8-20-12: Bowie Baysox @ Richmond Flying Squirrels

Since the Baysox were in town playing the Flying Squirrels on Monday night, I decided to head over to The Diamond and see the game.  Oh yeah, and Dylan Bundy was also making his second AA start.  If you haven't heard, he's kind of a big deal in baseball news right now since he's one year removed from getting his high school diploma and having the success he has had this year in the minors.

So I loaded up my autograph with Orioles prospects and headed out.  When I first arrived, I got my ticket and went thru the gate.  As you can see from the scan of the ticket above, the Squirrels were giving away Nutzy and Zinger Salt and Pepper shakers.  Nutzy is the Squirrel Mascot and Zinger is the Acorn sidekick.  Here's a pic of the set:

They are fairly well done in ceramic.  I thought they were going to be some cheap plastic crap from China.  But since the Squirrels have been in town for the last 3 years, they have really paid a lot of attention to the fan experience which I like.  The Richmond Braves didn't seem to go too far out of the way to please the fans when they were here.

So onto the autographs:

Mike Belifiore was one of the first signers.  The Orioles got him for Josh Bell earlier this year.  I used the fine tipped (wrong) Staedler pen instead of the medium tipped (correct)  version.  GRRR....

Aaron Baker is on the DL right now and not expected to play for the rest of the season.  You can see I used the correct pen this time.

I got Jonathan Schoop to sign multiples. (with the wrong pen again, dammit!)

Ronnie Welty signed and was very pleasant.  He even remarked at how nice of a night it was for a ball game even though he was on the bench.

Here's the customs that I got signed.  From the upper left going clockwise: Andy Loomis, Mike Wright, Jacob Pettit, Ty Kelly, and Antoan Richardson.  Loomis, Wright and Pettit haver really nice signatures.  Ty Kelly needs some penmanship work.  Antoan Richardson is kind of a dick saying that he wouldn't sign in the white spot because he doesn't want it counterfeited or something. Dude, you're 28 and in double-A, get a clue, you're not a top prospect!  

Robbie Widlansky was a hero for the Baysox this night.  Lets set the scenario.  Dylan Bundy and Clay Schrader had held the Flyin Squirrels to only 2 runs on the night while Bowie was flailing away and hitting tons of at'em balls scoring none.  In the top of the 8th inning the skies opened up and caused an hour and 15 minute rain delay (yes I stayed cuz I'm hardcore like that, and I'm glad I did for 2 different reasons.)  Reason #1 is Robbie jacked a 3 run bomb in the top of th 9th inning letting Bundy off the hook for the loss and the possibility of going another game up on the Richmond for the wild card spot.  It wasn't meant to be because Kyler Newby (Bowie's closer) ruined that and Richmond scored 2 in the bottom of the 9th to win it.

So after sticking around for about 4 hours, I decided to try and get what I came for.  Yeah, I came to watch Dylan Bundy pitch and Bowie play but I also had other motives for the trip.  I was unsuccessful before the game in getting Dylan's autograph so I decided to stalk stake out the players entrance and see if he would sign while leaving.  I wasn't the only one there.  I had the company of about 12-15 other autograph seekers looking to get some late night 'graphing action.  We all patiently waited for about 20 to 30 minutes letting the other players walk by (who I'd already gotten earlier in the evening).  Most of the other seekers didn't even know who they were other than me because I have a photographic memory.

Then he comes out, talking in the phone.  This is usually when most guys "big league" you and walk right on by without even acknowledging you have a pulse.  He circled around inside the little fenced in area for a few minutes and then walked over to us while still chatting on the phone.  I was the 3rd person in line and here it is:

SAWEET!  His signature looks great on the new Bowman Platinum!  I was really thrilled to meet him but I really wish I could have chatted with him for a few minutes but he was on the phone and I didn't want to be rude.  I did say thanks, though!  He seemed like a good kid.  ( I can call him kid because he's almost 10 years younger than me).
I think he pitched pretty well during the game and he even hit 96 mph on the stadium gun IN THE 6TH INNING which I think is about 1 or 2mph slower that what it actually is.  While I think that he is better than some of the pitchers currently on the Orioles 25 man roster, I don't think he should be called up for the stretch run.  I think a month or 2 in Triple-A next spring will do him good and then he can be promoted.  A lot of people are calling for him to be activated now but I don't think that he's quite ready.  I say just let him go home rest, and then start working out, and gettting ready for next season while letting the experiences of the 2012 season sink in a little bit.  But that's just me, the guy who has to pay to get into the ballpark.

So it was a great night (other than the rain delay) and I plan on going to one more Squirrels game this year next Tuesday.

5-1-12: Bowie Baysox @ Richmond Flying Squirrels

The big move is getting closer but I still had enough time to sneak out to a Flying Squirrels game this past week. I usually only go when there are free tickets involved or the Bowie Baysox are in town.  I had this date marked on the calender since the schedule came out because I really wanted the travel coffee mugs that they were giving away that night........ NOT!  Well the coffee mugs are nice I really went because I wanted this:

And I GOT IT!  Say what you will about Pro Debut, but this autograph turned out awesome!  And not to mention it's Manny freakin' Machado!  He comes as advertised.  He made some great defensive plays in the field and had a decent night at the plate going 1-3 with a walk.  I can't wait to see him play on MASN on a regular basis.

I also got Ronnie Welty on 2 cards which turned out great.  Ronnie's played pretty good so far this year so Triple-A might not be too far down the road for him.

I also got Jonathan Schoop on both of these cards from last year.  He's struggled a bit so far in Double-A but I'm sure he'll figure it out and start mashing again soon.

And the mystery autograph for the night.  Anybody that guesses who this is gets the satisfaction of knowing who it is.  He's been mentioned on the blog before (that really narrows it down).  He's a player that did a really nice thing for me at a Squirrels game last year.

The Baysox won the game 2-0 with a great pitching performance from Zach Clark and some timely hitting by the offense.  I had a good time talking to some of the other fans at the game and just being able to spend sometime not thinking about packing and moving.

7-17-10: Bowie Baysox @ Richmond Flying Squirrels

This past weekend a friend of mine and I decided to take in some live baseball The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia. Since the stadium is a short 15 minute drive it could hardly be considered a road trip. We decided to get there early so I could collect some autographs of the Baysox players. The first autograph I got was the Starting Pitcher Rick Zagone. He was pleasant enough. His autograph is featured in the middle of the ticket pictured. The next player I was able to get was shortstop Greg Miclat. He has had a resurgence this year as a prospect. His autograph is in the left column in the middle. The next player I was able to snag was Ryan Adams. The night before he hit a game winning homer in the 10th inning. I congratulated him on the homerun while he signed his 2006 Bowman Heritage Prospects Card. Brandon Waring was next and he signed his 2008 Bowman Prospects card for me. Steve Johnson, Josh Perrault and Chorye Spoone also signed my ticket and they were all rather pleasant in person. At least Baltimore drafts players of good character! Sean Gleason also signed my ticket on the upper left hand corner. He pitched in the game and gave up a few hits. He throws some serious heat. Tyler Henson was the last player I was able to get before the game started. He signed his 2006 Bowman Prospect card. I forgot to ask him why on the card his name is stated as Bobby but he goes by Tyler.

The game started and it was a pretty good pitchers duel until Richmond finally broke through with a run scoring double. I made kind of a neat observation from where I was sitting on the third base side. When Bowie lefthanded Starter Rick Zagone pitches from the windup, I could see his foot above his head before he goes to the plate. An extremely high leg kick is something rarely seen in today's game. It seemed to work for him though.

The game continued on until about the 5th inning. Bowie batter sharply fouled a ball of to the third base side and it hit a lady not paying attention in the chest. She had to leave with assistance from the Diamond Staff. The last game I went to at the Diamond a beer vendor ended up with a broken nose from a batted ball. The game continued until the end of the 6th inning. As a promotion, a Diamond staff member was "riding" a flamingo and wildly running along the third base side of the field. He was carelessly chucking hot dogs wrapped in tin foil about 90 MPH into the stands. This is where the second first aid emergency happened. Another lady wasn't paying attention and caught a hot dog with her face.

Bowie ended the game on the losing side the score was 5-2. I didn't accomplish my goal of getting Caleb Joseph's autograph but did learn a few lessons. Pay attention to what is happening on the field and that field level seats can be dangerous.

BTW: You're going to have to bear with me for the next few weeks because my 4 month old scanner is broken. I will have to post everything with picutres from my digital camera.