You might recall that about a year ago I posted an entry about my excitement regarding the acquisition of Bobby Abreu and how I thought he'd help the team.  Well, as I'm sure you know by now, the Angels signed Hideki Matsui to a one year deal last month.  While I am sad to see Vladdy go (this deal pretty much sealed his non-Angel fate), I am glad that we'll be getting a more patient hitter.  Matsui is no better in the power or mobility categories but at least he'll see a few more pitches per at bat and hopefully not ground into so many double plays.  Vlad had his worst season since his rookie year in '09 (partly due to injuries) so I'm glad Matsui is replacing him, in essence.  I was over the Vladdy-love after 2008, when his numbers decreased drastically (and it was revealed he was actually a year older than he'd reported).  Matsui had a career year last season so he's worth the low-risk of signing him.  Yes, his knees are bad and he's just going to DH... but that's fine.  That was Vladdy, too.

Back to Abreu for a moment.  He turned out to be a great investment, making all of the 2009 Angels better.  And he was rewarded with a new, two-year deal.  Back in my previous blog about his signing I'd said, "I'm projecting seventeen homers and 100 RBIs for Bobby," and he gave us 15 home runs and 103 RBIs.  Not too shabby, eh?  So, what's Hideki Matsui's line going to be in 2010?  Well, if he stays healthy (and that's a BIG if) then I'm guessing he still won't hit 28 homers like he did last season.  He doesn't have Yankee Stadium's friendly short porch.  So, I'm guessing he'll hit 18 home runs and drive in 85 runs.  Not overly impressive, but it all depends on where he hits in the lineup.  I'll go ahead and throw out that he'll hit .285 on the season.  Check back in a year!

Was it a good signing?  Yes, I think so.  A great one?  No.  I wish we still had Lackey... and Figgins.  We got Fernando Rodney... we'll see.  He's a wild card whenever he's throwing.  Usually he'll strike a guy out or walk him but he doens't give up a lot of home runs.  He should compliment Fuentes well.  And Scot Shields will be back... plus we've got Jepsen and Bulger.  So, over the course of the season our bullpen is looking pretty solid.  Who knows if Matt Palmer will be another arm out of the pen or if he'll fall into that fifth starter role behind Jered Weaver, Scott Kazmir, Joe Saunders, and Ervin Santana?  I think we're okay on pitching and okay on hitting.  The lineup?  Here's my projection:

1. Erick Aybar
2. Bobby Abreu
3. Torii Hunter
4. Kendry Morales
5. Hideki Matsu
6. Juan Rivera
7. Howie Kendrick
8. Mike Napoli/Jeff Mathis
9. Brandon Wood/Maicer Izturis

Thoughts?  Feedback?  It's going to be tough to fend off Seattle and the Rangers.  They've both made better improvements to their respective teams than have the Angels.  Oakland?  I'm not worried about them.  We'll see if the front office is done making moves for any/all of teh AL West teams.  One thing's for sure--I'm excited for a new season of baseball and an All-Star Game here in Anaheim.

Hi, all.  By now the New Year is creeping up on our East Coast friends!  As I write this it's 7:30pm in California.  4.5 hours to go until 2010.

My resolution: snag a home run ball.  Or two.  Or three.  :-)

Actually, it's to get out of debt.  But the home run ball would be nice.  We'll see.  I hope you all are having a great holiday season.

It's been seventy degrees during the day here in Orange County.  Ah, can't beat it.

Anyone have road trip plans?  I'm heading to New York in April--hoping to see at least ONE of the new stadiums.  Which one should I pick?

Best,

Matt

Back at the beginning of November I read a little press release on the Angels' website.  Basically, the groundskeepers hold a canned food drive on the weekend before Thanksgiving each year and 2009 would be their 9th annual food drive partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank.  At the time I wasn't sure if I could make it due to my school schedule.  But, fast-forward two weeks and my schedule was remarkably free on the Friday before Turkey Day so Michelle and I rooted through our cabinets, stopped at the store to purchase additional canned goods, then drove to Angel Stadium.  We arrived a little after 10:00am and were pleasantly surprised to see there weren't a million cars in the parking lot.
We dropped off our cans at a check-in table, seen above from right behind it, and I donated an additional five dollars, too.  The deal was that you could take batting practice based on your donation.  It worked out that every two cans equaled one pitch in the cage.  Plus, you could shag fly balls and throw in the bullpen!  How did I not know about this sooner in my life?!?  I opted for three pitches in the bullpen and ten pitches in the cage against a pitching machine.  I took my tickets and we headed toward the concourse.  As we went through the tunnel and onto the Field Level of seats, this was our view:
Totally awesome!  Like, literally, awesome... I was in awe.  There they were, ordinary fans totally allowed to run around on a big league field!  We hurried down the aisle to the front row and into the special box seats that are right on the field.
At this point I parted ways with Michelle (she was going to hang out and take pictures) and went toward the half-open gate that led onto the warning track.

Everyone who was going to hit had been assigned a number.  Mine was 129.  I got to the gate leading to the field and hesitated.  Could I just head out there?  Did I need to wait to be called?  I had no idea what the protocol was.  I asked a guy nearby if he knew what number they were on and he told me, "About eighty or so."  Well, considering everyone hitting could get up to 20 pitches I figured I had some time... so I just walked out onto the field.
I stepped on the dirt, made it a few steps further to the grass.  I'd never touched the grass at Angel Stadium before.  I kept walking, my backpack still on my shoulders, praying nobody would tell me I had to go back to the stands and wait.  I kept going, made it out to left field, turned around and looked back at home plate, and stopped.  Wow.

It was incredible!  The last time I'd been down to the field was in the early nineties when I got to march around the warning track on Little League Day... even then there was a rope set up to keep us off the grass.  I looked back at my wife, already snapping pictures from the front row of seats, and waved.  Then I looked around.  People young and old were all over the field just enjoying being there.  Every now and then a ball would get hit to someone and they'd make a play on it (or, at least try) then throw the ball to one of the buckets.  I had been there for ten minutes and I realized I still had my backpack on.  I ran over to the wall near the tarp and set it down, then waved to Michelle again and headed back out, anxious to field a ball.
"Well, now I just have to catch one."  I knew well-enough to stay in left field since almost everyone hitting was a righty.  Eventually somebody hit a lazy fly ball that was falling fast in front of me.  I ran forward, got under it, fought the morning sun and caught it.  It was a great feeling.  I'd just caught a fly ball on the field at my favorite ballpark.  My primary thought had been, "Don't drop it," and after it had settled into my glove I was simply thankful.  Then another one came... this one a liner.
I caught that one, too... I'm happy to say I played error-free baseball that morning.  For about an hour I stood out on the field, basically staying in left, running toward anything close to me.  I was incredibly glad that we'd come on the Friday... at a time when most people were at work or school.  I was sure that Saturday and Sunday would be three times as busy.  If I had to guess I'd say there were about 200 people at the field at any given time.  Every fifteen minutes or so I would run back to Michelle and check to see where they were number-wise.  It was so much fun!  She took a lot of photos.
The sun got to be pretty tough but I ended up catching quite a few balls and even fielded a few grounders that managed to get through the infield.  At one point a lefty hit a home run into the corner in right field.  It was the first one that had been hit and the only one I saw the whole time I was there.  He got a round of applause as he finished his hacks.

It was taking quite a while to get to my number but I didn't care... I was having a great time!  Even when I had nothing to do because the person in the cage wasn't making contact I was simply glad to be there.
The first ball that got hit to me was a little league type of ball and was kind of spongey.  But each one I caught after that was actually an official MLB ball.  I showed Michelle:
I kept running around, trying to get anything nearby while making sure not to cut anyone off:
As the buckets got transferred and people in the infield shagged up the baseballs I pulled one I'd hung onto out of my pocket and played catch with the person closest to me at that moment:
At one point a few little kids started to hit and I moved into the infield, right around second base, to field grounders.  When the kids weren't making contact a guy who'd taken over first base threw us warmup grounders around the infield, too.
I saw people of all ages--grandfathers down to two year-olds--and they were all having a wonderful time!  What a fantastic community event!
I made sure not to overexert myself since I'd be hitting eventually.  I took a couple of breaks for just a moment or two.  There's nothing quite like the perfectly manicured grass of a big league field:
Finally, at one of my routine check-ins over on the third base line I got the OK that they were ready for numbers 120 through 130.  YES!!!
Michelle walked with me up to the shade behind the batting cage.
I had about fifteen minutes to get ready so I picked out a bat and helmet.  Then I practiced my swing, tried to get the timing of the pitching machine (it looked to be going at about 60-70mph), and took a bunch of pictures.  I was pretty much just hoping to not embarrass myself.  "Gosh, what if I get up there and swing and miss ten times?"  I got pretty nervous.







Right before it was my turn Michelle headed
over to the first base side so she could get some pictures of me hitting.  As I was on deck I watched the guy ahead of me rocket a couple deep to the outfield  After he hit we had to "shag 'em up" so I helped with that.  Then it was my chance to hit.
Before I go on let me just say that I have no idea how a baseball player catches up to a 95mph fastball.  Also, it's hard to hit off a pitching machine, but I won't make any excuses.  I certainly would love to tell you that I hit a home run.

But that would be a lie.  As a matter of fact, I didn't even hit a double.  I think two of the balls I hit would have been singles.  I certainly made good contact but I couldn't elevate anything.  I hit a couple line drives, a couple grounders, and a couple bloops that were gobbled up by infielders.  I pulled everything, of course.  And, as it turns out I did miss about half of the pitches entirely.  Bah.  But it was still one of the most fun things I've ever done at the ballpark.  And after I hit (and Michelle had been allowed to take photos from right behind the pitching screen) I checked out my stance and my facial expression in the pictures.  Ridiculous!

Michelle and I took a walk after that, starting at first base and heading all the way around the warning track through the outfield.  The first thing I spotted was a fly ball machine that had been used earlier in the day for people that wanted to pay twenty-five bucks to have someone shoot fly balls at them for fifteen minutes.  Can you spot the AFL ball?

Next we headed into right field.  I'd never seen that eighteen-foot wall from this side before.  That's a big ol' wall.
We made our way to the Division Title banner and the Nick Adenhart mural and a family out there taking pictures was kind enough to snap one of us, too.

As we continued I snuck a peak behind the open center field gate.  This was after I experimented with whether or not I'd be able to rob someone of a home run.
My analysis: Yes.  I could.

As we headed to left field we walked into the tunnel where the bullpens are located.  I went up the steps and saw the guy in front of me finish throwing.
I had a coupon to give the groundskeeper that allowed me three pitches.  He said I could just throw a few to get warmed up, then he got a call on his cell phone and left the bucket of baseballs near my feet.  Michelle snapped photos as I threw a few (the second one sailed over the net entirely (oops!).  But then I settled down and threw a series of 60mph fastballs for strikes.

Then I tried to ramp it up a bit and as I increased my velocity my accuracy went out the window.  Oh, well.  I guess I'd be primarily known for my defensive prowess were I a professional ballplayer.  At least, that's what I tell myself.  I threw the whole bucket of baseballs (there wasn't anyone else waiting) and then thanked the grounds crew guys before leaving the bullpen.

Our adventure on the playing field was pretty much done at this point.  I took a couple more pictures from where I'd been standing in left field earlier in the day and then Michelle and I walked past the dugout and up into the seats.
Honestly, I would've stayed there until they closed for the day at 4:00pm but we had a few errands to run and I had a show to stage manage that evening.  Man, it was a ton of fun and as we left I told Michelle, "We're definitely coming back next year."  I checked my watch and it was 12:30pm.  We'd spent more than two hours there and it had only cost us ten bucks (and that was donated to a great charity).  As we were leaving Michelle mentioned she'd taken a video that she knew I'd enjoy watching.  I put it on YouTube.  What a cool event--and an awesomely good time!

Weeks before I knew the Angels would be facing off against the Yankees in the ALCS I purchased tickets for both Game 4 and Game 5.  I ended up with school commitments on both of those days.  So, being the good student that I am, I put both pairs of tickets on StubHub.  The Game 4 tickets sold... and I'm glad I wasn't there for that blowout.  The Game 5 tickets didn't.  I called around and got my friend, Julian (who loves the Yankees), to pay me for the ticket.  I got someone to cover for me at school and told J that I'd meet him at the ballpark.  I readied my stuff and made it to the stadium thirty minutes before it opened.

There was already a HUGE line of people waiting to get in:
And I hoped that I would know someone that might be close to the front of the line.  Sure enough, I saw John Witt (aka MLBallhawk) in the last of the five lines.  He invited me to slip in next to him and as soon as the gates opened we were off to the races.  John headed down near the foul pole and I ran straight up to the pavilion.  When I got there I didn't find any Easter eggs but I saw Scot Shields shagging baseballs in right.  I was kind of surprised to see him because he'd been on the DL all season.  I yelled out a hello to him and a moment later he pointed up to the sky.  A fungo had been hit a bit too far and ended up hitting the seats five rows behind me and to my left.  The ball ricocheted right back to the field.  Scot went over, picked up that ball and one other, tossed one to a guy down on the field level, then looked up toward me.  He gestured with his glove, like I should hold mine up... I did and he fired the ball right to me.

"Thanks, Scot--it's good so see you back out here!"

He gave me a thumbs up and I headed a few sections over toward center field.  Rob was there... John ended up coming up to the pavilion, too.  The sun's tough in Anaheim if you're trying to snag baseballs.  It's tough when there's a 7:00 start... it's tougher when it's a 5:00 start.  With my shades on and my cap low I still had trouble tracking some homers.  Once though, with Kendry Morales hitting, I stayed with a ball as it got smashed toward right-center and sprinted through a row and across a whole section.  I drifted further to my right and lost it in the sun for a moment... I stuck with it, kept drifting, and then I saw the silhouette falling toward me again.  I reached out with my left hand across my body and made the backhanded catch.  Whew.  The couple behind me were a bit stunned.  I heard the guy say, "Wow.  I didn't even see it."

Shortly after that the Yankees came out and started throwing along the right field line.  Here's a panoramic I snapped:

The Yankees began hitting and peppered the right field seats with baseballs and, while I was close to quite a few (and banged my ankle pretty badly on a seat), I didn't catch anything else during BP.  It was exciting though; the Yankees sure can hit the ball.  I've never been to a more active batting practice than that one.  Lots o' fun--but lots o' people, too.

As the Yankees came off the field, I was right behind their dugout... but nobody tossed a baseball anywhere near me.  I hung around for a minute and took this picture:
See that baseball with the Metrodome logo?  I had seen an acquaintance of mine catch one of those during BP... I hoped somebody might toss one up my way... but the basket got emptied and everyone headed into the dugout.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this entry up... boy, being sick is no fun.

After watching an awesome victory by the Halos on Thursday night I found myself heading back out to the park on Friday at about 3:00pm.  Tonight's matchup would be Jered Weaver vs. Josh Beckett and it was sure to be another sellout crowd.  When I got to the Home Plate Gate I was first in line and I had about 45 minutes to kill... and before the gates opened there was another hearty crowd on hand:
I ran in, ignored the thunder sticks a worker tried to hand me, and made a beeline for the pavilion.  With righties starting, there were sure to be some left-handed hitters knocking some balls out.  I was out there first along with an older dude--we got to the seats at the same time but there were no Easter eggs to be found.

After a few minutes though, Kendry Morales smacked a pitch high and deep.  It made it to the seats but I wasn't quite in a position to catch it.  I had moved to my left... but it was coming in a bit low.  I leaned as far down and to the left as I could but it hit off the seats just below my glove.  Luckily, the ball didn't take a crazy bounce and I was able to nab it from the ground.  Rob had come charging over and I heard him say, "Dang!  Where's my lucky ricochet?" with a grin on his face.  I was thrilled that the bounce was lucky for me and not Rob--this was my 150th baseball.  I wrote a nice 150 on it to commemorate the occasion.  Rob congratulated me.  It was a successful night, as far as personal goals were concerned.

Here's what the stands looked like after that first snag of the day:
It filled up soon after.  And it was just like the day before: not much space to maneuver.  I adjusted my positioning based on the batters that were up but as the Angels finished I was stuck at just one baseball snagged.  Though I got close to a few Red Sox homers---I was still at just one baseball as they began to wrap up BP.

I made it down to the field level and got to the dugout as the players headed off the field.  As he headed into the dugout, I got my second (and final) ball of the day from Clay Buchholz.  He threw it right to me in the third row.  Nice--I'd doubled my playoff record.  From one to two.  Woo!

After that I decided to head over to the Angels' side of the stadium as the players came out to warm up:
The players didn't throw any balls into the stands but it was cooler than wandering aimlessly--after the Angels warmed up I went over to the visitor's side:
Once the game started I got to hang out for a little while on the Field Level:
Then the seatholders started showing up.  I decided to head up to the View Level... where my seats for both nights actually were.  I started deep in left field:
And made my way behind home plate to the other side:
And finally, out to where my actual seat was located:
I sat there for exactly one half-inning.  Bleh.  Then it was time to continue my tour:
I'd been around this ballpark a hundred times, but never during the playoffs.  There's just a different energy.  Normally the fans in Anaheim are very mellow and laid-back... I'm sure most Angel fans at the games come off as indifferent.  That's my perspective, anyway.  But in the postseason there's an energy that's just simply wonderful to be a part of.
The pitching matchup, again, was intense.  Weaver and Beckett were locked in a great duel.  Each club put a single run on the board in the fourth.  It was 1-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning.  Then the Angels put the game away.  Maicer Izturis knocked in Howie Kendrick (running for Vladdy) and then Mike Napoli got hit by a pitch.  With two men on Erick Aybar smashed a triple into the gap in right-center.

The place went nuts.  Fans rejoiced:
It was 4-1 Angels at that point and that knocked Beckett out of the game:
And I managed to snag a seat behind the dugout (shown on the right)  for the conclusion of the game.

Weaver pitched seven and a third innings and struck out seven.  He yielded to Darren Oliver, and then Kevin Jepsen got the last out of the eighth and the first of the ninth.  It was great!  Scioscia made the call, with one out in the ninth, for his closer to come in and finish it. 

Brian Fuentes came in--and though he made it pretty tense in that stadium (David Ortiz up to bat as the tying run), he nailed down the save.  The crowd had been on their feet for, what seemed like, the last hour of the game:
It was a 4-1 victory and a two games to none series lead for the Angels!  Two games, two consecutive nights, two wins for my team.  It had been a great playoff experience!

After the game I hung out as long as the ushers let me, then grabbed some ticket stubs and found my way out to the main gate.  I took a seat next to the Nick Adenhart memorial and just sat there and watched the people walk by for a few minutes:
It was somber.  Fans left their ticket stubs with little notes to Nick on the mound.  After a little while I made the trek to my car and home for the evening, two baseballs nestled safely in my backpack:
The Angels would head out to Boston to wrap up the series.  Sweeping the Red Sox felt good--even though I was sick on Sunday morning when they won it.  It was time to bring on the Yankees.  Dun-DUN-DUHNN!!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite action shots of the evening:
He was safe.  Thanks for reading!

At last!  Playoff baseball and me.  Never before had I actually attended a postseason game but the wait was over.  I purchased a nosebleed seat to each of the first two Angels/Red Sox games in Anaheim weeks earlier and when October 7th finally arrived I was thrilled.  I headed out by myself (Michelle had to work) with snacks, my Print At Home ticket (boo!), my glove, and a whole lot of anticipation.  The Home Plate Gate was scheduled to open up at 4:30pm.

As I passed one of the gates I got my first taste of playoff atmosphere in the form of a banner:
When I got to the front of the stadium there were about ten people (including Chris) there waiting to get in.  And by 4:20pm it looked like this:
Yikes!  Lucky for me, most of those folks didn't rush in, nor did they seem to care much about snagging a ball.  As I'd find out shortly, that didn't help me much at all.

I ran in and headed for the foul pole in right field.  The Angels would be facing lefty Jon Lester on this night so they were all batting right-handed.  I was hoping sombody would flare on down the line.  After about five minutes some righty Angel did just that.  A ball came to rest about ten inches away from the wall... and I went for it.  I jumped up and balanced myself on my stomach along the wall but the ball was juuuuusstt a bit out of my reach.  All of a sudden somebody said, "I've got your legs!" and held on to my legs.  The extra weight helped counterbalance the majority of me that was hanging out over the field and I was able to scoop the ball up with my glove.

As I came back over the wall I looked and it was a total stranger!  I had imagined it was maybe Chris or Rob--someone I knew.  Nope.  I thanked the guy and then stepped away from the wall, giving him my spot.  I had one baseball... my streak was alive and well... I was happy.  I headed up to the pavilion.
It was pretty empty up there while the Angels were hitting... and that's because no baseballs were going my way up there in right.  But the Angels weren't really hitting many into the seats anyway.  When the Red Sox came out I hoped for a little more action.  And there was--a little--more action.  But David Ortiz hit, like, two balls into the seats, J.D. Drew did the same, Casey Kotchman hit a few... that was about it.  And by the time some balls were flying out that way the stands looked like this:
Ugh.  I had no room to maneuver.  I had no choice but to pick a staircase and hope for something within a few feet of me.  BP ended and I was stuck on one baseball... and even though I got to the dugout after BP the ball that a Sox coach tossed to me ended up in Chris' glove.  I'd been two rows behind him... he apologized and said if he'd known it was headed for me he wouldn't--"It's OK, man.  Good catch.  How many you got today?"

"Just this one."

"Well, if that means that you don't get shut out then no worries."  I wished him well and headed off to roam around.

I photographed the freshly painted ALDS logo on the field:
Then got a shot of the electronic banner around the park:
And eventually I ended up just past third base while the Halos warmed up:
I went over to the Terrace Level on the first base side before the lineups were announced.  The Red Sox players came out first, then the Angels:
Then a HUGE American flag got unfurled for the national anthem:
Nice!  They use that on Opening Day, too.  For the top of the first I got to sit right behind the Red Sox dugout.  Here's the first pitch of the game:
And I just missed the third out toss in the bottom of the first from Kevin Youkilis.  But then the seatholders showed up and I repositioned myself.  I sat here for the second inning:
And here for the third:
After that I was on my feet for a while.  Everyone was arriving--finally.  And Angel Stadium was completely sold out.  I'd never seen it so busy.  Oh, well... I'd seen three innings from prime seats!  I was having a ball.  I walked along the outfield concourse and hung out on the staircase for a while in dead center.  I took the following photo in the bottom of the fifth with Torii Hunter at the plate and two men on:
And on the next pitch he walloped a ball into the rocks... it was amazing!  The place went nuts and I found myself in the midst of high-fives and cheers all around me.  It was really cool--had Torii pulled the ball a bit more I would've had a chance to catch it.  Man, a 3-0 had never felt so good as a Halo fan.

Both starters had been great up to that point.  Both Lester and John Lackey had been dueling and that homer was exactly what we needed!  I moved closer to left field after that:
The crowd was up on its feet for pretty much the rest of the night.  And by the seventh inning I found a spot with this view:
Oh, and here's one of those awful botched calls at first base:
Kendrick was out--twice.  I didn't affect the scoring though, so, no big deal.

I stayed there until the game's end.  The Angels were leading 5-0 after seven and Lackey exited to a standing ovation in the eighth:
And Darren Oliver shut down the Red Sox for the rest of the game.  It was a shutout--and a 1-0 lead for the Angels in the series!

By the time the ninth inning was completed I had scooted down to the Angel dugout and I was on my feet, like all of the people in the stadium, as the final out was recorded.  Then the players came off the field and a couple, like Bobby Abreu, got interviewed.
I hung around for a while, got a few ticket stubs, looked at the rapidly emptying stadium:
And finally headed out to the parking lot after making sure to get a photo of me with the lone ball I'd snagged.

As I walked out I saw someone that looked familiar... someone famous, a baseball player.  Or, former player, actually... I saw this man talking to a few people who turned out to be family members.

After a short while I got his autograph on a ball I'd brought with me:

Know who it is?  I was pretty excited about it and it was totally random that I managed to get his autograph.  A lot of folks walked right by him and had no idea who he was.

Wow!  An Angels win--a shutout... and I had snagged a ball AND gotten the autograph of a Hall of Fame player!  It was a great night.

I was all excited for this 3:05pm start.  Why?  Well, I was out of class and could get to the park in plenty of time, the gates were set to open two hours early, and I was hoping for a small crowd.  Plus, there was a Postseason Rally after the game... maybe I could snag a piece of equipment.
I was there when the Home Plate Gate opened at 1:00pm, as were a few other regulars (John, Chris, and Rob) and when I ran in I saw an entirely empty field:
Bummer... it would be a long afternoon.  Usually if there's no BP at a day game the gates open ninety minutes before the game.  Now we had an extra half-hour to kill.  The four of us regulars chatted behind the dugout for a minute... then I figured I'd take a walk.  I checked the outfield/pavilions for stray Easter eggs.  Nada.  Next, I went to the bullpens... I saw a groundskeeper prepping the visiting team's pen and asked him if there were any baseballs he could spare sittin' around in there.  He looked, then shook his head and said, "Nope, sorry.  But thanks for being so polite about asking."

Hmm... finally I saw a few players emerge from the dugouts.  Scott Feldman started stretching and running in the outfield and Matt Palmer started playing catch with Sean O'Sullivan near third base.  I headed toward the Halos... though I didn't snag their warmup ball, Sean O'Sullivan signed a ticket for me.

A little while later some more Angels came out to throw.  I hung out nearby and, while most fans were seeking autographs, I got a warmup toss from Jose Arredondo.  Great!  I'd gone to thirty-eight consecutive regular season games in 2009 and snagged at least one baseball at each game!  I was thrilled!  Action on the field was limited for a while so I went over to the Ranger dugout again, knowing that they'd come out to throw shortly.  They did:
And I snapped this cool picture of C.J. Wilson (who'd thrown me two baseballs in this series):
But Chris was focused on snagging a baseball near C.J. so I headed to the foul pole where Eddie Guardado was warming up.  I'd talked to Eddie in the first game of the series and wished him a happy birthday coming up on October 2nd... I didn't know if he'd remembered that so I asked him, "Hey, Eddie, are they going to throw you a party tomorrow?  Maybe tonight on the plane?"

He laughed and kept throwing.  I followed up with, "Just wanted to make sure I got you a Happy Birthday before you guys left town."

I never asked him for a ball... but this sort of interaction had proved rewarding when I'd talked to Shane Loux earlier in the season.  Sure enough, five minutes later when Guardado finished I was sitting in a seat about forty feet from him and he tossed me his baseball.  It was falling short and I leaned forward as far as I could in the middle of the row I was standing in.  The ball hit off the seat in front of my glove... and I normally would've just hopped over the row and grabbed it.  There wasn't anyone else near me at that point... but the ball took a crazy ricochet and, from the fifth row, bounced back onto the field!  I hoped Eddie was going to give me a second chance--after all, it was his bad throw and not my lack of catching ability that resulted in the ball going back on the field.  I ran over one section and then down a few rows so I was much closer to him and asked for another shot.  This time it was easier to get it to me... and I caught it (of course).  It was a filthy, grass-stained, heavily used baseball:
Totally sweet!

Chris ended up with a ball, too.  And we collectively decided that our chances for a ball were better back on the Angels side, as new players had emerged from the dugout to warm up.  I just missed out on Jered Weaver's baseball... back out to the bullpens I went...  I saw Kevin Millwood getting ready for his start:
Then I hung out near the Angels for the remainder of the pregame stuff.  Once the infielders started playing catch I stood about eight rows back from the field.  Erick Aybar threw his baseball toward me but a barehanded fan snagged it in the row ahead of me.  Good catch!

A minute later I moved a bit to my right and called out to Maicer Izturus who fired the ball into my glove!  Great--three baseballs with no BP!  That's more than I snagged on Tuesday and more than I snagged on Wednesday--when there WAS batting practice!

Anywho, the game was set to start and I found a seat, with Chris and Rob, behind the visitor's dugout.  Chris got his first 3rd out ball... ever!  And then left for another spot in the stadium but John sat in his vacated seat.  Here was my view of the action:
Nice, huh?  And John, Rob, and I got to stay here for the whole game--none of us snagged a ball during the game but we got to talk baseball the whole time which was fun.

The Rangers beat up on the Angels pretty badly in this one... the score ended up 11-3 Rangers.  I wasn't concerned though... when you have Bobby Wilson playing first base you're not sending out your A-team, you know?

Since a bunch of people who were just there to see the rally after the game would be let in at the conclusion of the eighth inning, Rob and I went behind the Angels dugout for the eighth.  I actually was able to score a front row seat... and took a couple of pictures of Angels players hanging out in the dugout:
What's with those goofy looks, guys?  Funny.

Somebody threw a bunch of bubble gum to the fans, too... a shower of Dubble Bubble came down on us in the ninth inning.  And I had a great view of Julio Borbon's "wardrobe malfunction" in the ninth, too:
Kevin Millwood pitched a complete game against the Salt Lake Bees... and got the win.  The game ended and the Angels threw a couple of baseballs... but no equipment... they still had a few games left in Oakland.

Oh, well.  I had three baseballs and some tech folks started setting up for the rally right away:













There was a pretty good crowd on hand for the Postseason Rally and it included the Golden Knights parachuting down onto the field:
Then some Angels players spoke to the crowd:
Speakers included Torii Hunter, Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, and Jered Weaver.  As they spoke, Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc ran the show and called out to other Halos as they walked across the field to the team bus, all while being applauded by the hometown fans.  I left as the players left and took this photo on my way out:
The Angels were headed to Oakland... then they'd meet up with the Boston Red Sox back in Anaheim the next week.  ALDS in Anaheim!  Go Halos!

Another great Fall evening with my wife at the stadium.  I was feeling great, and the Angels were going to the playoffs (and the Rangers weren't) and I was excited to simply enjoy some quality baseball, relax, spend time with my lady... and of course try to snag a baseball!

Since the Angels would be primarily hitting from the right side on this day I started my pursuit in left field.  I ran into the stadium at five o'clock and took off for the seats in left.  I hung out here:
Behind the bullpens, where I'd had moderate success in the past.  Unfortunately, on this day no Angels were hitting the ball far enough to reach me.  After the Angels headed off the field I ran down to the foul pole along the third base line.  After a few minutes of trying to catch an Ian Kinsler home run... and failing.  I called out to backup catcher Kevin Richardson.  "Hey, Kevin!" was all it took as I held my glove up.  I think he was probably delighted that someone actually knew who he was and he rewarded me with a throw from forty feet away, right over the heads of everyone clustered into the front row.  Groovy!

After that I headed back up to the bleachers in left for a minute... just hoping.  But, nope, no homers there so I ran around to the pavilion in right as a couple of lefties were taking their hacks: Chris Davis and Hank Blalock.  Surprisingly, they only hit a couple of baseballs into the seats and after they were done, nothing was coming out that way.

I went down to the foul pole where Jason Grilli was fielding.

He'd been a pretty cool guy to talk to for the last couple days. He's definitely a joker on the team... I asked him, "If I went to the upper deck would you throw me one?"  I'd seen him do that the other day... but he just laughed and shook his head.  Oh, well.  If you ever see this guy, start up a conversation with him.  He's pretty funny.

As BP finished I met up with Michelle in the Terrace Level and we hung out, ate our food we'd brought, and took in the national anthem.  After the anthem I saw a couple of Rangers leave the dugout to play catch so I ran over.  Ian Kinsler was throwing with... someone... I can't recall.  The important guy is Kinsler, though, because as he headed into the dugout he threw me his baseball (instead of taking it in with him like he'd done the day before).  Cool!

With two baseballs on the evening I decided I was satisfied with my snagging and Michelle and I headed up to the View Level.  Our seats were in the five hundreds... we sat in the four hundreds in a good foul ball spot... similar to where I'd caught my first foul ball back in August.  From up there I was still able to zoom in and get some cool photos:
And I kept my glove on my hand, just in case.  Nothing came near us... but we had a good time taking in the action.  Matt Palmer pitched well, giving up just one hit in five great innings:
After that, the bullpen took over and no hit stuff for the rest of the game... literally.  The Rangers got one-hit and lost 5-0!  It was pretty cool!  In the eighth Michelle and I moved (away from some irritating little kids) behind the dugout on the Rangers' side:
There was hardly anyone there at that point and I took some more photos:

I figured that if the Rangers were going to throw anything into the crowd after the game I could get it... but they were in no mood.  I guess I'd be pretty upset, too, if I lost big time against mostly minor leaguers.  So, two baseballs on the night--another Angels win--a great night with my wife (and likely her last game of the season) and we had an usher take our photo as the crowds cleared after the game.

It's really been nice going to as many games with Michelle as I have this season.  Not only is she learning more about the game, but we really get to spend a lot of quality time together--and have a great time cheering for our team.

I had one regular season game left though, a 3:05pm start the very next day...

This was my first game with my wife by my side in almost a month.  Michelle and I had last attended a baseball game together back on 8/31/09 down in San Diego.  She had been working a lot but had some time off to catch some baseball with me.  We headed in at five o'clock (I ran, she walked) and I was the first one into the pavilion in right field.  BP was, let's just say, slow.  Since the Angels had cliched the division the night before they were resting a lot of their main guys (including K-Mo, who's usually the only Angel that can really hit 'em to the seats in right) and a total of one baseball was hit up there during the Angels portion of BP and I didn't catch it.  Lucky for me, Matt Palmer's a really nice guy, always good for a quick chat, and pretty generous about throwing baseballs to fans.
He headed toward the wall to field a ball in right-center.  As he went to pick it up I asked him, "Hey, Matt, could you hook me up with that ball, please?

He asked me, "How many balls you get already today?"

"Today?  I have zero."

He reared back and threw the ball.  He was kind of sneaky about it though.  He looked toward the bucket, then turned and launched the ball to me pretty quickly.  Not only did it come at me fast, but I think he intended to juke me... like, throw it off the top of the wall.  As a matter of fact the ball cleared the wall but would have hit the metal pipe running horizontally across the top of it.  I reached out quickly and caught the 70 mph throw right before it clanged off the pipe.  Palmer looked surprised... I was, too.  I thanked him and he gave a nod of approval.

I was on the board... but, like I said, batting practice was pretty mellow.  Once the Rangers came out and started hitting I was down near the foul pole.  I saw this totally awesome sign that I simply needed to photograph:
Ha ha... and then Taylor Teagarden started signing:
And I got him on a ticket stub... then I went up to the pavilion again.  A note about the photo to the right: I took this about a minute after the bucket had been knocked over.  C.J. Wilson was fielding in right and told the guy (who's pretty small) with him that he could nail the bucket from where he was standing.  Sure enough, on his first try he threw a one-hopper that knocked it down.  It was pretty funny.  And a while later he fielded one that he intended to throw to a fan.  There were some people along the first row and I was about six rows back.  I jumped up and down a couple of times and held up my glove.  C.J. threw me a shot over the crowd.  Nice--Ball #2 on the day.

After that nothing else got hit anywhere nearby and I got shutout at the dugout after BP.  But I found Michelle sitting nearby, reading, and we went to get some food (Rally Monkey Bread--oh, yeah!) and then we headed to our seats.  It was the first time either of us had ever sat in the pavilion for the a game.  I was hoping for a home run... maybe I could catch my first game home run ever.  That wasn't to be but it was still a fun place to catch the game from.  Here's the view:
As the national anthem is sung at Angel Stadium and they get to the "rockets red glare" the Angels production folks shoot off red fireworks.  I got the photo to the right.  Then I ran down to the dugout to see if I could snag a warmup ball from the Rangers infielders.  Ian Kinsler ended up with thte ball but took it with him into the dugout... bummer.  After that I walked back up to our seats were Michelle was waiting.  Shortly thereafter the game was underway.  The Angels got out to a 4-1 lead and would hold it.  Sean O'Sullivan started for the Halos and went five strong innings, giving up just two runs... the only two that the A's would score in the game.  Oh, the A's, we sure thought they'd have been a heck of a lot better this year.

I was able to get a few good action shots of the game, even from way out in the outfield.  I love my camera.  Here, Brandon Wood bats against Rangers starter, Scott Feldman:
We stayed in our seats for the whole game, except for the part when we went to the team store to get a sweatshirt and some socks... Michelle was cold.  We spent time in between innings taking silly photos together:
About halfway through the game the Angels brought out all their Salt Lake Bees... only one run was scored in the last half of the game.  The lineup at one point contained Wood, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Willits, Chris Pettit, Freddie Sandoval, and Terry Evans.  What?!?  Who?!?

And the A's still lost.  Jose Arredondo, Rafael Rodriguez, and Brian Fuentes combined to pitch four innings of shutout baseball against those poor A's, and Fuentes got his MLB-leading forty-sixth save of the season.  The Halos had clinched the division the night before, and by beating the Rangers again the Angels were able to knock them out of playoff contention entirely.  The Angels will face the Red Sox... again.

So, this year's A's can't really even beat the mostly minor league Angels.  Sucks for them.  Great for the Angels!  Michelle took that photo of me during the seventh inning stretch.  There was only one home run hit near where we were sitting and I never had a chance at it... it was a section over.  But had there been one near me I'm sure I would have had it.  I had an aisle to my right and tons of open seats around me... nobody but me had a glove.  Oh, well.

As the crowds began to file out at the end of the game, which went by really quickly, we found a friendly usher who we asked to take a photo of the two of us:
Matt: 2, Angels: 5, A's: 2 -- and we would get to come back the next night.

Hi, everyone.  Let me kick off this entry by saying that I was contacted by the creator of myGameBalls to contribute to the site by being a columnist.  My first one went live on Monday and you can check it out here.

All right... to the game.  I knew that I would only be able to stay for batting practice for this game.  I had a school meeting that night (and I had made dinner plans with my wife, too).  So, I was hoping for two things:  a great BP and an Angels clinching victory... the latter I wouldn't get to see... in person.

5:00pm arrived and Rob, Chris, and I ran in.  Also in attendance was Leigh from SD and TC from down there as well.  I hooked Leigh up with a ticket since he had hooked me up the month before for a Padres game.  We all took off... I was the first one out to the pavilion in right field and as I jogged through the front row looking for Easter eggs (there were none) I heard the crack of Kendry Morales' bat and looked up in time to see a BP homer land in the seats near me.  I picked up Ball #1 of the day on a bounce.  I thought, "Man, I wish I could've caught that one."

I'd get another shot.  In his next round of swings Morales lifted one that was maybe gonna clear--maybe gonna hit--that 18ft. wall in right-center field.  I was in the first row and I started heading right, side stepping through a whole section.  It was hit too far for me to catch it... my outstretched glove was about two feet shy of the ball...

It hit the seats and took a hop up in the air and back a row.  Then it trickled out into the aisle and I snagged it for my second ball of the evening.  Sweet.  Two from Kendry--but neither one had actually been caught.

The stands were starting to fill up a bit at this point.
That's about ten minutes after the gates opened.  See how a lot of the fans are shielding their eyes?  Well, that's because if you're in right field during batting practice at Angel Stadium the sun is brutal.  Case in point: the view from near the foul pole in right...
Back to snagging, I moved closer to right-center, then back toward right, based on the hitter.  When Morales stepped up again I set myself right in the middle of where those first two baseballs had been hit.  He smacked one deep and I knew I had a chance at this one, as well.  I was in the fourth row and I drifted to my right just a bit.  I felt bodies closing in around me as I camped underneath it.  At the last second I reach up and out and felt the ball smack the pocket of my glove right as I got hit from the left side... not hard... just enough that the guy who'd been running over to catch the ball couldn't stop and skidded into a sort of bear hug... awkward.  He patted me on the back as if to say, "Good catch."  No harm done... Rob was on my right.  They'd both been closing in on the ball and, had I not positioned myself well beforehand, I would've been blocked from getting it at all based on their positioning and reaction.  Lucky me!  Three on the day and all from K-Mo.

After that round of BP I headed down to the foul pole in right field as the Rangers pitchers came out to throw.  I saw Chris down there and eventually he asked me about a pitcher wearing number forty-nine.  I said, "That's Jason Grilli."
"Really?  Cuz I 'm pretty sure I asked him once before and he told me, 'That's not my name.'"

I was puzzled so I said, "Hey, Jason, how ya feelin' today, man?"

He looked over and said, "Real good, man."

I looked at Chris and shrugged.  Yep, it was definitely Jason Grilli.  After he finished throwing he tossed me the baseball he'd been using.  He, I would learn, is one of the more chatty pitchers on the Rangers staff and I would totally believe that he might tell a fan that he wasn't who he was, just to mess with them.  After that interaction I made sure to wish Eddie Guardado a happy birthday (in Spanish)... he was born on Oct. 2nd.  He thanked me and continued warming up while I ran back up to the pavilion.

That's Chris right in front of me and I took this picture at about 5:45pm, just so you can see the crowd that had started to arrive.  I didn't snag anything else until after BP finished though I did see Grilli launch a ball to a fan in teh upper deck.  Pretty cool!  I ran down to the dugout as the Rangers came off the field and hoped someone would toss one to me after noticing my Rangers cap.  Sure enough, C.J. Wilson jogged in and threw a ball right to me as he headed down the steps.  Five balls in Anaheim is a pretty decent outing and I was thrilled--even though I had to leave for my meeting at school that night but I made sure to meet up with Leigh and Chris and take this picture of our haul for the afternoon:
For those that are new to this blog, I'm in the middle, Leigh is on the right, and Chris is on the left.  Matt: 5 (though you can't see 'em all), Chris: 3, Leigh: 1... and the Angels won 11-0, clinching the AL West for the third consecutive year.

Here was the view as I headed out to my car... and everyone else was arriving for the game:
Weird.  Anyway, I followed it on MLB Gameday from my laptop at school.  I had tickets for the whole week so I knew I'd get to celebrate the very next night at another trip to the park.