A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

stories from the game

Final of 2016

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There will be plenty of posts coming over the winter months of my baseball trips and such from this past summer.

But I’m fresh off my final trip (as shown by when this is posting), which included Dodger Stadium, Petco Park, and Angel Stadium.

Angel Stadium was my 75th game of the year.

Above is a shot I took with a wide-angle lens after Mike Trout homered. What a fun way to end the baseball season of live ball.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Championship celebration

A celebration at any level of professional sports is pretty fun to watch.

In minor league baseball, championships don’t come every year because people move up the chain and faces change. This year, the Lakewood Blueclaws (Phillies)had a great run and made it to the South Atlantic League championship series, where they eventually lost to the Rome Braves.

I was on hand for the deciding fourth game as Rome earned a 3-1 series win.

The seats were in a great location (behind Rome’s bench), thus giving an excellent vantage point to the celebration. Here are a few of those photos:

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Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Nick Williams forgot about me!

(Please note – this blog post is ALL in good fun and not serious one bit. Though it’s all true, this is absolutely funny and gave me a chance to have a story and a blog post. I thank Nick Williams for that. It’s better than any ball would have been. So … read on and remember, this is supposed to be all in fun!)

Nick Williams forgot all about me.

There I was, sitting in the PigPen seats at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. I was there cheering on the future Phillies against the Rochester Redwings.

It was magical.

The PigPen seats are directly in front of the bullpens and you’re on top of the action in left field. So much so that you can get some good views of any action in left and center field.

I'm sad to report, this ball did not get thrown up to us! (ha!)

I’m sad to report, this ball did not get thrown up to us! (ha!)

It’s pretty cool.

On this night, one of the Phils’ top prospects, Nick Williams, was playing left. I thought that was pretty cool as I’ve watched several prospects during their rise through the system and I like Williams. He’s a solid all-around player. He hasn’t always been a prospect in the Phillies’ system as he came over in the trade for Cole Hamels, so I learned as much about him as I could and I liked what he seemed to have to offer the organization.

And Nick is playing for the IronPigs, the triple-A team for the Phillies. The Pigs give fans the chance to see the game from different perspectives, including the PigPen, which is where we got to be up close with Nick Williams. Well, close enough in that he was playing right in front of us and all.

When you are so close to the action, fans will often attempt to get the players to throw them a ball. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t. It all depends on when they have a ball and if they think to throw one after warming up. They definitely won’t do it every inning, that’s for sure. But fans try, that’s for sure. Including me.

But Nick… come on, Nick.

Midway through the game, we (two of us, as well as two others sitting next to us) were kind of trying to get Nick’s attention. All in good fun, of course. One of the people next to was waving.

We, of course, were seeking a ball.

Around the eighth inning, we tried some more. We called his name. When he looked our way, he had already thrown the ball away for his warmups and shrugged with a smile. But that smile made us have hope! Maybe in the ninth! Did we have a chance? Would Nick hook us up?

I mean, I had my IronPigs hat on. I was decked out in a Phillies sweatshirt! I was supporting the big club and the minors! Come on Nick! HOOK US UP!

The ninth inning came. Nick jogged out and was warming up. We cheered. He threw the ball to his throwing mate and gave the sign that he was good.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

No ball.

Instant sad face.

So we yelled a bit (all with smiles) asking Nick what was up? How could he not soft toss us the ball? What could have happened? I mean, we connected… didn’t we? RIGHT?? We’re supporting the team!!

He jogged to his position and smirked at us and mouthed he was sorry… he forgot.

Classic!

In the years I covered pro baseball, many people asked me how many autographs and such I got. I always said if I asked for autos, I could get fired. But I have stories and memories that go well beyond autographs.

And this story… goes well beyond any baseball Nick Williams could have thrown into the crowd (with the possibility of me dropping it, anyway). It’s something a couple of us can laugh about a bit in the future, especially if Williams keeps climbing the ranks and becomes a member of the Phillies.

It’ll be then we remember how Nick forgot us. And maybe get a baseball!

This is why minor league baseball is so fun, too. Thanks, Nick, for giving us a memory a couple of us will always smile and joke about!

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Baseball, life, and lessons learned

I’m sure, once I look back at the past several days, it will really set in on how good of a trip this was. Take away the summer cold I picked up (I will continue to believe it came from the AC at the first hotel I stayed in because how little I could control it), and the brutal heat, and it was a lesson to me about life and myself.

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Being part of a Q&A session where Marty Brennaman was one of the featured guests was way too cool.

In the big scheme of things, it was about baseball. It was a trip that covered more than 1,600 miles and took me to games in Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. I had the chance to see some different things, though much of my “down” time was spent driving and going from place to place.

I saw games at the single-A level, Triple-A, and the majors. I had the chance to meet new people, talk to locals and others, and just get to see things outside my normal comfort zone.

In recent years, for whatever reason, I feel like I’ve gone from being an extrovert to being an introvert. I’m more apt to keep to myself more now than I ever had before. Maybe it’s age or maybe it’s something else, but it just seems to be the way I go. I kind of keep more to myself. It’s probably technology.

But this small trip I went on allowed me to see many things. I saw an incredible moon over the first game I went to. I stopped at a rest area on the second day, one in which there were incredible views, several geocaches, and some geological lessons. I got caught taking photos of a baseball player learning a “handshake,” who then posed as I continued to click.

I saw how Louisville Slugger makes baseball bats, I witnessed some of Muhammad Ali’s artifacts and how amazing of a human being he was. I had the chance to wander through the Cincinnati  Reds’ Hall of Fame, be part of a Q&A with Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley and also tour Great American Ballpark before catching an MLB game.

Through all of this, though, I also dealt with crazy heat, which sucked.

Baseball was an important part of this trip -- and I took many photos, such as this one where the bat came flying out of his hitter's hands.

Baseball was an important part of this trip — and I took many photos, such as this one where the bat came flying out of his hitter’s hands.

But mostly, the one thing I realized, is I can do things like this solo. Sometimes I worry about traveling solo. I wonder how I will deal with things. I’ve taken solo trips before, but never something like this. I usually have things planned out a bit more. I kind of had an idea what I was doing and where I was staying, but I didn’t try and do too much. I found a few geocaches. I watched baseball. I drove. I stared at things as I went by them and realized that, sometimes, a good drive and getting away without packing your itinerary so much isn’t a bad thing.

I mean, I was in Cincinnati and I never went and explored. I was in Louisville and barely explored. I was in a few other places and saw a baseball field and a hotel.

In the end, outside of this cold I picked up, it was a good trip for me in more ways than just watching baseball.

I’ll have many more photos from this trip soon. I’m backlogged on a lot of processing and hope I can catch up soon.

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Busted!

I posted this elsewhere last night, but I thought it made for a fun Friday post, especially with me on the road for some baseball action.

Last night, I was at the West Virginia Power game in Charleston, WV. My seat was on the third-base side (to, of course, try and find some shade), which also meant having a closer shot of the visiting team — the Charleston (SC) River Dogs.

At one point, two players seemed to be showing a third player a secret hand shake of sort.

I got busted taking photos of this ceremony and the one guy made sure to pose for the camera. Good stuff. I love this level of baseball because many of the players haven’t gotten overly big-headed.

See the photos below.

The secret handshake.

The secret handshake.

 

Busted!

Busted!

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