Mid-Season Highlights

We are over half way through the season, so I wanted to document what is quickly becoming our best season ever. Below are the Top 10 Moments of the season so far...

10. 6/29/2015 - I love reading Benjamin Hill's blog and truly think he has one of the best jobs on the planet. He stopped by the Pfitz and we had a chance to talk and get this picture together. If you haven't read his blog then you need to check it out:  Ben's Biz Blog

9. All season  - Last year Abbie was lucky enough to get pictures with quite a few players, so this year we decided to do the same. She has pictures with basically all the PNats and quite a few with the visiting players. She has also been lucky enough to get almost every one of them signed by the player. I will highlight them all at the end of the season, but it is a pretty great list of players so far! The first one of the season was with Clint Frazier...

8. 5/8/2015 - If you've been to a PNats game in the past two years then you may have seen Abbie lurking outside the stadium on the hunt for foul balls. It is truly one of her most favorite things to do. We have gotten at least one ball at every game (Milb and MLB) we have ever been to and she is a girl on a mission at every game until we get one. This particular day was special because it was the Potomac debut for Lucas Giolito. She wanted to be outside to make sure she got a foul ball if any flew over. It just so happens that his very first pitch of the season was fouled out of the stadium right to her. Abbie offered it to Lucas just in case he wanted it, but he said she could keep it. It is easily one of her favorite baseballs.

7. All season - Abbie loves foul balls, but the Home Run ball is what she loves the most! She got four last year and has already matched that number this year. Her HR balls from this year were hit by Paul Hendrix(Lynchburg), Wilmer Difo, Drew Ward, and Isaac Ballou. Disclaimer: All these HRs were to right field! We didn't go behind the outfield wall!

6. All season - Early in the season Abbie noticed that the players only get plain David sunflower seeds from the team, so she decided she wanted to give them flavored seeds. I reached out to a few companies and Chinook and Bigs were unbelievably supportive of her mission. She ended up handing out the seeds at two different games to the PNats. It was fun to watch her "sell" the different flavors to the players and give me a play by play on which flavor each player took. She did struggle a bit with handing out seeds and getting autographs at the same time. If you look closely at the picture below you can see a ball tucked in her back pocket. It was pretty fun to watch her switch back and forth. 

5. 6/18/2015 - We both love games at the Pfitz, so we don't tend to venture off too often, but with Maddy and Macey out of town we decided to take in a Washington Nationals game. This is only the second Washington Nationals game we've ever been to and it turned out to be an amazing night! Not knowing exactly how traffic was going to be and hoping to catch BP we left pretty early and ended up getting to the stadium way earlier than expected. As we walked up we noticed the "autograph guys" waiting by the parking entrance, so we decided to hang out and see who Abbie could get to sign her Nationals team ball. Turns out it was a good decision. She ended up getting autographs of Max Scherzer, Jose Lobaton, Dan Uggla, Craig Stammen, and Yunel Escobar before even getting into the stadium. Once we got in the stadium she was able to get Clint Robinson and Gio Gonzalez, so it was a pretty amazing day for her! It didn't end there, but you'll read more about that later.

4. All Season - We have been spending more time inside the stadium this year and it has a lot to do with Abbie wanting to build her bat collection. She has picked up five broken bats this year so far with only one coming from the PNats Booster Club. The other four have come directly from players. The first was a Drew Ward bat fron the Booster Club, the second was from Tucker Nathans, the third from Jeff Kemp, and the fifth from Frank Schwindel. The fourth? You'll read about that at #1.

3. All season - This is more of a dad highlight, but I would guess that Abbie has given away over 20 foul balls this season. She treasures every ball she gets and we document the who/what/when of each ball, but when she sees someone without a ball her heart takes over and she gladly hands them out. Her compassionate heart is one of my favorite things about her.

2. 6/18/2015 - The Nationals game was already a hit just for the fact that Abbie got the autographs she did before it even started, but what happened during the game was something I will never forget. In the top of the second Bryce Harper was done warming up and looked around to find someone to toss his ball to. He did a quick scan, stopped right at Abbie, and it happened... he tossed her his warm up ball! I bought tickets on the right field line so she could be close to Bryce, but never thought this would happen. I hoped it might, but was still in shock that it actually did. It was an incredible moment and was the second time that Bryce has provided me with an everlasting memory of joy for Abbie.

 

1. 6/28/2015 - Like I wrote in #4, Abbie has had some pretty decent luck this year with getting broken bats from players, but this one topped them all. Abbie was hanging out at the PNats dugout after the game hoping to get the lineup card when out walks Spencer Kieboom with a signed broken bat. There were four or five other people trying to get the lineup card along with Abbie and when they saw Spencer they all started asking for the bat, but he walked right up and handed it to her. This was the first time anyone has ever given her a bat without her asking for it and more importantly, it was Spencer's bat! Spencer has been incredibly nice to Abbie this year and quickly became her favorite early in the season.  I've seen her light up before, but never like this. It was truly an awesome moment for her and especially for me. The Harper ball was tough to beat, but this one just edges it out...

 

We've had plenty of other great experiences so far this season, but these are the most memorable. I am hoping the rest of the season will bring even greater memories, but if they don't this will still be one to remember. 

Yes, Maddy even came to a game once!

Lucas Giolito Signed Ball

 

First Autograph of the Season - Clint Frazier

 

My Open Letter to Bryce Harper

Bryce,

There is a 99% chance you don’t remember what I am about to write about, but I wanted to type you a quick letter just to let you know how much I appreciate what you did for my daughter the first night of your rehab assignment with the Potomac Nationals. To give a little back-story, I took my two daughters to a PNats game last year in hopes that they would become baseball fans. It didn't click with my oldest, but my nine year old, Abbie is hooked…. so much so, that we have become PNats season ticket holders. This has been an incredible year for her as she has had the opportunity to “meet” all the rehabbing players that have come through. She was excited for each and every one, but her excitement to possibly meet you was on a different level. I had to talk her out of going to the stadium at 8:00 in the morning to wait for you to arrive at the stadium for the day. That is not an exaggeration.

As season ticket holders we get in to the stadium 15 minutes early, so she got in and literally ran to get a good position in hopes of getting your autograph. When you came out you signed for fans in a different section.  She was disappointed, but she understands that you can’t sign for everyone and she knew there would still be another opportunity after the game. Did I mention that her favorite thing in the world is getting autographs?

You were batting second in the lineup, so we had a big decision to make in the first inning; Do we watch you bat or do we go outside the stadium and hope you hit a foul ball that makes it out? Abbie had no hesitation, she wanted to go outside. Her second most favorite thing in the world is getting foul balls. We have actually gotten one at every single game we have ever been to. Not that getting one at the Pfitz is hard, but she is very proud of that. I digress; we headed outside the stadium and waited where we thought one might come. As you came up to bat a teenage boy ran over to the same area in hopes of getting one as well. Abbie looked me straight in the eye and said “It’s serious now dad!”… yes, it was serious now. About your third or fourth pitch it happened… a ball came flying over in our direction. By pure luck we were positioned in a better place than the boy and Abbie took off “I got it! I got it!” The look on her face when she grabbed it was something I will never forget. We were both very excited, but part of me felt a little uneasy because I knew that her excitement about getting you to possibly sign that ball was going to increase the disappointment if it didn't happen. I actually talked to her about the number of people wanting your autograph, the limited time you have to sign and how a lot of people were going to walk away unhappy. She totally gets it, but I knew not getting your autograph would still crush her a bit.

About the 2^nd inning the crowds had already started to form around the clubhouse door in expectation of you leaving. By the time you left the game in the 3^rd there were probably 200 hundred people huddled tightly around the door waiting. Abbie was in the mix, but as I watched the group form and noticed the number of people just keep getting larger and larger I became worried about the possibility of her getting hurt, so I pulled her out of the crowd. We actually left the stadium to go stand with the people outside by the police barricade surrounding your car. I figured there was less of a chance you would sign, but there was also zero chance of her getting hurt.  When you walked out of the door you signed for quite a few people in the stadium and then walked to your car without signing for anyone outside. We figured that might happen and she was happy with just the ball , but I decided there might be one more option, so I told her to run down to the end of the pathway and stand on the side in hopes that you would see her all by herself and stop. The next 30 seconds felt like an eternity as they moved the barricade and you started driving down the pathway.  I was on the opposite side of the pathway from Abbie just thinking “please stop, please stop” as your car was moving towards her and then it happened… you stopped. You called her over with a “Hurry! Hurry!” and you signed the foul ball. After you drove off she ran over to me and said “Daddy, he stopped just for me!” and through my tears of joy I said “Yes, he did. He stopped just for you”.   I can still picture that moment in my head like it just happened and to be honest, it still makes me emotional. Pretty embarrassing for a former Marine, but my little girls do that to me… can’t help it!

I can tell you now that this is a memory I will hold on to for the rest of my life. No matter where your road leads you in the future please know that you will always have two lifelong fans in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Sincerely,

Todd

Mid Season Report

Earlier this year I decided I would try to get my girls to love baseball by taking them to a minor league game. The season is half way over, so I wanted to give an update of how it has gone so far.

Here is what has happened since the first game we have attended this year:

1. We have seen nine different minor league teams play. (Potomac Nationals, Salem Red Sox, Wilmington Blue Rocks, Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Frederick Keys, Savannah Sand Gnats, Richmond Flying Squirrels , Reading Fightin Phils, and Rome Braves)

2.  We have plans to see at least two more by the end of the month. (Winston Salem Dash and Portland Sea Dogs)

3.  My girls have amassed over 30 game balls and BP balls. (Six at one game is the record)
4.   My girls have collected over 100 combined autographs. (17 signatures from the Wilmington Blue Rocks is the record for one game)

5. My girls now collect baseballs from all the different minor leagues. (Have 11 so far and a minor league practice ball)

6.  My girls now collect baseball cards.

7.   We have collected two game used jerseys of their favorite player, Garin Cecchini. (Lowell Spinners BP and USA 18U)

8.  We have six game used bats. (Bought five at team stores and got one after a game – besides Garin’s jerseys these are the biggest hit with my daughters)

9.  My youngest got to run the bases in the 3^rd inning of a Savannah Sand Gnats game and got a Frank Viola bobblehead for her efforts.

10.  My girls got to meet a World Series MVP and Cy Young Award winner who gave and signed baseballs for them. (Frank Viola)

11.  My girls got to meet a Super Bowl winning QB and get his autograph. (Joe Theisman)

12.  I bought my girls Red Sox jerseys because they have fallen in love with the Salem Red Sox. (Thanks to Garin Cecchini, Blake Swihart, and Keury De La Cruz)

13.  My girls got to go on to the field and high five the Richmond Flying Squirrels as they were announced.

14.  My daughters have started to overcome their shyness simply from asking players for their autograph. (Very unexpected benefit of all this.)

15.  We got to play catch on the field of the Richmond Flying Squirrels... on Father’s Day none the less.

16.  My girls started a blog about their experiences (girlscollectingbaseball.blogspot.com)

17.  We have made countless memories that will last a lifetime.

If you have access to minor league baseball and you aren’t going then you are missing out.

If you ask my wife what the most annoying thing about is, she would say my addictive personality... that seems to refocus every couple of months. See, I am a collector of things. The "things" are mostly sports related, but I have drifted into other areas here and there. However, the majority of my collections have dealt with sports. I was once so into collecting 49ers game used jerseys that I owned 49ersgamers.com and BrentJones84.com to help me build my collection. I had everything from a Steve Young game used jersey all the way down to Harris Barton game used cleats. Before that I was collecting Cubs memorabilia and after that I was collecting the NFL franchise in Washington D.C. (I am a fan, but I hate the name...) game used gear. Why am I posting about this now? Because I think I have found my mecca. A place where my love of sports and memorabilia and the love of my daughters has collided. And that mecca is Minor League Baseball. We have been to four game in the past three weeks and it has been like a little piece of heaven every time. They love it... probably because of the 10 gallon lemonade glass they always get, but they love it so who cares. We have been so lucky at the games, getting balls every time and even walking away with a game used bat from a game. I also developed a relationship with the President of the local booster club and I am going to rework their website for them.

If you have never been to a Minor League Baseball game then you are missing out. The seats are cheap, they have stuff to entertain the kids, and the players are young men chasing their dreams, so they play with passion and are happy that you are there to watch them.

I don't know if this will last, but deep in my soul I hope this is the start of something we will share for life.

New Year's

Got to spend New Year's with my dad and step-mom. Doesn't get much better than that.

Popped off a few shots of them with the ring flash.

 

Family Day

I have found there is a fine line between being a father and being a photographer when we go on family outings. I want to capture the moments, but I also want to be involved. I almost always have my camera with me, but I have really started to put it away more when we go out to do things together. I usually only pull it out when we first get there and if the girls are doing something that I think they would like to have a picture of. In the past I would take pictures of almost everything and 80% of the shots ended up being throw aways. So, by being more selective of the shots I take allows me to save time on the post processing, but more importantly it allows me to be a part of the memory instead of the guy capturing that memory.

We went to Snead's farm yesterday with my beautiful nieces. Love seeing them and my girls play... hurts me that they live so far away.

Anyone else think the little beauty on the left looks a bit like Calvin from Calvin Hobbes in the first picture?

 

 

Outtakes...

Thought I would post a few outtakes from the project... didn't really take the time to edit these fully, just wanted to post them...