First Game of the 2012 Season

We went to our first game of the season today as the ECU Pirates took on the Penn State Nittany Lions at Clark-Le Clair field in Greenville, NC.  It was me, my wife, my son, my friend Corbin, and my brother Adam together on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Adam was in town for the party we threw at the house yesterday for our housewarming and celebrating me passing the ASBOG exam.  We waited to have the party until the weather was nicer and it definitely didn't disappoint.

I was glad to watch a game with my brother, he goes to a bunch of University of South Carolina games because he lives minutes from their campus in Columbia, SC.  He is really lucky to be able to see the defending champions and apparently, Ryan Ripken (son of Cal) has committed to play for the Gamecocks next season.  This was my brother's first visit to ECU.

I thought I would give my camera a workout and see about getting some action shots.  I am pretty satisfied, as you can see the ball heading to the catcher's mitt right here.

It was looking like rain earlier in the day, but thankfully, the clouds burned off and the temperature warmed up.  We left in the sixth inning because my brother had a 5-hour drive back to Columbia, so I wanted to make sure he didn't get in too late tonight.

Adam got me a really sweet ECU St. Patrick's Day commemorative hat, which, I think, looks awesome!  This was his congratulatory gift for me passing the exam.  You can never go wrong with getting me baseball related items, and I really think this hat looks GREAT!!

I wish we could have stayed for the whole game, but everyone was wore out from the long weekend and also feeling the effects of the blanket of pollen that has covered the Winterville/Greenville area.  My sinuses are killing me right now.  Blehhh.  Anyway, we had a blast, and I hope this is the first of many trips to the ballpark this season.  I can't wait to knock some more minor league parks off of my list this year.  I also hope to go to games with a wide assortment of friends this year.

03/19/10 ECU Game With Chris

On Friday, I picked my son Chris up from day care, took him to Great Clips so we both could get haircuts and then took him to the ECU game. The Pirates were playing Monmouth. The ECU stadium is reeeeally small. I was disappointed when we took our seats when I saw that we had to sit a good ways up in the bleachers. There was also a net that extended the whole way along all the seats (lame). The Pirate came pretty close to us, Chris was scared at first, then after he went away, Chris was disappointed that he didn't get to 'shake his hand.' Haha.

After being initially disappointed with our seats, we walked down and found out that we could stand directly behind the outfield wall (had I known this, we would have stayed there the whole game). The bullpen is located in this area as well, so Chris and I watched one of the pitchers warm up. The bullpen catcher ended up giving Chris a ball.

This is the view from our seats. I was disappointed that we couldn't sit down the line and have a better chance to catch foul balls. Right now, I'm torn between South Carolina's and NCSU's stadiums.

March 7, 2010 NCSU Game With Max and Chris

I have been told by more than one person that my blog was missed this week. Makes me feel good guys, thanks! So, where have I been? I have been sick this past week. Uggh. Threw up for the first time in 8 years this week (last time was aided by Crown Royal, this one was because of a lame ass stomach bug).

So, I am a week behind on my blog, so without further ado, here is my post on the second NCSU game I went to with Max. This was the Sunday game, so naturally, this time, I had my son Chris with me as well. As we walked into the gate, some little leaguers handed Chris an autographed ball from one of NCSUs players. Pretty nice.
Here are Max and Chris enjoying the game. Chris still had his stomach bug going, so he and I had to make something like 5 trips to the bathroom, but I guess you can't complain. At least he TOLD me he had to go potty and didn't wait until it was too late... Chris really loves Max by the way, which I think is really cool.

I caught my second foul ball ever. Pretty sweet! I thought about keeping it, but they allow you to trade them in for autoed balls so I took a chance on that and got an auto of their center fielder (below).

I like how this ball is older and well worn. Hopefully the player will be drafted; I need to look him up and write down who he is...

Once again, I had a great time hanging out with my son and my best friend. I wish I could do it more. One of the many reasons why I love baseball, it brings people together!

Trip to Columbia, SC

I took this weekend off from the card shop to take a trip from Greenville, NC to Columbia, SC to see my younger brother and to take him some stuff our mom had gotten together for him.

I hadn't gone to see him in a good while, which I feel bad about. We saw each other at Christmas, and talk on the phone and facebook all the time. He and I both have had a crazy year, so it is understood why we have been so busy.

One of the cool things he did right away when we got up on Saturday morning was to look and see if there were any card shops in the area. He found two actual card shops and an antique store (I need a blackberry, or some sort of smart phone and get with the year 2008). We visited the antique store first and found it to be a really cool place. They had two OLD phone booths outside, ready to be bought. I swear someone needs to buy one and put it in the bathroom. Can you imagine, sitting on the potty in an old phone booth...? Am I the only one? I probably should take some meds...

We looked around the inside of the antique store for a bit, when my brother pointed out the boxes of baseball cards that he saw. There were a BUNCH of 1987 Topps boxes for $20 each, so I was beginning to be disappointed in that we may be at a place that would only have 80s and 90s crap that would be overpriced. Uggggh...

I took a look at their display case and saw a stack of 1953 Bowman. Ironic, don't you think?

I say Ironic because on Tuesday, my best friend (you know him... Max) came over and discussed his desire to procure a 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese. Now, I'm at a card shop and eureka, a stack of 1953 Bowman. Out comes the cell phone. I sent Max a bunch of texts about the hopes to come across a 53 Reese, hoping that we'd get lucky. I asked the shopkeeper if I could take a look at the stack. He asked if I was looking for any card in particular, and I replied that I was hoping to get a Reese at a reasonable price.


The shopkeeper disappeared for a few minutes after I found that the stack in the case did not yield a Reese. He came back with a box of 1950s vintage cards, a whole row devoted to 1953 Bowman. We looked through that and still no Reese. I did find something that cought my eye though...

1953 Bowman Stan Musial. Yeah, so it is clearly in ROUGH shape, but I refuse to be handcuffed by condition. I saw the card. Texted Max (his reply: Ooooooooo). Found out that I could purchase the card at a VERY reasonable price, then it became mine. Take a look:

Pretty sweet, I think. I'm so dang happy with it. If I had some more money, I would have bought a few more '53s. I think it is a really beautiful set. I was glad that I could confer with my 'card partner' during the transaction (God I love texting, hahaha).

Feeling terrible that we had spent so much time in the antique store (while my son was dragging my brother around in order to show him an antigue typewriter), I decided to end my purchasing with the Musial and not ask about any other vintage stuff. Apparently, though, my brother enjoys antiques, so that made me feel better once he pointed that out. We decided to try one of the other card shops which happened to be nearby.

We stopped by the other card shop, and since it was getting close to lunch time, I kept this visit short. I bought a few packs of Topps Unique and a pack of UD Signature Series. I pulled the above Team USA Jersey... Not bad.

We went to lunch at a small hot dog stand in Columbia, and followed that up with a trip to see the University of South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Duquesne Dukes at Gamecock Stadium. Yaaay Cocks! It was a beautiful day to catch a game, as the temperatures were in the mid to upper 60s (it was 50s in Greenville) and no clouds in the sky.

The Cocks ended up winning 11-3, which was nice. I plan on catching a few college games this year (ECU and NCSU especially), so it was cool for my first one to be a SC game.

Did you know that Brian Roberts finished his college career at SC? You didn't? Well, now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

My son Chris getting ready for the game.

The view from where we were seated.

I really enjoyed my time in Columbia, expecially since it invloved me taking a minute and spending some much needed time with my brother, who I don't see near enough. I plan on making the trip a lot more, which is good. The ride is kind of long, but it isn't too bad. I hope he had as much fun as I did!