Brian's Doubles

With a big double on Tuesday night, Brian Roberts inches closer to the mark of 60 doubles.

56 doubles!!

Go O's (please snap this 11 game losing streak)

Updates

I'm very sorry that I have not added a new post in a long while, but there has not been to much exciting going on. I went to one game, last Wednesday, with Avi- and it was an empty game. We collected 13--yea, 13 baseballs that game (personal and group records) and a full recap will be added very soon. I will also now be adding a countdown to 60 doubles for Brian Roberts, a mark that has not been reached since 1931 (Earl Webb- Boston Red Sox, with 67). It would be an amazing mark to cap a great season for Brian Roberts, so we will watch him and hope he gets 60+ doubles.

Roberts doubles- 55

Go O's

Summer Experiences

There was a recent write up done in our schools E-Newsletter about the summer and Avi submitted something about our summer. Here is what he wrote:
"So far, I’ve gone to a total of 46 Orioles games with lots of friends, but mainly Zevi Lowenberg, ‘11 and Segev Goldberg, ’10. My goal is 50! It is the best feeling when I go to the Orioles games and see how many people know me like the cashier and cook at California Tortilla, since I always go there to get some chips; the waiter at the Diamond Tavern across the street from the stadium at the Hilton gives us free sodas and fries every game; the usher who opens the gates; the ushers who run the line for the box office; the Orioles staff lady who goes around conducting surveys; the usher who works right behind home plate (Joey); the usher who protects fans from getting into the ballpark early without season ticket passes(Errol); the usher in my section loves me and is the one who lets us sit in the seats that we do even though they are way more expensive than what we pay (Kelly); the 4 people working at the food stand outside of section, along with the cashier; and the whole bullpen basically knows me. I have caught 2 home runs in games this year, so I have been asked by 4 people if I was the guy who caught the home run! When I say they know me, most of those people know Zevi and Segev also. Between the 3 of us, we were able to collect over 50 baseballs also and over 25 autographs too!
Avi Miller, ‘10"

Sunday's game

It's been a while and I know that this is more than a week late, but it is well worth it. The three of us went to the game with a few friends that we hadn't been to a game with and thought it would be fun to show them what a game with us was like. So we went with Shachar and Bailey, both classmates of Avi and Segev in Middle School. We got down to the park right before gates opened, and so the few of us who were there held a place in line right for Shachar who had gotten food, and Segev and Bailey who weren't there yet. They came after we had gotten in, so I didn't see them until around 5:15. The reason was that I ran into the ballpark to see if there were any baseballs around, but instead I saw that the place where Errol (an usher that we talk to every game) stands was empty and I was allowed around. The only problem was that he was walking up that area and he stopped me. He saw who I was and let me through because there were no other people around. SWEET!! There was no Batting Practice, so I went down to the field level to talk to Ruben. Because I was the only one who had gotten through of our group (Avi got stuck and had to wait) he came over when he saw me and we talked for a little bit. We talked about the Ronnie Deck t-shirts we had all gotten and about him visiting our school. It was a lot of fun and the people around me just watched us talk and were amazed that a player was that cool with just coming over and talking. So Ruben had to go help out with the pitchers warming up, so when Ronnie got back from the bullpen, he came over to talk to me. We talked for a little bit, he loves the t-shirts and he thought it was cool that it was a birthday present and that we had thought of him first. That's pretty cool. The pitchers from the bullpen started to warm up, so I figured that I had a very good chance at getting a baseball from the first group done. I stood right behind Danys Baez, who of course knows me, and when he turned around, I waved to him, and he said Hey. I asked him if when he was done if I could have the baseball and he said, "Yea no problem" I got to talking to some other people around me about the season and about the Orioles and also how I knew all the pitchers. Eventually I got the lady next to me a promise of a ball from Matt Albers since it was her birthday. When Baez and Dennis Sarfate finished, Dennis, who had switched sides with Baez ended up with the ball, and since no called out to him, I calmly asked him for the baseball and he tossed it to me. That was cool and that was baseball number 30 on the year. WOW! I honestly never went into the season thinking about collecting baseballs, but it has been a lot of fun, and 30 is a lot of baseballs. Eventually I went back up to Errol who told me to get my annoying friends, (Avi, who had been bugging him about getting through since he saw me) and when I brought Avi back, we were let through and we waited until 5:45 when everyone else came back to start walking around. There was no BP, so Avi and I stayed around home plate and chilled there with everyone else. Avi and I had a lot of fun just talking on the side, with no one to bug us and nothing really to do. It was a lot of fun, and it was good to be at the ballpark, close to the field, with good friends, on a sunny day. Avi did ass Brian Bass for a baseball after he was done warming up, so we each had a baseball. After that, Avi and I went over to the dugout and managed to get Chris Tillman's autograph, which is pretty cool since he is one of our great rookie pitchers. Segev and Avi found the survey lady who gives out tickets, and so Segev took the survey and we got 2 tickets to a game. After that we stood and talked for a little bit until we went down to the first row behind home plate and when Alan Dunn was done talking, we called him over and talked with him for a little bit. He told me that he was going to pick up some of the New Yankee Stadium commemorative baseballs for us. That's very cool and very nice of him. That was about it before the game other than talking to Miss Kelly and joking around with Shachar and Bailey. We eventually went back to our seats, and talked to some people we had seen at previous games. It was very hot out, so only a few of us sat out in the sun, while everyone else was a section up under cover. In the fourth inning, Segev, Bailey and I decided to go get a free sandwhich (from a coupon we had gotten from a guy we see a lot who had given us season tickets to the last few games of the season- regular seats, but we can get around the ballpark early). So we went out onto Eutaw Street and got the sandwhich. It tasted amazing and it came with a big drink which was great in the heat. After that we decided that we were going to go see an old teacher of ours and her young (1st grader) son, who had seats next to the dugout. When we went down to see them we sat in the top of the section until the middle of the inning, and after a great play, I looked over and there were 6 nuns standing and cheering. That got us laughing, because its not everyday you see a group of nuns at an O's game. So middle of the inning we went to say hi, had lots of fun and then went back to the nuns. So for that entire inning we had great seats and wanted to stay, but we continued to explore. At this point we were just finding random places to go because we were having a lot of fun and laughing a lot. I decided that we were going to go look at the most pointless seats in the ballpark. Located on Club Level, all the way down the 1st base line, they are facing towards Eutaw St. (away from Home Plate) and when you do turn to see the game, you are under the seats that are in front of you. Its a very odd location, and no one ever sits there. So we went to see the seats and pretty much we were right on top of them. The regular seats, the seating area extends out over Eutaw St and pretty much it extends a little to far. That was crazy, and there was really no one there, and its about a foot over, so its a very easy jump. We weren't going to do that, but it's possible. After all of that, we found the fan of the game, and the guy who gives the pretzels away to the fan of the games row, and after some debating and some avoiding it, Segev went up to the guy and he managed to get 2 coupons for free pretzels. Those pretzels were amazing. The salted one was one of the best I had ever tasted and it was worth every step I had taken to get it. We did a lot more walking and exploring, and tried to get some more free food, but at that point, we had run out of free food. At this point it was the 7th inning so we went back to the seats and chilled with everyone else for the rest of the game. I got an autograph from Former Oriole Davey Johnson, who was doing the post game show, and did have his World Series ring on. That was a lot of fun, and very cool. The entire game, Bailey had been asking when she was going to get her Red Bull, since I had told her that the night before, I had gotten a free one from the bullpen. So after the game, Ronnie couldn't stay, and so all we had was the guys in the bullpen. I asked one of them for an extra Red Bull, and he did a half-nod. When they emptied out the cooler, there was one left, and I was so excited. Of course, the guy threw it to us-- o wait- no he didn't-- he put it in his pocket. WHAT!?! I had been asking and I wasn't shouting or anything. UGH. So I felt horrible and I was determined to get Bailey a Red Bull. After that we went across the street to the Tavern to see Joe, but when we got there we were told he was on break and then that he had left. We decided just to stay and have some water, and we sat down in a big booth. Amazingly, Joe was still there, and he came down and saw us and waved. He had to go do some things, but when he got back, he did come talk to us for a little bit. It was a lot of fun, and even with the times he had to go work- I know, right, it was still a lot of fun. We got free bread from one of the guys that knows us and we told Joe we were all set and we didn't need anything, but I did ask him for a Red Bull. He told us that he couldn't get it for us because that was at the bar, and he couldn't just take something and not have an explanation. Bailey had some mixed reactions about that and when I was joking around with her about it, she was laughing and crying. Eventually everyone noticed, and including her, we all had a good time with that. Everyone else gave up, but Segev, Avi and I were going to make sure she got a Red Bull. So knowing that Joe would be cool with it, we went to the window, and while Segev and Avi asked outside, where Joe was, I got his attention and was playing around with him, inside. Then we all went outside (the 4 of us) and joked with Joe and the people he was helping, who were cool with all of it. We told Joe that Bailey had cried over it, and so we got it down to a $3.50 for the Red Bull (which we will pay eventually). Bailey told us she was going to the bathroom, but when Joe came out of the kitchen, she rushed over and grabbed Joe to see if he had it. There was one problem- I had taken the Red Bull from Joe at the top of the steps, and she was at the bottom with him. Everyone played into it amazingly and she had no idea I had it. She was ready to kill Joe- she was yelling that they had a deal, and then Segev stepped aside, and she looked up at me. I was holding the Red Bull like I was going to drink it-- I hadn't opened it, and her face went from anger to happiness to complete joy when she saw it. We all got a kick out of that, and headed over to the train. Bailey was overjoyed and hopped up on sugar, and she couldn't figure out when to drink the Red Bull.
The train is a whole other story. We got on, and there was a drunk O's fan and a drunk Yankees fan. The entire time the O's fan was yelling at the Yankees fan to just shut up and eventually, about halfway through the ride, he got up, yelled at the Yankees fan that there were 6 O's fans and 1 Yankees fan, and that he was going to get (jumps up and down) stomped. We all laughed at that one and were amused by all the yelling that went on after that. Eventually the O's fan tried to sit in the row with the Yankees fan, but according to the Yankees fan, "This seat is Tooken!" WOW-- we were really laughing now and that pretty much finished up the most amazing day we had had all season. It was the funniest, the Orioles did win 7-0, and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. And as always, Go O's!

Saturday's game

On Saturday the Orioles were scheduled to play not only on FOX, but also they were going to be wearing throwback uniforms from the Baltimore Elite Giants Negro League team. They were celebrating the 1939 and 1949 championship teams from Baltimore. Very cool and we couldn't wait to see the uniforms. We headed down to the park around 1:30. Gates opened at 2, and we made it down right around then, and got in around 2:15. When we got into the park, there was BP, even though it was an early game, but by the time we got in, the Orioles had already left. Pretty upsetting, considering Danys Baez pretty much got at least one ball per BP, and I had missed him. So without the Orioles, I headed over to Left Field to see what I could do over there. For the first 20 minutes of BP, no balls came my way, but Avi did have much better luck. He had managed to grab a baseball even with other people around him, and that was just the start for him. So at this point, Avi had one, and I had none, even though I was standing with no one around me. O well, but Avi did make a nice catch. I moved over to say hi to some friends, and just as I left, a ball landed right where I was standing. Damn- that should have been number one. I moved back to see if they would hit more my way, and even after a lot of running, I still had none. Avi and Segev had the same kind of luck, all of us missing a few balls that we had a play on. Segev ran into a seat, and Avi got robbed. Then finally I caught a break. I was talking to a guy behind me, and he shouted that there was going to be a big bounce. I turned around and rushed to the aisle, just to see the ball hit the seats about 6 rows up and bounce into the aisle, one row up from me. I dove up the stair, and landed my glove right on top of the ball. All in all, it was a nice play, but it should have been much nicer if I had been watching. So now Avi and I each had baseballs. The rest of BP was just as boring as the beginning, and all the balls that came to the wall, I should have gotten, but the players seemed to want to give it to attractive women that they saw. At that point, I walked around for a little bit, and then when I headed over to the bullpen, there was a ball lying in the Orioles' bullpen and the Rangers' bullpen. Ruben came out and talked to us for a little bit, and when he went to pick up the baseball he teased us with it and finally flipped it to Avi who made a nice save to make sure the ball didn't go onto the field. I looked at Ruben and asked him why he had thrown it to Avi, and he went back to the bench, grabbed me a baseball, and then teased me with it. He did end up throwing it, pretty short, and so I had to make a over the railing, snow-cone catch. Another great play on the day. At the end of the throwing session for the Rangers, Segev was thrown the baseball from the bullpen, and so we each had at least one baseball for the day. The uniforms were beautiful, and they had a pregame ceremony celebrating the Negro Leagues. It was all very cool, and if I had the money, I would try to buy one of the jerseys. During the game, we talked to some of the guys in the bullpen, and when Melvin Mora stepped to the plate and hit a HR, it headed right out towards us. It landed one section over and Avi and I both tried for it. I couldn't get to it, because there was a handrail in the way, but Avi managed to grab it right before some other fans. Extremely exciting, and it was his second HR ball this year. We were on national TV and going crazy. Fans told us to throw it back, but being huge O's fans, that would be silly. So we sat and watched the game, walked around a little bit, and talked to some other fans. The game was great, our pitching was alright, and the offense finally came through. The Orioles won, and we went home happy. After the game, Ronnie had to leave, so we headed out with the rest of the fans, (after a grounds crew guy in the bullpen tossed me a Red Bull, which tasted great) and we headed over to see Joe. But Joe wasn't there. Ugh- maybe tomorrow. At this point we went to California Tortilla to get a snack/dinner, since it was only 8 or so. After sitting down to a nice small meal, we went back and spent the night at my house. Played some video games and what not, and had a fun night. It was an early wake up call for the game on Sunday, so we didn't stay up late. That's it for now, so Go O's!

Recap of Tuesdays game

Sorry for the delay, but here we go. We all went to the game last Tuesday, vs the New York Yankees. It was T-shirt Tuesday which means that there is going to be a much larger crowd than normal. Luckily Avi was already there and he was in the middle of the line so we could get in in the first few minutes. It was a lot of fun, and when we went out to the bleachers, no one was really there. There were a lot of little Yankee fans, which meant that being out there for New York BP would be horrible. Luckily, it was still the Orioles turn, so we spread out and tried to get baseballs. Towards the end of the Orioles BP, Chris Ray threw Avi the ball he had grabbed, which was the first ball any of us had gotten. During that time, Segev was trying different parts of the outfield, all with no luck. I was over in the corner by Danys Baez that I like, because whenever he gets a baseball he makes sure that I have a ball, and if I don't, then he throws it to me. On this day however, none came to him. He was standing with Alberto Castillo, who was getting all the balls near them. Alberto threw one ball into the stands, about 15 feet over my head, to a crowd of people. I then asked Danys if he could grab me a baseball, to which he said, " You catch homer" I told him I would try but not to many were coming out to us. After a while, he said that if one came to him, he would make sure to give it to me. I asked him if he could grab one and then give it to me in the bullpen, but he told me "it is illegal" Ok Danys. Oh well, not to bad and it could be worse. At that point, BP ended and the Yankees came out. I moved over to the Left Field line, no people around and if any ball hooked foul or bounced into the stands, there was no way I was going to miss it. There is one issue though. No one hit it down the line. One ball was thrown into the crowd, about a section over, and that is the closest I came to a ball during BP. None of us got anymore baseballs, so Segev and I moved over to the dugout to see who would sign for us. Closer to game time we had a good talk with Rick Kranitz about the pitching staff (Bergesen will not be coming back this year). After he left to go out to the bullpens, Ruben came out, and even with our shouting, he didn't want to come over. Finally he decided to come over to say hi, and he said he wouldn't be able to sign and he would make the kids upset. We were joking around with him, talking, and then people came up and made him sign autographs. He signed happily, and then a NYY fan gave him a t-shirt that had been given out that night, and no kidding, he signed it across pretty much the entire front over the Orioles wordmark. It was huge and the funniest thing he could have done. No one else signed, we went out to the bullpen, and enjoyed the game. For the first few innings we did sit with the principal, her brothers, and the dean of our school over by the Yankees dugout. A lot of fun, and we later moved into the corner for an out, all the way at the top, last seats in the ballpark. The O's lost, and after the game we talked to Ronnie for a while, and he decided that he would be our hitting coach if we could find a time to get together with him. That is very cool and we are very excited for that to happen. After the game, we talked to Joe, who was stuck outside, and that was that. A good night at the ballpark, right before school, and it'll be good to get back on the weekend. The Rangers come in for the weekend, Avi will be there Friday, the rest of us Saturday and Sunday. Go O's!

Update

I would just like to say that I will be adding pictures, I don't know if I will be able to do it before the end of the season, but at the end there will be a full slide show, from the season and my trip. Keep reading. Go O's

The Weekend- Part 2

On Sunday the three of us went to the game. It was dollar dog day which was good, but of course there was no batting practice....ugh. Thats not to bad, because we don't need to go to games and get a baseball, but it would have been nice to have batting practice, especially because we didn't the night before. So we waited around before the game, saw some people we know and talked to them, and all around just sat there in the hot sun. What a way to spend my Sunday afternoon. Once Ruben walked out we sat down and talked to him for a little bit. Always a funny conversation with him, and since he doesn't stay in the bullpen until the end of the game most of the time, its nice to be able to talk to him before the game. Once Matusz came out to warm up it was quiet time so Ruben left and we talked to some people we knew from one of the previous games. We had brought a friend with us who didn't know Ronnie or Ruben, so we introduced him to them, and he seemed to have a fun day. When all the guys in the bullpen came out we talked to one of the Indians pitchers, Tomo Okha, who we had joked with the night before about a huge bug that was just sitting on the fence. He told us to eat it, and when it flew away, we told him that it tasted good. So when he came out we told him that we were going to find another one today. He smiled and that was it with him. The game got off to a normal start, great pitching on our side, and the O's won. Great game, good to see the development and good to get a win. After the game we called Ronnie over and he gave me a baseball (my first and only one of the weekend) and we talked to him about the game and how late he had gotten home the night before. At this point it was mid afternoon so we went over to say hi to Joe, who was there, and we talked to him a little bit before going back home. A great day, good to get a win, and of course good to spend another afternoon at OPACY!