"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do.
I stare out the window and wait for spring."
- Rogers Hornsby
March is the greatest month of the year, solely because of Spring Training. Every fan wakes up out of their winter haze to evaluate their team's off-season moves and the long road ahead. But that gets boring after a while; you'll be seeing that all season on the local sports station.
What makes Spring so great is that you can get the same type of news and reports from ANY team.What better way to be an all around baseball fan than to know a little something about every opponent? Being able to follow all the stories from around the league leading up to Opening Day is by far my favorite part.
Don't forget there are actual GAMES being played too! In about three more weeks the records won't matter, but it just shows how close we are to summer's bliss of relaxing on a warm night and flipping on the Sunday night game of the week.
There's one team out there that's going to win the World Series. They don't know it yet, but they'll find some way to make it into the playoffs, get hot at the right time, and find themselves at the top of the baseball world in just about seven months.
Even though we ARE still three weeks away from first pitch, I declare that the 2013 BaseBlog season has officially begun!
In 2012, I went way beyond my expectations in every aspect; catching balls, seeing different parks, and writing all season long. I've spent a lot of time re-reading entries, reflecting on successes and failures, and thinking about what I want to do for this season to make it even better for myself, as well as my readers.
Going into my second season of Ballhawking last year, I created a list of things I wanted to accomplish. A pretty standard set of goals, all things considered. They were mostly centered around the number of games I wanted to go to and how many balls I wanted to catch.
After seeing what was possible last season, I went in a whole different direction when making this season's list. Some of the number oriented goals carried over to this year, but I also wanted to add some things that would take my mind off of strictly catching balls. The balls are obviously the most important thing to me, but I'm also trying to shoot for things that would make me a true Ballhawk and baseball fanatic.
So, without further adieu....
2013 BALLHAWK GOALS
This quote, stated by me on multiple occasions, is what I'm going to live by this season. It's not as much of a goal as it is a reminder myself.
- "You're only a fool if you come back empty handed"
I can't expect the ball to find me, I must seek out the ball. I need to adjust to the hitter in the cage, move from left to right field, run up and down aisles, and get a good jump on other fans. Doing all this, to put it in simple terms, makes me look like a complete dork sometimes. If I come back with a ball, anything I had to do to get it doesn't matter.
To me, getting a ball justifies even the most ridiculous of actions. It doesn't bother me one bit as long as I end up with something to show for it. If someone wants to laugh at me, they can go right ahead. At the end of the day, I'm the one bringing home a ball, and they leave the park with nothing. They may not want one as bad as I do, but they would be lying if they said they never wished they caught a ball.
I've heard some comments from strangers, and even people that came to games with me. I'll just continue taking all negative comments as jealousy that they don't have a ball. The comments don't bother me, but having this quote will lead to being more outgoing, and in theory, more balls.
The most straight forward of them all. How many do I want to catch? To arrive at this number, I worked backwards.
- Have 65 balls by the end of the season
Honestly, 65 seemed pretty high, considering I'm only at 32 right now. That leaves me with 33 balls to be caught. That STILL looked like a lot, especially when I realized that I would need to double my lifetime total, and then add one more, all in just one season.
However, I came home with 22 balls last year, so shooting for 33 seems pretty reasonable. I feel like I'll be able to improve my skills and do enough research about the parks I'm visiting to get an extra ball or two at a few games. Assuming I keep up the same pace as last year and add in those bonus balls, I'll be at that 11 over mark in no time. If I was a little more prepared and a few more bounces went my way, I very well could have gotten up to 33 LAST season.
My long term goal for the immediate future was 100, and it's hard to believe I'll be well over half way there after just three seasons.
(Minor league balls I have aren't included, and never will be. I'm considering putting a rule in the book for Triple-A games, just so I'm not biased to make a rule on the spot if the situation presents itself. Maybe 1/2 or 1/3 of a ball...but only ones used in the actual game.)
The best I've ever done in a single game is three. There's nothing stopping me from bringing in another two on any given day. It's all depends on how many people are around, and if balls are being hit out during BP. All it takes is a few minutes alone and a little luck.
- Get 5 balls in one game
I had this specific goal in mind when I made the decision to sit in the Bleachers for every game at Wrigley. I usually have two or three games out there each season. It doesn't work in my favor to hope for a small crowd and good weather conditions. If not, then the whole day is ruined. That was no way to go. Not only will I have more overall chances this year, but I won't have to worry and make one game more important than another.
I was thinking of kicking it up to double digits, but that would mean improving my current high by more than 300%. I still need to take baby steps, not giant leaps.
Just for kicks, I'm going to try to get a ball at minor league stadiums as well. It'll give me extra practice, and maybe a cool souvenir if it's hit by Jorge Soler or Javier Baez in Kane County. They won't be counted in my total (unless maybe they're Triple-A balls), but it will give me extra confidence in my abilities if I never once leave a stadium empty handed.
- Get a ball at every stadium I visit (and I do mean EVERY one)
I'm actually pretty embarrassed that I haven't done this yet. I realized it doesn't take any world class athletic ability to do it after I saw an 11 year old snag a line drive as cleanly as an All-Star outfielder in Milwaukee last year. I would like to think that I'm above an 11 year old in terms of ability, so it should be no problem for me, either.
- Catch a homer on the fly
The biggest issue is being able to track fly balls. I've only been in three or four situations over the past two seasons where I was even remotely close. Only one of those times did I get within 10 feet of the landing spot. I just have to learn the flight of the ball, and be in the right place at the right time.
I almost want to eat my words, but I feel like it might be the right thing to do eventually.
- Give a ball away
Towards the end of last year, I started feeling bored and guilty. Most of the balls I have are pearly white and fresh out of the box from Costa Rica. It's almost disappointing to pull balls out of my glove just to see the same thing over and over. All I'm going to do is put a number on it and throw it in the shoe box with other balls that look exactly the same.
All I can say is that I'll think about it. If it's interesting or significant in any way, I'll keep it. It can be because of a grass stain or scuff mark, or the player who hit it or threw it to me. After I snag my 5th or 6th identical ball, I feel like future Ryan would rather make some kid's day instead of just filling up space in his closet.
I definitely missed my best chance last year when seven teams used them in home games, but there will still be PLENTY of them floating around next season. Guaranteed.
- Get a commemorative ball
Late in 2012, the Mets and Nationals were using balls from 2008 when their new stadiums opened. That's almost four whole seasons ago! Any extra commemorative balls teams have from 2012 almost surely went in the BP bag. Plus, there's a few new ones for teams this year.
I based my entire 2013 schedule on seeing as many of these teams as possible. Hopefully they all had quite a few dozen left over that I could catch, or try convince a player to find one for me.
Just off the top of my head, I can think of three very possible ways this could happen. I'm not going to tell you about them now, but it may be easier than you (and I, for that matter) think.
- Get a ball before the stadium gates open
Let me draw your attention to the picture I posed to the official BaseBlog page on Facebook a couple weeks ago:
- Pass Zack Hample
I am a mere 17 balls away from passing Zack Hample and holding the Wrigley Field record on MyGameBalls.com.
Now, I certainly know that isn't the whole truth. Moe Mullins, the most senior member of the Ballahawks out on Waveland, has collected more than 5,000 over the past two decades. Besides him there are probably a dozen guys ahead of me, but will never visit the site and document them.
I still want to be at the top though. That would put me in a category with just 29 other fans who also number one at their own stadium. I would be the Wrigley Field representative for the whole site. That sounds pretty damn cool to me!
This will require a unique mix of circumstances, but is definitely possible. Obviously, I wouldn't be catching 90 mile an hour fastballs. Hopefully there will be a guy with a few minutes to kill before his throwing partner comes out. I would be fine with just five or six tosses. How many people can say they've done that? I will probably get to keep the ball, and it will be the one with the most interesting story behind it.
- Play catch with a Major Leaguer
This one could be extremely difficult, or one of the easiest ones on the list.
- Meet another notable Ballhawk or baseball blogger
I know of a few people I would genuinely like to meet when I visit Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Including Wrigley's regulars, the list is about seven people long. Those are going to be the guys I try the hardest to find. If I don't, I'll have to settle for someone else at the stadium I'm at.
I may run into a small problem, though. There are thousands of blogs out there, and I haven't avidly searched for any of them yet. I don't know where to draw the line with "notable" either. I want to meet those seven guys because I really like what they write about and what they do at games. If I didn't read them before this season, should it even count?
Let's hope I can get lucky and end up at a ballpark the same day as one of the guys from my first group. All it will take is a friendly Tweet, and they'll probably tell me where I can meet them before the gates open.
I actually have an emergency scapegoat if September rolls around and this is still not checked off. I'll try my hardest to make it someone besides him, though.
I hope middle relievers are social media savvy.
- Get a ball from a player I follow on Twitter
My philosophy on using the Glove Trick has changed since I've pulled it off in a real situation. I'm a little reluctant to admit it, but it pretty much is stealing. If I don't end up with the ball, it will probably get picked up by someone and get used again, even if it's not for the same team that hit it. If every fan had a Trick, there wouldn't be any balls left for the team to use.
- Use the Glove Trick at every park besides Wrigley
Since originally writing this goal down sometime in December, I almost want to take it back. Stadium security and ushers are becoming more wise to what people are doing and are trying to stop this as much as possible. If doing it will get me in real trouble, I'm not going to go through with it.
However, I will fight to the death if someone tries to confiscate my glove or throw me out of the park without a warning. All it takes is a "Hey, you can't do that" and it's on the record. If I still want to try it, that's at my own risk, and I'll be honest if they catch me again, then I'll voluntarily suffer the consequences. (I never plan on that being the case unless it's a special ball; a game home run or commemorative in BP.)
If I get bored at the Cell or Milwaukee and get yelled at for it in a rude way, I may call the person out on it. Show me a written rule where it says I can't creatively use string with a marker and rubber bands. "Throwing items on the field" will be their likely defense. But if it was OVER the outfield wall an HOUR before the game, I'll straight up argue with them. I didn't interrupt anything, and it wasn't the field at all. I won't let them create a rule on the spot just because they don't like what they see.
How about this- ATTEMPT it at every stadium. As long as I let the string out and drop the glove, I'll count it. The intention was there, but I'm not getting ejected from the park multiple times in order to try to meet this goal.
****
So there you have it. My first game at Wrigley is on April 12th, so there's still a decent amount of time until I can get to work. Plans and reservations are being made for my trips, and I can hardly wait to explore more ballparks of the Midwest.
Enjoy the rest of Spring Training everyone!
Enjoy the rest of Spring Training everyone!
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