meet him again I may need to get something creative for him to sign. Here are the cards:
After that, we ate food and went back to our seats and watched the game. In the top of the first inning, Giants leadoff hitter Nori Aoki bounced an infield single to open the game against Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard. A that time, I said something to my friend that I wouldn't say again the rest of the night.
"Well, there goes the no-hitter," I told him jokingly.
Giants rookie Chris Heston was mowing down the Mets one after the other. On a team that includes Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson, and Tim Lincecum, Chris Heston was the last person I expected to do anything noteworthy. In fact, I'd never even heard of him before I looked up who the starting pitchers for the game were. If you're wondering, here is the view from my seat. It was down the right field line in foul territory.
In the fourth inning, the Giants loaded the bases with two outs and gave Heston a chance to help himself, which he did.
So the game went on and as the game went on, the tension grew. The Giants were able to build a lead and in about the fifth inning, people started to figure out what could be going on. Heston was mowing down the Mets and would have been in position for a perfect game if not for a couple pitches that hit Mets batters in the fourth inning.
In about the sixth inning, I can honestly say I started rooting for Heston. I was at Shea Stadium in 2007 when John Maine had his no-hit bid broken up by a Paul Hoover infield single. I wanted to see history, even if it was at the expense of the Mets.
Throughout the game, I was wearing my glove like I always do. Right fielders Curtis Granderson and Justin Maxwell were always warming up in from of me, and I tried unsuccessfully for the first few innings to try and get a ball from them. However, once the Mets made a pitching change in the seventh inning, I got my opportunity.
Granderson was having a catch with bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello as the new relief pitcher warmed up. I went down to the front row to try and get Granderson's attention. When they were done playing catch, Granderson saw me in the crowd. He ran over and lobbed an underhanded toss in my direction. I reached my glove out and made the easy one handed catch without anybody else really knowing what's going on. Here's a photo I took of the ball with Granderson in the background.
After getting the ball from Granderson, the game only got more intense. People were rooting for the Mets to get a hit, and others were rooting for history. The Mets kept hitting weak ground outs and couldn't do anything. When Heston came to bat in the top of the ninth inning, he got a standing ovation. In the bottom of the ninth inning, most of everybody at Citi Field came to their feet.
Finally, it was time to do or die for Heston. With all the built up tension, Heston's first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning nailed Anthony Recker, the third batter Heston hit on the night. The next batter, Danny Muno, struck out looking. Granderson followed Muno by striking out looking as well. That left Ruben Tejada as the last out between Heston and history. In the middle of that at bat, I took the photo below of the scoreboard. It is off-center and missing part of the board, but it captures the essence of what was happening.
Tejada worked the count to 2-2, and the videos below will show the moment when Chris Heston marked his name in baseball's history book. The video below is my view and call of the last out.
Below is the call of both sets of radio and TV announcers.
Heston's no hitter was the fourth no-hitter for the Giants in as many seasons. They have now had no hitters in each of the last four seasons. The no-hitter was the 288th in Major League Baseball history. That amounts to about 1-2 per season. With 2,430 games played during the regular season, the odds of seeing a no-hitter are about 0.0008 percent. That is an 8 in 10,000 percent. Going to a no-hitter is on everyone's baseball bucket list, and I can now cross that off mine.
When I checked online for pictures the next day, I saw myself in the background. I'd like to call myself a freckle in the face of history. I circled myself in the photos below. Thank you, yellow shirt. You may need to click on them and zoom in to get a better shot of me.
MLB.com
USA Today
That is all for this entry. It will be hard to top this game. Thank you for reading!
I'm back home for the summer, and this one should be a great one. I had not gotten an autograph in person in over a month, so I figured I'd look for a good opportunity to get an autograph.
Online, I saw that one of the world's best soccer goalkeepers, Tim Howard, was doing a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in New York City. I had some free time, so I figured I'd go and see what I could do. You probably remember Howard from his record setting performance at last year's World Cup in Brazil. Since that performance, he has gained the nickname of the 'Secretary of Defense.'
After an LIRR ride into the city and a subway ride to 53rd and Lexington, I was standing outside the Barnes & Noble at Citigroup Center. I was a couple hours early to the signing as I wanted to make sure I got a spot in line.
I told the woman at the door I was there for the Tim Howard book signing and she told me to head to the cashier to purchase books. I saw online that no outside items were allowed at the signing, so I pretty much had to buy a copy of Howard's new book, The Keeper.
There were three versions available; a hardcover, a soft cover, and a young readers' version. After asking the woman behind the counter how many books Howard would sign per person, I decided to buy two. The woman told me he would sign all the books I bought. I got the hardcover and the softcover.
Then, I got a snack in the cafe and headed toward the upstairs part of the store where the signing would take place. I had about two hours to kill and two fresh books in my bag, so I figured I'd read one. Until the signing started, I got about 80 pages into Howard's book, which I have enjoyed so far.
I was about seventh in line for thee public signing. But before the signing, he would be doing a program for local school kids who took a field trip to meet Howard. After a couple hours of waiting and reading, Howard emerged to cheers from the line that formed.
During the program, Howard met each kid and handed them all signed books. After taking a group photo with all the kids, the public signing began.
I was told no posed photography would be allowed during the signing. So I made a deal with the person behind me in line that we would take photos of each other with Howard and send them to each other later.
After the kid in front of me managed to get his goalie glove signed by Howard, the Barnes & Noble employees ushered me to the table. I handed my two books to one of the employees, and shook Howard's hand after approaching the table.
While he signed my two books, I asked him about potentially playing in the US in the future. He said he wouldn't mind it, then I thanked him for coming out and took some photos of the person behind me meeting her idol. Here are a couple of photos that person took of me meeting Howard. I was politely told to get out of the way, so I went back downstairs and texted a couple of my friends that I just met Tim Howard.
Here are the two books Howard signed for me:
Overall, the signing was very well run. I enjoyed myself and got to meet a world class athlete. I don't usually pay for autographs, but I made an exception for this one. The book is a great one, and I'd recommend it. Hopefully, I will get back to that Barnes & Noble for a signing later this summer.
Before this season started, I said that if the New York Islanders made the playoffs, I would come home from Albany to go to a playoff game. I've never been to an NHL playoff game, and I didn't want to live my life without going to one at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Islanders had a successful regular season, and while they didn't get home ice advantage for their first round series against the Washington Capitals, they did get a home game at a time I could attend: Sunday April 19 at noon.
Autographs were the last thing on my mind for this game, but I always come prepared just in case I see somebody.
The game itself was an amazing one. It was everything I could have asked for my first (and last) playoff game at Nassau Coliseum. In case you don't know what happened, here's how the game ended.
After the game, I didn't have my voice for a few days.
But during the game, something cool happened. At the second intermission, I went to go use the bathroom, which can be a difficult and time consuming task at the Coliseum, which may be one of the reasons they are leaving. Instead of trying to find one on the concourse, which is impossible during an intermission, I headed down to the lower lobby.
The lower lobby is where I've met many Isladner greats by the MSG studio. This season alone, I've met legends Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, and Denis Potvin. But since this game was televised live nationally on NBC, there was no show at the studio today.
While in line for the men's room, I noticed someone familiar walking toward me. After someone took a selfie with him, I realized it was Islander great Clark Gillies. I had left my bag with my sharpies and stuff to get signed at my seat, so the only option I had was to go for a photo. I went to ask for it, but he said he would be right back before walking down a VIP tunnel.
A few minutes later, Gillies emerged and was walking through the crowd quickly. After signing an autograph for someone else, I took my phone out and went next to him for a selfie. He smiled and I took the photo on the right. I think he was sitting in the stands and had to go to the bathroom at the intermission. Since his name is in the rafters, he can do whatever he wants. I got his autograph a few times before, so I wasn't upset about missing out on the chance for the autograph. It isn't the greatest selfie, but it is a selfie with a Hall of Famer, so I won't complain.
That was a pretty cool moment, and another one happened at the end of the game. As everyone was leaving, I was in no rush. I just sat in my seat and absorbed the Nassau Coliseum atmosphere one last time. When I finally left my seat, I walked down toward the concourse to go outside.
Once I entered the concourse, I noticed a group of people just standing around. After walking toward that area, I noticed it was another Islander legend, Bob Nystrom. Nystrom isn't in the Hall of Fame, but he scored the greatest goal in Islanders history to give them their first Stanley Cup in 1980.
Unlike Gillies, Nystrom was in no rush. He was shaking every hand and taking every photo with anyone who asked. I brought a puck with me and asked him to sign it. He signed it, but my silver sharpie was dead and the autograph is barely visible, as you can see on the right. He then used my sharpie to sign a woman's hoodie and a couple tickets, which came out better than my puck.
Since the puck came out bad, I wanted to get another autograph. Nystrom was still busy taking pictures so I had a minute to dig out an Islanders team logo sheet from my bag. I previously got Rick Bowness and Butch Goring to sign the sheet with a black sharpie. I had no black sharpie with me, and I grabbed the first one I could find out of my bag. That one turned out to be orange, which was fine because it's an Islanders color. Nystrom signed the logo sheet with the orange sharpie, adding the third signature to my sheet.
Before Nystrom left, I took a selfie with him and thanked him for his time. That photo turned out to be the final one I ever took inside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. A selfie with the man who helped put the Islanders on the hockey map.
That's all for this entry. Thanks for reading. Farewell Nassau Coliseum.
I'm finally catching up on blog entries. Here goes a pretty big one.
This was the last time I ever went to Glens Falls Civic Center to see an AHL morning skate. After the Adirondack Flames season ended, they moved west and will begin play in the AHL's new Pacific Division next year.
I already graphed the Hamilton Bulldogs earlier this season, but a friend invited me to go with him, and I couldn't say no to one last trip to Glens Falls.
We got there right when the Flames were in the midst of their morning skate, and as soon as we got there, the ink was flowing.
A few weeks earlier, I picked up a Calgary Flames pennant at the local mall for less than $4. Can't go wrong with that. I didn't need to get another team sheet signed by the Flames, so I figured the pennant would be a nice addition.
As soon as I got to the gate to the ice, players started coming off and signing the pennant. I'll post the whole list a little further down. But a funny story happened when one player came off the ice. New guy Oleg Yevenko came off the ice, and I asked him to sign the pennant. He said, "Are you sure?" Once I told him I was sure, he signed it and went to the locker room. When I asked Trevor Gillies to sign the pennant, he picked it up, held it against the glass and signed it.
The only Flame who signed something that wasn't the pennant was Devin Setoguchi. I had a few cards of him, and he signed them nicely when he come off the ice. Here are the cards. He then signed 11 cards for someone else before heading into the locker room.
And here is the pennant and a list of everyone who signed it, in no particular order. Click on the photo to zoom in and see the photo better. I got the pennant signed in black instead of blue.
I don't know who signed inside the C on the logo. Anybody know who that is?
After all the Flames left the ice, I headed over to the other side just in time to see the Bulldogs enter the ice. I had a few photos of some players and some blank 4x6 team cards. A friend also gave me some cards, which were useful.
One of the first autographs I got was of former goalie and current assistant coach Vincent Riendeau. He signed two card a friend gave me. He wasn't on the ice for the skate, he was just watching from the stands. He signed a whole bunch of cards for other people. Nice guy.
Eventually, the players started coming off the ice after the morning skate. One of the ones I easily recognized was former New York Islander Joe Finely. He signed a cool photo from his Islanders days fro me. Here's the photo. No, they didn't wear those uniforms during the game.
One of the first players off the ice was the starting goalie for that night's game, Mike Condon. I took a photo with him last time, and I had printed out a copy for him to sign. He said he really liked the photo and happily signed it for me.
Another player that I recognized by his uniform number was Sven Andrighetto. He is one of the top rated prospects in the Canadiens' system. A friend had given me a custom card that he acquired of Andrighetto. Since Andrighetto had never seen the card before, my friend gave him a card to keep. That seemed to make him happy. He signed the photo and one of the cards for me.
Another player who I had a 4x6 photo of was Eric Tangradi. He and Trevor Gillies have a history from their days with the Penguins and Islanders, respectively. If you don't remember that, click HERE and be reminded of that. Tangradi signed a photo from his days with the Winnipeg Jets and a few cards for some other players.
I was given a bunch of cards of head coach Sylvain Lefebvre. He signed them all for me after coming off the ice. Pretty much everyone signed everything for everyone on the day.
Fellow assistant coach Stephan Lebeau also signed a few cards for me. I wanted him to sign one where he is wearing a dark uniform in silver sharpie, and it didn't come out too well. Always use blue on cards, end of story.
I had a few blank logo photos, and here is a photo of a player that I can't identify signing one for me. I had my GoPro camera with me, and I got some cool shots during the day. Here is one of them. This is what happened with all the players. If you know who this is, comment and let me know.
The last assistant coach that I got an autograph of was Donald Dufrense. He signed a card and one of the 4x6 logo photos for me. Here is a photo of him signing for me that my GoPro took.
Here are the two blank photo sheets and the players that signed them for me.
I'm really falling behind on these entries, I'm sorry. School and life have been pretty busy, but I'm starting to catch up.
About a month ago, I attended the Albany Devils game on a Sunday afternoon when they hosted the Hartford Wolfpack. The Wolfpack were one of the first teams I ever got autographs from in Albany, so I figured I'd try my luck with them again.
The game was also scheduled as the last autograph signing for the Devils, which was good because I was looking to get a few photos signed from some players.
The game itself was a pretty good one, as the Devils scored four goals in the third period to come back and beat the Wolfpack. I got a few of them on video, as you could see HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Directly after the game, I went to my usual spot outside the Times Union Center and waited for the Wolfpack to come outside.
It was pretty cold, so I don't have any photos of the Wolfpack outside, but here's the quick story of what happened. Defenseman Michael Kostka came out and I instantly recognized him because of his long blonde hair. He quickly signed the photo on the right for me before boarding the team bus. Longtime AHLer Chris Mueller also came out and signed a photo for me. I rarely print out photos of people in AHL jerseys, but I liked this one so I got him to sign it.
Eventually, someone I actually recognized walked out the door. Dylan McIlrath signed a program for a kid, and I instantly recognized his signature from the last time I met him. He signed a nice photo for me. One of the last guys to walk out the door was Joey Crabb, and a fellow collector pointed him out for me so I could get him to sign the photo on the right.
I had printed out a Hartford Wolfpack team logo 4x6 photo to get a few random people to sign. I got a couple of players to sign it, but I'll get to them in a second. Assistant coach and 1994 Stanley Cup Champion Jeff Beukeboom walked out the door carrying some food, and when a couple collectors asked him to sign, he went on the bus and said he would be right back. A lot of people say that, but few live up to their word. But thankfully, Beukeboom but his stuff down on the bus and came back. He signed a cool 1994 Stanley Cup Championship puck that I had, as well as the Wolfpack logo sheet. Here are both items with the other people who signed the logo sheet.
After that, I went back inside for the Devils autograph signing. The first table I got in line for was that of the day's winning goalie, Scott Clemmensen. I met Clemmensen the first time he got sent down back in November, but he wasn't coming out the usual back door since then. I took a photo with him that first time, and I printed it out and tried to get it signed. When I handed him the photo, he said that we look like a couple of handsome men. Then, he said he liked the photo of him playing on the Cats, aka the Florida Panthers. Here are the two photos he signed for me.
The other Albany Devils' player who I had an individual item of was Joe Whitney. I printed out a photo from his first NHL goal in Detroit earlier this season. I told him that I've never seen anyone look so happy in a hockey photo, and he said he remembers how happy he was after putting the puck in the net. Judge how happy he is for yourself, the photo is on the right.
The giveaway at the game was a team poster. They gave posters out last year, and I was there for that game too. This year's poster was significantly smaller, which made it easier to carry around. After the game, I got everybody that was there to sign the poster. I don't have a specific list of names, but here are a few photos I took at the signing.
And below is the team signed poster. I put pucks on the corners to hold it down. Click on the photo for a closer look.
That's all for this entry, I'll have another one coming up soon. Thanks for reading!
As soon as I got to the front row in right field, a righty on the Mets laced a line drive that rolled to the base of the wall a few feet in front of me. Mets reliever Hansel Robles came over to pick up the ball. I asked him to throw it to me. He underhanded it to me from about 10 feet away. I made the underhanded catch in my glove. See the ball on the right. I was on the board not even 10 minutes after walking into the stadium. No more than five minutes after Robles threw me the ball, the Mets were off the field and BP was over.
Eventually, a few of the Reds pitchers came out to play catch. One player was putting loose baseballs that were lying on the field into a bag a few feet in front of me. I didn't know who it was, but I held my glove up to try and get his attention. Without even saying anything, the player tossed a ball to me. The ball is an old Bud Selig ball that was quite worn when I snagged it. I was told the player who threw it to me was injured pitcher Raisel Iglesias, but I don't know for sure.
After that, I just watched the game with my friend. It was a good one, as the Mets won in less than two and a half hours. Here are the autographs from Phillips and Frazier:
