Yes, I shortened the name of the stadium. You can criticize me for that if you so desire. The name of the place was the least of my concerns coming into this day. The most? I only needed 8 baseballs to make my lifetime total 300.

Clearwater Threshers @ Palm Beach Cardinals.

I realized the night prior that it’d be a doubleheader due to a rain suspension. That meant that each game would only be 7 innings, and the first game would only last 2 innings because it was suspended in the 5th. However, because of heavy traffic, I only made it to the stadium to catch the final 2 outs. And that’s only because it went into extra innings.

That didn’t stop me from getting on the board for the first game. In fact, it happened right as I entered. The Cardinals were storming the field from a Chase Davis walk-off sac-fly. That ball was held onto by Threshers catcher Lou Albrecht and tossed up to me. I didn’t even ask for it. But hey, I’m not complaining.

After that, I figured I’d wander until the second game. I found myself on the first base side near this odd electrical box enclosed in a cage. I looked inside out of complete boredom, and to my absolute delight…

Yea. Mhm. That SCREAMED cup trick, at least the one closer to the wall did. It was an easy snag. That ball…well…let’s just say it wasn’t the most pleasant.

I kid you not, I took that photo, then IMMEDIATELY threw that ball in the trash. Then proceeded to wash my hands for a solid 2 minutes after touching it. It was so waterlogged and gross that even a simple touch would result in the leather coming off on your hands. I don’t need that, nobody does. But it counts.

So my hands were finally cleaned, and I figured I’d stay in that same general area. Now when I tell you that there was nobody there, I MEAN there was nobody there. There were only 2 ushers on duty, so you could literally wander on down to field level with no issues.

I didn’t sense anything from the Cardinals bullpen, so I hurried over to the Threshers side. Just in time to catch starter Mavis Graves finish his bullpen session. Once he was done, the ball stayed with catcher Jared Thomas, who then tossed it to me.

I was feeling REALLY good with 3 total. The game was about to start, so I ended up just staying on the third base side for the 1st inning. That decision paid off when I got the ball that ended it, a Sammy Hernandez fly out to right fielder Raylin Heredia.

Halfway there. My seat for the game made me even more excited. Why?

Three words. Foul. Ball. Heaven. And as it turned out, it was foul ball Heaven. Not Heaven for me, however. The following innings were simple. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity. The last of which I SHOULD have caught on the fly, however on my route (which was a straight shot 10 feet to my right), I banged my shin off a bunch of cup holders. And didn’t get the ball. Nice.

I didn’t get too upset. It was my first time at this stadium keep in mind.

I felt slightly better after getting the 3rd out ball from the Cardinals I had also been trying to get those same innings. I believe it was the 4th and know for a fact it was a Dakota Kotowski strikeout tossed up by first baseman Ross Friedrick.

That was it for a bit. Stayed behind home plate for fouls, yet nothing came. Come the 6th inning with my total still at 5, I knew I had to pull off something huge to get #300. How? I had to figure out. But I wasn’t giving up.

My idea was to go for outfield warm up balls from each team to get #s 6 and 7, then go for an umpire ball at the end of the game for #8 to make 300. I wound up back at the Cardinals bullpen to start the 7th inning where, sure enough, part 1 of my plan was executed thanks to Hunter Hayes.

Next came part 2, which, yet again, happened no problem. This time at the Threshers bullpen coming from Jake Eddington. What I didn’t realize was that my phone had died, so here’s that ball:

I love the ones like that. The brand new ones like the previous 6 were cool and all, but this one had unique things about it.

With only 3 outs remaining, I stayed by their bullpen. The umpires leave through a gate in left field, so it’d put me in perfect position.

Moments later, I caught a glimpse of what was a Chase Davis foul ball that he’d sliced into the seats along the third base line. Oddly, there was NOBODY going for it, so I quickly rushed up a ramp and down to those seats. And there it was. Just sitting there. With no hesitation, I picked it up. Ball #8 on the night, and ball #300 lifetime.

I was relieved. The entire goal of going to this game, achieved. What confused me at first, however, was the appearance of that ball.

It’s seemingly mud rubbed, and that green smudge on the side panel from hitting the seat assured me that it was in fact that foul. They didn’t take BP that day because it poured rain, and ushers are supposed to retrieve all loose balls in the seats. So why are the seams that high for a gamer? Why are the logos rubbed off? I know the balls MiLB uses in the levels below Triple-A are cheap and made in China, so maybe it’s simply from the sweaty hands of the guys playing? I don’t know. But I was still ecstatic to have snagged it.

That also meant that all 3 of my hundredth balls were game used! #100 was a line out to third base and #200 was a game grand slam that I caught on the fly.

The car ride back to the hotel was filled with happiness and triumph. And to finish things off, a photo of all 5 I kept:

STATS FOR THESE GAMES:

8 TOTAL BALLS

GAME 1:

– Final out toss up from Lou Albrecht

GAME 2:

– Cup trick in random area

– Pregame toss up from Jared Thomas

– 3rd out toss up from Raylin Heredia

– 3rd out toss up from Ross Friedrick

– Outfield warmup from Hunter Hayes

– Outfield warmup from Jake Eddington

– Chase Davis game foul ball

LIFETIME TOTAL: 300!!!