Diamondbacks @ Mets 5/24/14 at Citi Field

After going on Tuesday to see the Mets play the Dodgers, I was back at Citi Field again on Saturday to see the Mets play the Diamondbacks. I went with my friend, and we got to Citi Field at about 1:45 for the 4:10 game. There was a giveaway of a David Wright canvas print, and I wanted to make sure to show up early to try and get it.

I had gotten tickets at a good price for the section behind the visitors dugout. Once the gates opened at 2:10, I was given the canvas print and went directly down to the visitors dugout. Within two minutes of getting behind the dugout, someone in a Diamondbacks hat, I don't know who, started walking toward the dugout holding a ball in his hand. I asked if he could toss it up to me, and he responded by taking two steps into the dugout and tossing the ball to me. The ball was brand new as if it was fresh out of the box. The only mark on it was a small blue patch from where the ball hit the dugout roof when the person threw it to me. I wish I knew who grew it to me or took a picture of him, but I honestly don't have a clue. After the Mets finished batting practice, the Diamondbacks elected to take infield practice instead of batting practice. The photo on the right was my view for most of that practice.

After getting the ball from the Diamondbacks coach, I watched Brandon McCarthy have a catch with one of the Diamondbacks bullpen catchers down the line. After he finished playing catch, he signed for a few fans near the tarp down the line. When he got to the dugout, I asked if he could sign for me. He said sure, and I tossed him the ball I had just gotten. He quickly signed it and tossed it back to me. I figured I'd get the ball from the Diamondbacks coach signed by the Diamondbacks. His signature is on the right.

After McCarthy, I just missed Henry Blanco and a couple other Diamondbacks who I couldn't recognize. One of the other people to stop was utility player Cliff Pennington. He stood on the dugout steps and signed for me and about five other people before going to the clubhouse to get ready for the game.

Closer to game time, I noticed someone signing on the other end of the dugout. When I ran over there, I saw it was one of the best hitters in baseball, Paul Goldschmidt. He signed for some of the Diamondbacks fans that were in the Delta club near home plate, and he also stopped at the dugout to sign for a few people there. He signed my ball with someone else's pen. Someone tossed him one of the David Wright canvas prints to sign, and he said, "What do you want me to do with this? It's David Wright." When the person said he didn't have anything else, Goldschmidt signed it on the bottom corner and tossed it back to the guy. I got a short video of him signing, which you can see below. Goldschmidt and Pennington signed the same ball McCarthy signed earlier. Goldschmidt's signature is on the bottom of the photo on the right.


That was all the action I saw until the 5th inning. Since it was raining for most of the game, I was wearing my rain coat. With my glove on my left hand, I held my umbrella in my right for most of the game while the rain was coming down. Many people fled for cover, but my friend and I waited out the storm. There were no delays or stoppages in the game. After the fifth inning ended, the Pepsi Party Patrol started throwing and shooting t-shirts into the crowd with Mr. Met. I had run down the aisle to try and get a third out ball, but didn't get one. Once the t-shirts were being thrown into the crowd, I stayed and watched. As one the people with the t-shirt gun was launching them into the upper deck, and one of the girls was handing the shirts to him to shoot. Out of nowhere, the girl reached into the bag and threw one into the crowd as hard as she could. I held up my wide open glove, and to my surprise, I caught the shirt. There were people standing behind me who flinched as it came, but I snagged it perfectly in my glove and held it up. After walking back to my seat, I took the photo on the left. As you may notice, the shirt is tied up with a balloon, not rubber bands as I originally thought. That was the first time I had caught a t-shirt at a Mets game. When I got home, I took the photos of the shirt that you can see below. I'm not a big fan of the design, but a free shirt is better than no shirt.

Back

Front

Shortly after that, the game got interesting as the Mets tried and failed to get back into the game. Here are a few action shots I took of Eric Young Jr. on the base paths. He dove back on a pickoff throw on the photo on the left. Then he took off and stole second as you can see on the photo on the right.

As per usual, the Mets left many runners in scoring position, and ended up falling to the Diamondbacks 3-2 on a rainy day from Citi Field. You may remember I got a ball on Tuesday from umpire Larry Vanover. HERE is a video of that snag that I took. I figured I'd try and get another ball, this time from umpire Jim Reynolds. Take a look at what happened next, from the other side of the tunnel this time.

Yeah, I got another ball from the umpire. Reynolds gave away a bunch of baseballs, and actually gave a few to the people standing next to me, the Cooks. I said hi and made a quick introduction with them, but I had a train to catch, so I left soon after that, grabbing a canvas print someone had left on the floor on my way out. Here are the two balls I snagged at the game. I got one of them signed as I mentioned earlier. The ball from Jim Reynolds is on the right.

Sweet Spots

The baseballs I snagged

That's all I have from Citi Field. I hope to be back again soon. I should have another entry about some cool autographs I have gotten in the mail recently up soon. Thanks for reading. Follow me on twitter if you want to HERE.

Reds @ Mets 5/20/13 at Citi Field

After getting back from college this past weekend, I finally got out to Citi Field this past Monday, May 20. I had gotten tickets on StubHub to see the Reds play the Mets. I went with one of my friends, and we had great seats behind the Reds dugout.

After taking the train to the game, we arrived at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda with 15 minutes to spare before the gates opened. After talking to Zack Hample and Mateo Fischer for a little while, it was time to enter. Immediately after entering, I ran down to a spot in the front row right behind the Reds dugout.



A few minutes later, I saw a Reds player signing autographs at the dugout. I wasn't sure who it was, but  I threw him my baseball and pen anyway. He signed it and tossed it back up to me. After looking at the signature, as you can see to the right, I discovered it was reliever Sam LeCure.


Shortly after that, I wandered over to the other end of the dugout and noticed Dusty Baker having a conversation with a man who wasn't in any uniform. The only thing I could notice was that he was wearing a hat that had the number 42 on it. I'm guessing it was after the Jackie Robinson movie that was recently released, but I will never be completely sure. When I asked someone else who that was, I was surprised to find that it was former Mets manager and Yankee Captain Willie Randolph. After he wrapped up his conversation with Dusty Baker, I asked Willie if he could sign, and he motioned for me to throw a ball and a pen to him. I threw him the one official MLB ball I had brought with me, and he signed it very nicely on the side panel and threw it back to me. He actually wrote out most of the letters in his name, which you don't see to often today.



Later on during batting practice, I just missed Dusty Baker and nearly got Shin-Soo Choo to sign my baseball, but he just didn't take it. Even though I missed those two great players, I still got another great player to sign. Brandon Phillips, aka @DatDudeBP, was coming to the dugout after taking his round of BP, and he started talking with some of the fans behind the dugout. Eventually he started signing, and I was fortunate enough to get him to sign the same ball LeCure had signed earlier. There was a funny moment when two people had tossed him gloves to sign, yet he didn't have a pen, as you can see on the left. HERE is a video that I took of Phillips signing. I'm pretty sure Phillips signs before every game, and if you are ever at a Reds game, try your best to get him and you won't be disappointed.

The last autograph I would get during the day would be Mat Latos. He started signing balls at the dugout steps, and he signed mine right in the middle of a large pack of people. He has a very unique signature to say the least. After he tossed my ball back to me, I fumbled around in my pockets trying to get a card out. To my surprise, Latos kept signing, probably for about 15 minutes. Eventually I got my Reds team card out, clipped it to a blue sharpie, and Mat pointed to me and asked me to throw it to him. After he signed it, he tossed it back to me and went down into the clubhouse to prepare for the game. Turns out Latos wasn't even on the Reds when that card was made, but it looks good either way.


That would be all the autographs I got for the day. I sat down in my seats and tried to get a third out ball from Joey Votto, but was unsuccessful each time. I just missed out on a foul ball that Votto hit in the third inning, as it landed in the section to my left, and I had no chance to grab it as it rolled even farther away from me.

When the Reds finished off a 4-3 win, I went to the tunnel where the umpires enter and exit the field. Home plate umpire Tom Hallion was getting heckled from many of the unhappy Mets fans as he exited the field for some questionable decisions and calls he made during the game. After flipping a ball to Mateo and giving a ball to each of the two young kids that were also near the tunnel, I saw him take one other ball out of his pouch. I yelled out, "Tom, good game." He definitely heard me as after that he placed a rubbed up but unused ball in my glove then walked down the tunnel. That was the first baseball I had snagged for the season.

After the game, I met up with Zack, Mateo, and a third ballhawk named Mark, who had caught Marlon Byrd's home run earlier, and we all posed with the Byrd home run ball. From left to right, it is Zack, Mark, Mateo, and I am on the right in the yellow shirt.

That's it for my first game of the season. Thanks for reading and have an amazing day! 

-Aaron