Save the Manatees

I mentioned a few posts ago that I would post about the jersey that I won during the last game of last season. The last game of the season was Jimmy Buffet Tribute night. On this night, the Tampa Yankees players wear special jerseys that fans can bid on during the game. The money raised goes to a save the manatees foundation and as a Floridian, I know how important the manatees are. I just had to do my part so I went up to the bidding table and tried to pick out someone I thought was worth it. I have a thing for catchers so I was immediately drawn to Jose Gil and Mitch Abeita. In all honesty I wrote my name down really hoping that no one else would want to bid on the jersey I had bid on. I picked Mitch Abeita because his jersey was one that wouldn't be huge on me if I ever decided to wear it. I also picked his because he did not play that night and I didn't want a sweaty jersey to take home. When the bidding had officially ended I was the winner of Mitch Abeita's jersey. Which meant that at the end of the game I would go down to the field and get my jersey from him and get it signed. I was pretty excited. At the end of the game I went down to the field and got my jersey.


























That jersey now hangs on a wall in my bedroom. I hadn't really put much thought into the it until I went to my spring training game yesterday and looked in the program. The last few pages they do a season review of the Tampa Yankees and in one of the pictures is the jersey that I had won. I thought that was pretty cool. I got a picture of me with Mitch Abeita when he gave me the jersey but I dont feel like posting it here.

Spring Training

For as long as I can remember, March has always meant Spring Training. In the past, my dad has taken the family(mom, me, brother, grandparents) to a Spring Training game, just one, every March. In my yearbook on my family page is a picture of me with my whole family at a Yankees spring training game. Its where I became a Yankee fan. If it weren't for the Yankees doing their Spring Training down here, I don't know who I would root for. Thankfully the Yankees are my team.

One of the things I have collected from Spring Training games is the Spring Training Program. It wasnt until a year or so after we first started going that I came across my first program in 2000 and it was only because I found it when running around the stands with my brother. Before I got that program I didn't know they even offered them. I started collecting them the following year. Except for the 3 year stretch between 2007 and 2009 when we didn't go to Spring Training, I have all the programs. 9 of them after tonight's game. They haven't changed much since I first started collecting them except the price has gone from 2 dollars to 5. And the cover has gotten fancier.
So that's my little blurb about my favorite collection that Ive been working on for a while. Now about tonight's game.

I wasn't actually planning on going to the game tonight because I am going to two games this weekend and I have to wake up early tomorrow morning but I heard about a really great deal that one of the members of the Tampa Yankee Booster club was offering. He had some tickets for a few Spring Training games that he was selling at face value, I called him to see if he had a ticket for tonight's game but it had already been accounted for. He said he still had one for next week Wednesday though. Needless to say I couldn't pass up the offer. $30 for seats right at the Yankees dugout, like my knees will literally touch the dugout. The seats are between the New and York on the top of the dugout if anyone is familiar with that. Even though I am afraid of getting whacked with a foul ball....Ill take my chances for that opportunity.



So that's how I ended up at the game tonight. I had to go meet him up there to buy the ticket and since I was there I figured I might as well go to the game. I got a scalped ticket in a great section, halfway between homeplate and first base and right at the break between the two levels. I thought it was so cool to see Bernie Williams throw out the first pitch to Jesus Montero too.





Because I don't really have a good sense at recalling every detail, I got a bit of help from the my at-bat application so some of the stuff I had to read about because I had lost my focus when it happened. One thing I definitely paid attention to was when Russell Martin hit a nice long homerun(his first as a Yankees :)) He also got a lot of support from the crowd in his following at-bats. And then he threw someone out trying to steal. I was excited already before seeing him and it made me even more excited to get to watch him catch this season even though Ill miss Posada in that role. What also got my attention is that he is really a good defender. Bartolo Colon wasn't too bad in all reality. That first inning with 3 strikeouts was awesome, it was like he wasn't even trying and in the second inning, some of the balls just went to places where no one was covering. When Jeter got to a ball in the hole behind 2nd base, he threw it wide of first base so the runner was safe. Sometimes you cant catch breaks. He calmed down after that. Andruw Jones hit a good home run too. I enjoyed watching Rafael Soriano's Spring Debut and watching Pedro Feliciano striking guys out(even though both of them got a ton of foul balls.)

What was most exciting for me was getting to watch Manny Banuelos pitching in the game. I watched him a few times last year but not nearly as anxiously as I was watching him tonight. When he pitched for the TY it didnt really matter what he did, at least to me, he just went out and pitched a few innings and was done. Tonight it was really nervewracking because I was nervous for him, I didn't want people saying bad things about him in just one game and not putting it into relation to what he had been doing. That second inning of work was really a lot for me to stay and watch, I even had to get up. The one guy threw his bat into the stands and then got a single on a broken bat. Poor guy lost two bats in one night, those things aren't cheap. But when Manny got into a little trouble in his second inning of work it didn't seem to bother him. He first hit a guy with a pitch, which was followed by a single. He got his first out, but that also moved a man from 2nd to 3rd. He got a strikeout for his second out but still had one to go and because of a stolen base he had men on 2nd and 3rd. When he got to 2 strikes on his last batter he got the 2 strike cheer, that was just so awesome to see and hear and he got his man, as usual. I got a bit nervous and had to get up and move but I watched him get through the jam which just made me really happy.



Overall it was a great start to my 4 spring training games in a week plan. 1 down - 3 to go.

The Perks of Living in Tampa

So I have lived in Tampa my whole life and there are a lot of good things to say about this place as well as a lot of negatives. The biggest negative is probably the lack of public transit. If you don't have a car around here then you better find a place that delivers or move in next to a grocery store. The perks of living in Tampa would have to be that its centrally located and about an hour from Orlando. Personally, I would rather watch a Disney movie than visit their parks, but that's just me. I prefer Busch Gardens on a nice cool day and Adventure Island on a hot day.

Of course this is a baseball blog and I am a baseball fan so I have to say something about how great the Tampa area is for baseball. I dislike the Rays but I would be lying if I didn't say I was happy there is an American League baseball team just an interstate, bridge and 15 exits away. I have to admit that I haven't always been the best and most diligent baseball fan. I think I went to my first Yankees spring training game back in 1998. I got my first Spring Training program in 2000 but I know I went to games before then. I hardly ever watched the Yankees on TV and I definitely never looked over the TV Guide to see when their games were going to be on. I always knew though if they had won the World Series because there is a high population of New Yorkers that lives in Florida and they always put Yankee news in the papers here. I also would read over the Spring Training guide to see the details of their past season. When I went to HCC from 2006-2009 I actually only attended one Yankees Spring Training game and that was in 2006. This was the year that the WBC took place and my dad and grandparents weren't interested in buying tickets anymore if the big name players weren't going to be there. Why would they pay $80 to see some guys named Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera instead of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter? I remembered both of them from that game on because their names were interesting sounding. I also went to my first Yankees vs. Rays game in 2006 though I don't remember much of it.

My big time baseball obsession started in 2009 when I got a new phone and I set it up to receive text alerts from ESPN on the scores from the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. I still didn't have the time or resources to follow the team as diligently as I do now(thanks Twitter!) As the season went on, I would eagerly await the results of the days games and would get upset when I had seen that the Yankees had lost and the Red Sox and Rays had won. I even turned off my Yankees alerts at one point because I hated seeing that they had lost(I think that was in the middle of a losing streak) but I set it back up towards the end of the season. I was extremely excited to see that they had made the postseason but was too busy to watch all the games. I watched the first game of the ALDS but not all of it. At the time I was working about 35 hours and going to school for 12 credit hours so I really didn't have the time to devote to follow them as much as I wanted. I watched parts of the ALCS and 2 games of the World Series. I watched some of the first game and then the whole game 6. I remember how great it felt to have seen them win it all. When they had won last in 2000 I was only 12 years old so I didn't really appreciate what they had been doing since 1996. In 2009 I was able to get into it more really appreciate the history that had been made. It was just crazy to think that Posada, Jeter, Rivera and Pettitte had won it all together again.

After 2009 I vowed to be a better Yankee fan, I also had a lot more free time having cut my hours at work and being more focused on my classes. I followed the 2009/2010 offseason closely but not crazy close. I vowed to learn more about the players on the team because the last time I had gone to Spring Training was in 2006 and a lot had changed since then. I also didnt want to go to Spring Training and not know who was who. Lets just say I learned way more than I had planned on learning and became a little obsessed about learning everything I could about everyone. It was fun though so I didn't mind. 2010 was a really fun season to watch, I bought the MLB.tv subscription and watched a lot of games. I also realized that we had MLB Network so I could watch Quick Pitch and learn about people on other teams as well (Hello, Buster Posey) I didn't really care that the Yankees didn't win it all again, it was worth it for them to have won in 2009 because it got me interested in them again and I had been neglecting them for a few years.

It was a Saturday afternoon in June when my friend told me her sister got tickets to a Tampa Yankees baseball game. I had been wanting to go to a game but I didn't know much about the team and didn't want to go alone. I went with her and had a really good time, I liked that I could sit really close to the field and the game was pretty cheap. It was after that when I started going to their games more frequently. I learned the players on the team and was really happy to see them win the championships and beat the Stonecrabs(boo Rays!) I joined the Tampa Yankees Booster Club for the 2011 season so I can be more involved so I am looking forward to that.

The past week has been great, being able to go up to the field to watch the team practice and getting to see some of my favorite Tampa Yankee players with the big league club...its just been a blast. I hope you have enjoyed reading this entry, I know its rather long but I felt that I should put all this stuff out there.

Now I leave you with a little blast from the past. When I was little back in the early 90's before the Yankees played at Legends Field, we used to go to Sarasota for Spring Training to see the Cincinnati Reds(when the Yankees started playing at Legends we always went to see them play the Reds) Here are two pictures from one of those games in 1993. Its the Cincinnati Reds against
Houston Astros.

Autographs

Tampa Yankee games are really good for getting player autographs. The players stretch on the right field grass and sometimes when they're done they will come to the fence and give autographs. On Saturday games they have player autographs on the concourse where at least one player sits at the table an hour before the game and does autographs. The pitchers also chart the games behind home plate and if you recognize one of them and have something with you then you can go between innings and get an autograph. They are always willing to sign anything as long as they aren't in the middle of charting pitches at the time. So I have decided to show off the autographs I got last season.

Note: Click the pictures to enlarge.





I went to the game on July 3rd with my dad hoping to see a good game and fireworks celebrating the 4th afterward. Instead we got to the field and it was drenched. The infield was soaked and there was too much water in the outfield, they deemed it unsafe for play. Because so many people had come to the game they didn't want to just tell everyone to go home so they told us over the loudspeaker that they were going to do whole team autographs on the field. They had all the players stand in the home and away dugouts with sharpies and you could go down to the field and get in line to have them all sign something. I didn't bring anything so I borrowed a dollar from my dad and and bought a lineup card and got in line. It was about an hour process because there were two lines for each dugout but I got a lot of good autographs. Hopefully I am lucky enough to go to another game in 2011 where they do this.



Pitchers sit behind home plate and chart pitches for games. Sometimes they chart pitches thrown by the opposing team and sometimes they chart pitches for their team and I have also seem them chart a whole game. Point is, the pitchers sit behind home plate and are totally accessible to fans that recognize them. Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos definitely stand out in a crowd and are quite recognizable when charting pitches which is how I got their autographs. I was thinking what I could get them to sign because I didnt have either of their cards nor a ball, I figured I would just have them sign the ticket from the game they started. I got Betances autograph first, I actually waited til the end of the game for his and almost missed him but I chased him down and he signed the ticket for me. Unfortunately the pen wasn't fresh so the autograph is not perfect. I learned my lesson a few days later when I saw Banuelos charting pitches. I just came into the stadium because I had come late and it was a wet day. When I saw him I ran out to my car and grabbed the ticket from the game he had pitched a week earlier and a sharpie and asked him to sign it between innings. He kindly obliged and now I have autographs of two of the top 10 prospects in the Yankees organization. (Betances also signed the lineup card above)


So now that I have a handful of autographs I realized how many more autographs I could have if I had cards or had thought to get them throughout the season. I don't plan on ever selling these or giving them away. I am a pack rat so they'll most likely stay in my possession for a long time. I also have trouble sharing. I decided to invest in a few cards of some of the players I think will potentially pitch in Tampa in 2011 so if I see them I can get their autograph to add to my collection.

Last but not least....



The most awesome autograph I acquired in 2010 was my Buster Posey baseball. The only real Major Leaguer who has signed anything for me. I know he isn't a Yankee but he was the NL Rookie of the Year and when you get the opportunity to get his autograph it would almost be stupid to pass it up. One of the moms of the kids where I work grew up in the same town as Buster and her brother goes hunting with him, she was nice enough to take a ball up to Georgia with her over Thanksgiving and she brought my ball up with her, not but a few weeks later she was back with ball in tow. It is definitely a very prized possession now.

I got a Tampa Yankee Hawaiian style jersey on the last day of the season. Ill feature it another time, no sense in giving it all up in one post. If you ever want something signed by a Tampa Yankee member playing in 2011 just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Trip to Dunedin

I went to two away games during the 2010 season. To Clearwater to see the Threshers which I've already covered, and to Dunedin to see the Blue Jays. The trip to Dunedin almost didn't happen because the weather was horrible that day. The game started at 4pm and it had been raining all day. The trip took a lot longer than I had anticipated because I got lost. Dunedin is a place that Ive never been before and the field was further away than I had thought. I got to the stadium and parked near the road which was a good idea because the stadium is so small that every foul ball that goes back ends up going over the roof and into the parking lot. Tickets were 6 dollars for general admission and parking was free. I went in and sat on the visitors side, really you could sit anywhere its such a small intimate field. The only thing is if you sit in the infield you will have to look through the fence but if you want to be really close and not worry about foul balls then its perfect. it was sprinkling on and off so I sat up under the awning but it was still so close that I wasn't missing out on anything.

The game itself was pretty good. Josh Romanski was the starter in only his second start for Tampa. He actually did really good. Dunedin didn't get a hit until the third inning and was kept off the board until the fifth inning on a solo home run. Tampa scored on a single and stolen base by Myron Leslie and was driven in on a double by Jack Rye.
Things got a little funky in the bottom of the 7th inning. I really wish I could tell you all what happened. Somewhere between a double, a pitching change, a passed ball, a single, a wild pitch, a ground out, a walk and a fielders choice.... Myron Leslie committed an interference. How he committed an interference is really beyond me and all the people around me. It was apparently also beyond the Tampa Yankees manager because he yelled his head off out there trying to figure out what had happened. He ended up getting ejected. Torre Tyson is a volatile person and he certainly walked off the field with a fire.
Honestly I think it all started in the fifth inning when Jose Gil was thrown out at home on a double play ball. Honestly I think it was a blown call by the umpire because the pitcher was standing in the basepath so Gil had to run around him and push him aside to get to homeplate which caused him to not be able to slide into home. Had he been able to reach home plate without an obstacle in his way he would have scored easily. This should have warranted an interference call and Gil argued with the ump as did Tyson but to no avail which is why I think they were so mad about the interference in the 7th inning. The fans behind home plate let Gil have it the whole next inning since he was behind the plate to catch the bottom of that inning.
The rest of the game went pretty smooth, no one else scored until Gil hit his fifth homer of the season over the high right field fence. It was no cheapie and we all stood up and cheered louder than ever because it was kind of a rub it in their faces hit and I think Gil was happy because he had taken a lot of flack since the issue in the fifth inning. If only they could have won because of that home run.

This is oddly the only picture I took inside the stadium, it was sprinkling so I must not have wanted to take my camera out of my bag.


Here is the box score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t587&gid=2010_08_29_tbyafa_dunafa_1&cid=587&t=g_box

Something I want to note is that as much as I like him, Bradley Suttle is not clutch. I went to many games where he came to the plate with the chance to tie it up or win it with just one hit and he didn't come through. He did hit a walk off home run ending a 14 inning game so I wont hold it against him.

It ended up never really raining so I'm glad I didn't scrap the trip for another time. I ate dinner at Casa Tina in Downtown Dunedin right down the road from the stadium. It was a good meal and was reasonably priced. It was a pretty long drive so I might not make it to Dunedin much next season.

Fantasy Camp Games

I have a lot of reading to do for school tomorrow so I decided it was the perfect time to summarize my time at the Fantasy Camp Games yesterday.

First off, I think it is a great thing that the New York Yankees and other teams do for their fans by offering this experience. It was a little funny though seeing overweight middle aged and old men in the Yankees uniform but I bet they wouldn't give up their experience at the camp for the world. Some of these men have been going to fantasy camp for years.

I got to George Steinbrenner Field Saturday morning around 9:15. The gates hadn't opened so I decided to get a look at the new statue of George that was just put up a few weeks ago. It was pretty spiffy, I took a picture of it for good measure. I went to the gift shop but they had not gotten anything new in since I had been last though the toaster that burns the Yankees interlocking NY logo into your toast looked appealing. I bought a deck of 2010 Yankees cards because out of the 20 packs of cards I've bought I only got Andy Pettitte, Curtis Granderson and 2 of Kevin Russo.

When the gates opened up they informed us that there would be no autographs which I thought was weird because isn't baseball about getting autographs? They followed the no autographs thing pretty strictly inside too and had security guarding the part of the dugout that the players would normally stand and give out autographs. When I got in, I went to sit on the Greats side which was the home side and where I normally sit for Tampa Yankees games. I sat there for about an hour until I was so cold I couldn't operate my camera. While I was sitting on that side I got some good pictures of Mickey Rivers, Homer Bush and Jeff Nelson. Honestly I had only heard or read about half the Greats there. The only Yankee Greats in Attendance that I actually had seen play was Jeff Nelson, Homer Bush, Luis Sojo, David Wells and Daryl Strawberry.

I eventually moved towards the visitors section but was still behind the net because I am afraid of foul balls. I found the head of the Tampa Yankees Booster club and sat with her and a bunch of other Tampa Yankee boosters, they were all smarter than me and were sitting in the sun from the get go. I don't really recall anything special about the games except that maybe we should try to get Homer Bush to come out of retirement and be our DH. Also, that Jeff Nelson is/was not only a good pitcher but played some pretty snazzy defense at shortstop at the fantasy games when he was done pitching for the day, especially for such a tall guy. Daryl Strawberry was there but he doesn't play because he is 100% retired and that means he never picks up a bat or glove.
One thing that I found outstanding is that some of these guys have still got the ability to not only hit a ball, but hit the ball far. Homer Bush got I think 3 doubles and a triple, and not just because the fielders(fantasy campers) were bad out there, the guy hit some hard line drives. Jeff Nelson was also one of the better hitters, especially for a pitcher. I know the level of pitching at these games is not ML level, or even U-16 league level, but still.

The Greats that participated were:

Jeff Nelson- Pitcher and SS
David Wells - Pitcher and outfield
Chris Chambliss - First base
Mickey Rivers - Second Base
Bucky Dent - SS
Luis Sojo - Third base
Homer Bush - outfield
Jesse Barfield - Outfield
Oscar Gamble - outfield
Mark Torrez - Pitcher
Paul Blair - did not play
Al Downing - did not play
Daryl Strawberry - did not play

Im sure there was someone I forgot but you can check out my picture on the sidebar for a pictoral recap.

Overall, it was a fun experience especially being able to see some of the guys I have only read about in books or seen in documentaries and highlight reels. Being at the field made me really hungry for some baseball. March cannot come soon enough.

Just a few updates because I am starting to get busy with school.

This Saturday they are having the Fantasy Camp games at George Steinbrenner Field. This is where the fantasy campers play the greats, or that's what they told me. Anyway Ill take pictures and let you all know who was there and how it went.

Also, Im working on a piece about my trip to Dunedin stadium this past season but it probably wont be up until this weekend.