Low A prospect parade

So I got out of school today with enough time to make it up to the minor league complex to see some of the Low A spring game. I got smart this time and parked next to the administration building so I wouldn't have to walk as far to get a workout groups roster and then I drove back to where I normally park. There were probably about 8 or 9 people in the stands watching the games, I would assume because it was really windy and cloudy. I bought a folding chair that I could take to the games to sit on when I wanted to watch the field behind the bleachers so I don't have to sit on the concrete. It was a lot more comfortable and for only $10 it was a great deal, ill keep it in my trunk for the future if I ever need a chair.

I got there at the bottom of the 7th inning, I can only assume it was because I saw 2 pitchers over what ended up being 3 innings(when I got there, they were in the middle of the top of the 7th)

I tried to just list the players from 1-9 but apparently my list was quite inaccurate. Here is a list of the players that I definitely saw today.

Slade Heathcott - CF
Anderson Feliz - 2B
JR Murphy -C
Gary Sanchez - DH
Tyler Austin
Cito Culver - SS
Rob Segedin
Kelvin Deleon
Tommy Kahlne(P)
Preston Claiborne(P - listed with Tampa but he was the only one between the two teams with #34 so I am assuming it was he who pitched)

I didn't really get to see much because I got there so late but I did see Slade Heathcott, Anderson Feliz and Gary Sanchez all take walks and then JR Murphy drove the first two in. When I first sat down before I knew who was all playing I saw Cito Culver catch an awkward popup toward the back of the infield. He caught it falling down so I dont know if he had it the whole time or got lucky. I also got to see him take part in a double play. He has a good smooth throwing arm. The one at-bat I saw from him, he hit a hard liner to the short stop for an out.

Cito Culver



Slade Heathcott reminds me, at least in considering body type, like Brett Gardner. He is short and small, he also has a huge tattoo on his right upper arm. He stole one base after his walk and beat the throw by quite a bit.

On the other hand, Gary Sanchez is a big boy. He was playing DH and walked and had a hit. I took video of his hit and of Heathcott's walk. When I get time I will post them to my Youtube.

Gary Sanchez


I am not going to make it back up to the complex until Saturday which is also the last day of their spring training games. It is supposed to be Tampa and Charleston again unless something comes up. The workout groups are starting to take shape and I am sure that by Saturday the workout group rosters will be pretty close to who will start where on April 7th.

It's you and me forever

The Major League baseball season is starting up this week. I am really excited but sad that my Yankees will be going north and leaving me here in Tampa with just the Rays :( Starting this week, I will sadly open my newspaper every day to see annoying news reports on how the Rays are doing and less and less of my Yankees. Thankfully I have Lohud to keep me informed. While I am sad that my Yankees are going north and not returning until mid May(first game in Tampa is on my BIRTHDAY!!!!) I am okay with venturing across the bridge occasionally to see the Rays play some of the teams that I secretly root for or who have players that I really want to see.

I went up to Tropicana for one game this past season that wasn't Yankees/Rays as a gift to my dad but also because I really like Hall and Oates and they were playing in the concert series after a Rays/White Sox games. I was a little grumpy during this game because my Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians and the Rays were winning but the concert at the end was worth sitting through the game. They haven't posted their concert schedule obviously but I am hoping they have more performers that make a trip over there necessary.

This year I have decided that in addition to my normal Yankees games I am going to go to one game of a few of the following series:
April 14-17 or 26-28 - Minnesota Twins
Why? Because I Love Joe Mauer! Seriously, and I want to try to get some good seats too so I can be even closer to him. I went to the Twins/Yankees spring training game March 13 but he wasn't playing at the time. Hopefully he plays in the game I decide to go to this season.

May 16-17 - Yankees
Obviously I want to go see the Yankees on May 16 which is my birthday. I supposedly have good seats for this game but I won't know until I get there. I had great seats for a spring training game so if I am not at the dugout but also not in the Upper Reserve then I think I will live.

June 17-19 - Florida MarlinsI want to go a game in this series because I have a twitter crush on @LoMoMarlins or Logan Morrison for those unfamiliar with twitter. He plays somewhere in the outfield for them. I also have a lot of Marlins players on my Fantasy Team so I think it would be cool to see them play.

July 1-3 - St. Louis Cardinals
Um. Albert Pujols anyone? I definitely have to go to a game in this series to see one of the best hitters in baseball(not named Alex Rodriguez or Robinson Cano) That's pretty much the only thing drawing me to this game and I bet a bit more than the usual 2000 people(okay, more people go) will attend this series to see Pujols as well.
I will probably attend more than just the one Yankees/Rays series I have listed because my grandparents usually rent a condo in St. Pete and we go for at least 2 games during a summer series. Also depending on the standings at the end of the season I will probably go at least once during the last series of the season.

*10 points to the person who knows which Hall and Oates song this posts title came from ;)

They may have Hell-boy but we have SuperNova!(thats Hellickson on the top and Nova pitching on the bottom)

Trenton Thunder vs. Pirates

Hey look its CC Sabathia!

So today I went to the minor league complex to watch the Trenton Thunder. I watched them last Sunday but I didn't really pay much attention. Today I went purposely to the game to take notes and pay attention to everything that was happening. It is hard to catch everything at these games because there are no announcements, there's no scoreboard to tell you who is up and what just happened so if you lose focus like I do, then you can really miss a lot. Even today my workout groups roster flew away from me and as I was getting it I missed something important. With that I would like to say that my notes aren't exactly perfect, some things I missed but for my first time I think I did a good job. also note that sometimes I use position player #s just because its easier to say.

Also, CC Sabathia was pitching at the complex today for AAA. I just watched them the other day and I've seen Sabathia pitch before so I wasn't really concerned with watching him. It was cool though that he was there and probably about 30 people were at the complex watching the game. What I really wanted to see was Betances pitch since I heard that he would be there, also a lot of my Tampa Yankees are with the Trenton Thunder so I always like to see them.


Dellin Betances


Here are my game notes from today, this is play by play of the game. If I missed anything or not quite sure what went down, I'll note it.

Lineup:
Yadil Mujica - SS/2B
Eduardo Sosa - CF
Bradley Suttle- 1B
Melky Mesa - DH
Addison Maruszak - C
Cody Johnson - LF
Garrison Lassiter - 3B
Jose Gil - DH
Damon Sublett - RF
Casey Stevenson - 2B
--
Shane Brown - RF
Jeff Farnham - 1B(there is no infielder with this # only a catcher so I assumed it was him)
Jose Pirela - SS(Mujica moved to 2B)

Top 1: Pitching - Dellin Betances
Putout: First Base
Putout: First baseman to pitcher
Strikeout Swinging

Bottom 1:
Mujica: Out 6-3
Sosa: Out 1-3 comebacker to pitcher
Suttle: Out 4-3

Score 0-0

Top 2:Betances
BB
Strikeout looking
(WP - Runner to 2nd)
1B - hit to RF - runners on 1+2
Strikeout swinging
Out - 6 - 4 runner out at 2nd

Bottom 2:
Mesa: Out Fly to deep center(Pirates CF injured himself on this, had to come out of the game)
Maruszak: Out 4-3
Johnson: 2B - Fly to Left
Lassiter: Out 6-3

Score - 0-0

Top 3:Betances
BB
(SB - no throw, ball in dirt)
Putout: Popup: - 4
BB
(PB or WP - Runners advance)
Strikeout Swinging
Putout: fly to center

Bottom 3
Gil: Out 5-3
Sublett: Out Strikeout Swinging
Stevenson: 1B line drive RF
Mujica: out 4-3

Score 0-0

Top 4: Betances and Brian Anderson(at least I think it was Anderson)
HR - Deep Center
BB
1B Fly to RF
Pitching Change: #56 takes over with 2 men on base
Putout - 3 in foul territory
Putout - 1 handled himself - runners advance
Putout - 3

Score - 0-1

Bottom 4
Sosa: out fly to center
Suttle: out fly to center
Mesa: 1B fly to shallow RF
(Mesa SB)
Maruszak: BB
(Passed ball or WP runners advance)
Johnson: 1B - 2RBI
Lassiter: 1B beat pitcher to the bag
Gil: Putout 3

Score 2-1
DJ Mitchell Pitching

Top 5: DJ Mitchell
Strikeout Swinging
Putout: 3
Strikeout Swinging

Bottom 5
Sublett: Out fly to center
Stevenson: Putout 3
Mujica: Out 4-3

Score 2-1

Top 6: Mitchell
Strikeout Swinging
2B Fly to RF
Out: 6-3(runner to 3rd)
Out: 5-3

Bottom 6:
Sosa: BB or HBP
(Sosa stole 2 bases during Suttle's AB)
Suttle: Strikeout Looking
Mesa: Sac Fly to CF - RBI
Maruszak: 1B up the middle
Johnson: Strikeout Swinging

Score 3-1

Top 7: Mitchell
Out - 4-3
Strikeout Swinging
1B(line drive to LF)
Out - 3

Bottom 7:
Lassiter: Out 3-1
Gil: 3B deep fly to right center
Brown: BB or HBP
Pirela: Sac fly to LF
Runner scores
Brown out at 2nd on throw

Score 4-1

Top 8: Mitchell
Out- comebacker 1-3
Strikeout Swinging
Strikeout Looking

Bottom 8:
Mujica: Out 6-3
Sosa: Out 1-3(bunt attempt I think)
Farnham: Strikeout Swinging

Score 4-1

Top 9: Phil Bartleski
1B fly to center
1B fly to shallow center
Putout 3 (runners advance)
3B Line drive down RF line 2RBI
1B- hit to RF 1RBI
(stolen base)
Out - fly to RF
Out: fly to RF

Bottom 9
Mesa: BB
(mesa CS)
Maruszak: Strikeout swinging
Johnson: Strikeout swinging 3-1

Score 4-4

well those are my notes, sorry they arent better organized or anything but it was my first time and I didnt have a score card. If you have any questions, please ask me and Ill try to figure it out.
Pitchers on the top and positions players on the bottom from L to R is Scranton, Trenton, Tampa, Charleston

Upcoming

I have been busy the past few days so I haven't made it up to the minor league complex since Tuesday. I am hoping that I can make it up there on tomorrow to see Double and Triple A(probably AA) I heard that CC Sabathia is going to pitch tomorrow so if I want to go then I will have to leave early because I anticipate a large showing and the bleachers are only so big. Because the complex has no shade I have been getting a ton of sun so I went out and bought some SPF 75+ so I don't start looking like a rotisserie chicken. I am planning to probably go 3 more times by next Saturday but I'm not sure what teams I will get to see. I promise that Ill start taking more pictures at the games its just been so hot and the huge fence really gets in the way.

My Tampa Yankees season tickets came in the mail today! I was really excited about that because it means that the season is soon, just 2 weeks away. I am thinking about skipping my Thursday class or leaving it early on April 7th so that I can go to the true first game of the season. The game is in Lakeland which is about 30 minutes from my school but I'll probably not decide until that day. With my tickets came an Identification card that I can use to get into other Florida State League parks when the Tampa Yankees are playing there, it also allows me to take 25% off on Yankees merchandise in the Legends Room.

I tried to fan them all out but 70 tickets is a lot. I really like the design on them this season. That's my seat on there for the whole season. It's right behind the Yankees on deck circle 7 rows up. Where I sit, I am pretty safe from foul balls and flying bats, its halfway behind the screen so to see the batter and catcher I have to look through the screen but the rest of the field is unobstructed. I don't mind this too much because I know that I wont have to worry about foul balls hitting me when I'm not paying close attention to the game. I will also get a sticker on my seat that says my name and "Season Ticket Holder" how cool.

In which I saw Mariano Rivera pitch for free

This is the space between the two fields. The field that the bleachers are facing was used by Scranton and Tampa. The field behind the bleachers was used for Charleston and Trenton. At the end of this space is a gate that leads to where the players sit.



So I had not really planned on going to the minor league games today but I figured it would be a better use of my time than just sitting at home procrastinating on my homework again. I got to the field early today so that I could go find a workout group roster so I would know who was hitting, pitching etc. I put on my sunscreen like I do everyday but today it did not work so well, the back of my right arm and my left thigh are red as tomatoes. That's pointless I know but it's hurting right now so I thought I would share :)

Here is the full roster for the workout groups, they put out a new one every day in case something changes. The only thing that isn't on here are the Major League players.
Note:Click on the picture for a full sized image

I walked through the fence to go down to the space between fields and this guy was walking out, he says to me "hey, you a Yankees fan?" uh yeah..he was like..."look onto the mound, you see who that is?" I said "is that Mariano Rivera?" yep. Mariano Rivera was pitching at the minor league complex and pitched the first two innings of the Tampa Yankees game. His family was actually sitting on the bleachers watching him. (They even stayed around when he was finished pitching until he had finished his workouts.) What a treat that was. Free Mariano Rivera baseball! couldn't ask for more than that especially when I wasn't even planning on going to the game. I heard some of the Dunedin players talking about his cutter, they all seemed impressed and happy to be able to face him.




I think the Tampa Yankees did pretty good from what I was able to focus on. I got to see Jose Ramirez pitch and he did well. Rob Lyerly played 3rd base and he reminds me of Bradley Suttle, they have the same body type which is something to look forward to ;)

Sitting in front of me during the game was DJ Mitchell's dad and Brett Marshall's parents. I ended up talking to Brett's mom for the majority of the afternoon. She is a very nice lady from what I was able to gather when talking about her. I learned a lot about Brett, most importantly that he is very determined to make it to Scranton sometime in the 2011 season. I told her that I hope he makes it. We talked about how it is hard for the players to get used to losing out on the great fan base they have in Charleston when they come to Tampa. It is true and unfortunate that in Charleston they have thousands of fans every night and when they come to Tampa, they are lucky to have 200 people in the stands on a weekend night. I also learned that he really wants to be a Yankee and was so excited to be drafted by them and come to his first spring training being able to meet Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and everyone else who he looked up to as a child. She told me all about when he had to have Tommy John surgery, like how it happened and the whole process which was actually interesting to learn, also how he rehabbed quicker than expected and was a lot better when he returned than anyone expected. It was really nice talking to her about baseball stuff and non baseball related things like teaching and our awful governors. Brett doesn't pitch until Wednesday and I won't be able to make it to that game unfortunately. I told her that if I don't see her tomorrow then hopefully I get to say hi to her on the first game of the season.

So that's my story about getting to see Mariano Rivera pitch and meeting Brett Marshall's mom. I am probably going to the game tomorrow after my class since I will already be halfway to the field anyways.

I am hoping that you are enjoying reading my blog posts. I know that I haven't been reporting much on actual baseball but more on the personal side of things, but that is the kind of person I am. I promise when the season starts I will include some things that are more relevant to baseball.

This is where I sat on Sunday. The bleachers are on a concrete slab and there is a gap between the slab and the fence, no one was sitting under there today but on Sunday the whole gap down there was filled with people.

Minor League Spring Training

This afternoon I trekked down to the Minor league complex on Himes ave to watch the first spring home games for the Trenton Thunder and Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees. The way the fields are set up is like a flower with 4 petals(fields) all round a tall pavillion. Both games were on the north side of the complex with Triple A on Himes and Double A on Dale Mabry. None of this matters but I felt like sharing it anyway. In between the two fields is a wooden bleacher stand and a few picnic tables.

When I got there I was not sure which was which since there were no signs and the players were wearing numbers that they wouldn't normally be wearing. I decided to sit under the bleachers and watch what I eventually realized was the double A team( I will post a picture of all this for you when I go up again probably on Tuesday) I recognized Bradley Suttle who was playing first base, Corban Joseph who was playing 2nd and also Mitch Abeita who was catching. Honestly I could not tell you the score of the game or much of what happened because it was quite confusing without a scoreboard and once an inning was taking so long, they just decided to end it before it was over. Double A ended up winning.

Position player roster

I sat under the bleachers too because it was so hot out and even though I was wearing sunscreen I still didn't want to sit in the sun. I managed to get a picture on my phone of the roster for most of the players I was watching which was helpful. I sat between two people who both knew someone on the Pirates double A team. One was a friend and the other was the mother of a player. I enjoyed talking to them even though they were taking the game quite a bit more serious than it should have been. We talked about how you get attached to players and want them to do well and get mad when people criticize them. I shared how the the Trenton rotation was going to be amazing this year and how I was still looking forward to the Tampa rotation even though we lost a lot of good guys. The mother was really looking forward to the Altoona Curve team(pirates double A) especially after they did so well against Trenton at the end of 2010.

Eventually their relatives and friends were done for the day so they got up and left, I moved over to the Triple A side and that is when I found out that Tony Sanchez was the DH for the triple A team. I know he is supposed to be with Altoona but I guess it doesn't matter when he is the DH. I had previously bought a Tony Sanchez baseball card because I was hoping that I would be able to get him to sign it while he was down here playing minor league spring training. I love prospects so this one was a must get. I also spent 2 dollars on the card and without getting it signed, it would just sit around collecting dust. So I got confirmation that he was actually there and it was him and I took out my card and waited for him to be done for the day, luckily I didn't have to wait long and they players bus was right next to where I had parked so I followed him out and said "hey, is this you?" and showed him the card, he was like "yeah, that is me" so I handed it to him and said "can you sign it for me?" so he said, "sure I can" so he signed it, I said thanks and told him to keep out the way of balls(since he gets hit a lot). I wanted to get some Yankee autographs but they left through the front so I will have to try that another time. I'd call the day a success though. I am planning on going again on Tuesday after class and maybe again this weekend, I want to be able to see each team once(low A, high A, AA and AAA)Tony Sanchez before going out to bat(he made an out)Signed card :)


On my way home I got a call from my friend whose husband pitches for the nationals. In addition to some school related things which is why she called me, she told me her husband sent her a text saying he was on the bus going to a spring training game and was the seatmate of Bryce Harper. He told her to pass it on, I am sure that was just to make me jealous and it worked. Somehow I have got to get his autograph before the season starts.

I love my job

So yesterday I mentioned the little story about the 5 year old baseball lover where I work. I went to Walgreens yesterday and printed some of the pictures I took and made extras for him. I got him ones of Teixeira, Cano, Arod and Mariano Rivera as well as pictures I took of Rafael Soriano and Jeremy Hellickson last season. This morning I went into work with my pictures and he was sleeping since it was naptime so I had just planned on waiting until it was over to go give him his pictures. About 2 hours later, the whole 4 and 5 year old class walks down the hallway to my room and knock on my door. Apparently he had something for me. He then pulls a handful of baseball Silly Bands out of his pocket and starts handing them to me. How thoughtful and cute is that? So after I had gotten all my new Silly Bands I gave him his pictures, he was pretty excited but asked if I could try to get a picture of Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez if I go to another game.



On top is a batter that was in his pack of Rays silly bands, since he had two he gave me one of them. Below that is a batter, not sure who(his words) and next to it is part of Yankee Stadium and then the Yankees logo.

I got some acrylic cubes to hold my signed baseball and put them up on my baseball shelf.

Coming up

I went to work this morning and my Director always tapes her Chinese food fortunes on the ledge of the counter at work. This one was new and I really liked it, it also has to do this short post.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

Since you can't see into my photographic memory, I have uploaded the pictures I took from last night. Because I don't have a full flickr account it only allows me to keep 200 pictures in my album at all times, because of this some of my older pictures are now gone. Oh well. There's about 90 new pictures.

Because I am feeling Nostalgic and missing Andy Pettitte: Here is a picture I took of him at last years spring training game. It's really blurry because it was raining when I took the picture. I miss Andy.





And now for a short story: There is a 5 year old where I work that absolutely loves baseball, he plays for the Colorado Rockies little league team, he wasn't too happy about that because he didn't know any of their players. Our director who he normally talks to is out on vacation so he has had no one to talk baseball with, lucky for him he knows that I too love baseball. Today I had to work in his classroom for an hour and we talked baseball for an hour, I showed him all my pictures that I took at the game last night, he was very impressed and asked me to print some for him. He is a Rays fan unfortunately but as long as he likes baseball that's fine by me. He plays the baseball games on the Wii so he is pretty good at knowing who is who. He loves Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano and Mark "the sheriff" and says that Alex Rodriguez is the best hitter in baseball. He then showed me how Arod hits his homeruns. He was the recipient of another Buster Posey baseball so we have a connection. As much as I like him, as soon as baseball season starts again I know I will have to deal with the "Yankees are losers" chant that he sings when he sees me. Just thought I would share that, kids are too cute.

This weekend I am going to the first of the Yankees minor league spring training games. I wanted to go on Saturday to see the A and High A teams play but one of my babies is having her 3rd birthday party and I wouldn't miss that for the world. I will make it Sunday to the AA and AAA games so I am hoping that my baseball cards I ordered online come in the mail before then. If not I will just take my ball. I will be able to make it to a few more of the games so I am not worried. My Tampa Yankees season ticket order is processed so I just have to wait for the first Tampa Yankees booster club meeting sometime this month to get my tickets.

Saving the Best for Last

Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez!




First off, I would like to thank the 2009 World Series Champion Yankees for making this night happen for me. If not for them I probably would not have been at tonight's game or any games in the last year.

So last Wednesday I managed to get a ticket to tonight's game, at the time I didn't think tonight would ever get here, of course it was over spring break and the last night of my spring break so the week flew by. I was really excited for the game so I woke up at 930 this morning and just sat around all day watching TV wishing the day away. I saw a tweet from Curtis Granderson asking his twitter followers to make a happy birthday @cgrand14 sign and tweet it to him and the most creative will win a signed ball. I figured I would make a simple sign and since I was going to the game sitting in the front row there was a good chance he would see it. It was definitely not very creative but it's spring break and I'm just not feeling creative right now. So I grabbed 3 baseballs including the two I got from the Yankees facility my coworker brought for me(see post below) my glove and the sign I made and headed down to the stadium. I think I drove like 60 the whole way there because I was just so excited.



I went straight into the stadium and right to my seat, when I got to my seat there were tons of people standing around with balls and pens and since I have a soft voice I was thinking there was no way I would get an autograph over all these loudies standing around me. The only one who was around was Jesus Montero and he was signing stuff at the end of the dugout where the players stand before going to the clubhouse or to bat which was too far from where I was. Then Paul O'neill and Ron Guidry came out and people were yelling for them. It reminded me of Finding Nemo when the Seagulls are saying mine mine mine except they were all saying paul paul paul paul ron ron ron ron, poor guys. So eventually the people who didn't have seats up in the front row went back to their seats and thats when I saw Manny Banuelos come out and start signing things for a few people, I flashed my prettiest smile(lol) and threw my ball and marker at him and he signed a ball for me. Now I have two of his autograph so he better make it ;)



About 10 minutes later, the Yankee players came out of the dugout, I remembered my Happy Birthday sign so I grabbed it out of my bag and held it out for probably 10 minutes waiting for them to come back to the dugout and for hopefully Granderson to see my sign, luckily he saw it and waved and smiled at me and I showed him my ball and marker and he put his hands up to catch them. So that's how I got Curtis Granderson's autograph.



Unfortunately I didn't get anymore autographs but those were two that I was really happy about getting. Manny seemed really excited to be giving out his autograph, he was smiling so wide and he actually has a really nice smile. And it was cool to have Curtis Granderson see the sign I made for him.

So to the game. It wasn't until my ride home was I able to digest the game that I saw. What a remarkable pitching performance. For those of you who live under a rock and didn't see them game; Nova pitched 6 scoreless hitless walkless innings, except for a leadoff HBP and a hilarious error by Alex Rodriguez(did his face actually eat that ball?) he was was perfect. IT was just an amazing performance and the ones that followed were just as remarkable. Mariano Rivera wasn't as perfect as he was on Sunday but he is Mariano Rivera, as long as the runs don't score he can do whatever he wants. Alex Rodriguez hit another home run, the sound of the ball off his bat was so loud I could tell it was a home run the second I heard that sound. I think he is going to have a great year if his regular season is as good as his spring so far. My seats for the game were awesome, there was no one sitting in the two seats next to me so I didn't have anyone blocking my view of my Yankees. I tried to take a lot of pictures but it was hard to pay attention to every pitch, watching the ball so I didn't get hit but also looking out for a good photo opportunity. Where I was seated it was pretty easy to get a good picture. If I can figure out how to upload them all to my flickr I'll do that but I am also including some in this post. It was so nice too for the Yankees to have an exceptionally long bottom of the 7th scoring 5 runs so that my night lasted a bit longer. Eventually the people sitting around me had gotten up and left and then these smelly and annoying drunks came down, Jesus freaking Montero gave the game ball(last out) to the drunks that came down at the end of the inning not to me who had been there the whole time. Whatever, I got autographs and they didn't.


One things I noticed at the game was that when Teixeira would come to the dugout after the top of each inning was over, if he had the ball from the last out, he would throw it to Nova or whoever was pitching at the time and then someone in the dugout would throw a ball to him. This happened at the end of every inning. Sometimes he would call for it but mostly they threw it to him when he would put his glove out. When he was out of the game for the night, Eric Chavez took over and did the exact same thing. Not sure if this is some sort of mojo thing but it was neat to see. Also, Jeter gave his bat to some kids behind the dugout when he was done for the night too. How sweet. I am also pretty sure that Arod looked at me a few times. Probably because I looked like a hot mess, I told my boss and she said maybe he was trying to find a replacement for Cameron. haha no thanks. I think he was trying to impress me too because he struck out but thankfully made up for it with that home run. I still cannot get over how close I was to them tonight. So cool.

I'll probably put up another post about this game or update this one at a later date when I remember more about it, right now I am still so jittery from the game I am sure I didn't get everything in here.Jeter!!!


L to R: Dellin Betances, Brandon Laird, Manny Banuelos and Andrew Brackman

It's Robbie Cano!!

Paul O'neill


Jeter and Arod hanging out in the dugout.

It's not what you know, it's who you know

I live by the motto of "It's not what you know, It's who you know." I'll spare you the details of all the people I know and get right down to the point. I got an awesome ticket for Wednesday nights game against the Orioles right behind the Yankees dugout. I mentioned to a coworker that I had great seats and needed to go buy a ball to take to hopefully get signed and she said that her husband could get me balls from the Yankees facility. I thought that was awful nice of her so I said "Cool" Today I got a phone call saying that she had dropped the balls off at work for me. I went to pick them up and they were accompanied with this note:




















Uh, totally cool! I am pretending that Cano and Arod hit them.


Also, A few weeks ago I finally went out and bought a shadow box to store my autographed tickets from last season. I had them in a picture frame but I didn't like them touching the glass because I was afraid the ink would stick and they would be stuck in an ugly frame forever. I got the autographs back in August around the time the Betances and Banuelos hype was starting and literally days before they got promoted to double A. (mentioned in a previous post) I think my frame came out nice. It includes a roster that shows their numbers since they included those in their autograph and a printout of the scores from the two games so you can see they were the starters for the tickets they signed. Also their Tampa Yankee baseball card.

Enter Sandman

You may have realized that I left someone out in that last post. Of course I didn't forget about The Greatest Closer Ever, he just needed his own post.

Apparently Mo makes his own schedule for Spring Training, only coming into a game when he deems himself ready. In the past two years he has pitched the one game that we have gone to. I call it luck. I can't tell you if I ever saw him before because I just don't remember. The last time I saw Mo pitch in person before today though was back in September against the Rays in the game that will forever immortalize Greg Golson and his rocket arm.

Mariano Rivera IS the greatest closer ever, at 41 he still rocks. I watched a video on Sports Science about his cutter, now I know how it works. You would think batters would learn to swing later or something but no matter what after all these years, the guy can still get you out with hardly breaking a sweat(though he may break your bat)



Today was Mariano Rivera's spring debut. I managed to make it for Rafael Soriano's spring debut as well but when I heard that Mo was pitching today I got totally excited. When he starting running out onto the field, the whole stadium gave him a booming standing ovation. He got a louder ovation than the whole team did when they took the field at the top of the first. The ovation lasted pretty much through Enter Sandman which played loudly over the PA speakers. Before I could even tell my grandpa that this was Rivera's first spring game, he had already struck out Jason Kubel. I couldn't even mention that Jason Kubel hit a grand slam off Rivera on my birthday last year(also noticed when I watched the game on mlb.tv they mentioned that) Mo then struck out the next two batters he faced. I think maybe he took 2 minutes to get through the inning including throwing his warmup pitches. He received another standing ovation as he walked back to the dugout.

It is such an honor to be able to watch him pitch. There will never be a closer as dominant as Mariano Rivera, who will have the longevity that he has been blessed with. I am not looking forward to the day when he is no longer pitching. Hopefully that's not for a while.

I took this picture at last years game. That's Rivera obviously, talking on the mound with Posada and Jeter. I'm pretty sure he threw a perfect inning that time out too.

A lot can happen in a year

"Hey Jete, was that sun too bright or did Alex tell you he had it?"


Today's game was the game of the year, unfortunately...we lost. I have said many times before that the reason I am a Yankee fan is because my family has always gone to a Yankee spring training game every year and today was the day we all went. My dad and grandma and grandpa and myself made it to the game today. In the past, that group included my mom and brother but they don't go anymore. (losers)

I'm going to let you in on a little secret though you may have already deduced it...

A year ago, I knew about 20% the amount of information I know about the Yankees now. I have been a very bad Yankee fan but I have the ability to retain the least triviality so my brain is perfect for baseball knowledge. A year ago at a spring training game, I only knew the guys that made up the everyday lineup and bullpen. Now I can tell you how old a player is, their stats line, hometown and any other little detail you probably didn't care to know, I can even pronounce Teixeira(and spell it too!) At that spring training game last year I made a vow to myself that I would get to know my favorite team better and I may have gotten a bit too caught up in it because now I think I know too much. But that's not a bad thing.

A lot can happen in a year.

Now I have been to 3 Spring Training games since Wednesday and I am going to one more this week. I drove all the way across the state to watch the B team play and got to see the A team bomb at home. (Jeter dropped a pop-up!! Funniest thing ever) The things we do for love.

Anyway...here are some pictures from today's game. It was on YES so I am sure everyone saw it. If you didn't, you didn't miss much. The Yankees couldn't hit a lick except for a double by Teixeira and a loud home run by Rodriguez. Derek Jeter dropped a high pop-up which was sad yet comical, glad that I was there to witness it though. I got to share some of my baseball knowledge with my grandfather, a lifelong Yankee fan so that was fun.


The picture at the top is Mo making fun of Jeter for dropping a popup. Down at the bottom here; is Tex making a play on a ball, Jesus Montero hanging out in the dugout and David Robertson just being awesome.

Game 2 of 4 - Yankees at Nats

In November when the Yankees released their Spring Training schedule, I noticed that they were playing the Nationals on a Saturday. Because I work a Monday-Friday job I never work on weekends so I called my friend and proposed a trip over to Viera for the game. At the time of suggestion though I didn't realize just how far away it was. She was all for it so all we had to do was wait until today. For those who I haven't told. My friend is married to a minor league baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals, he was in Class A last year. Being a lover of all things minor league, its pretty cool to get to hang out with him on occasion when he isn't away playing baseball.

A few weeks ago when he reported for Spring Training, I reminded my friend about the game, she still wanted to go because when he goes away for the first month she always drives over there to visit him for the weekend. It was then that I found out that he could get us free tickets to the game. Apparently all people who play for the team regardless of level can get tickets for their family members (if it's free, its for me!) She had told me he could get the tickets but I didn't find out until this morning that he had actually gotten them, I was blindly heading down to Viera with no tickets in my hand hoping that he would come through, thankfully he did.




So this morning I woke up really early because I was excited about the game, also because we needed to leave early to make it in time. I drove to my friends house to pick her up and we were on our way just after 10am. After a pitstop through the drive thru at Chic-fil-a and about 100 or more miles later, we had arrived at the Nationals Spring training complex around 12:30. Because her husband had gotten us the tickets and didn't know what to do with them, he left the tickets in his car so we got to go park where the players park at the training complex(I was totally excited about that) also meant we didn't have to pay for parking though we did have to walk a bit further. The tickets he got for us were awesome. My friend told me that the tickets they normally get for family members aren't the best but because her husband knows the clubhouse attendant, he was able to score us some really good seats. Our seats were a bit far out, pretty much as far out as you could go in the right field stands but we were in row one, right on the field.



The game was good, AJ Burnett pitched well which was encouraging. The wind was crazy too so I think that accounted for so many balls that were hit hard actually making it out of the park. It was a beautiful day for a baseball game and to spend the day outside. Eventually the game was over with the Nationals coming out on top. We made our way back to the training complex and met her husband who had just finished throwing live BP. It was now 4pm and I needed to hit the road so I wouldn't be stuck driving in the dark. I got home around 630 and honestly the drive both ways wasn't that bad, I didn't get stuck in traffic so that always makes a long trip just that much better.

Anyway...here's a few pictures I took at the game including a few of Bryce Harper who came out later in the game to play right field.