This was the second Single-A game of my Florida trip. And holy crap was it a fun one.

Tampa Tarpons @ Dunedin Blue Jays. The Tarpons are the Yankees Single-A affiliate, so seeing them meant I’ve now seen every level of both Phillies and Yankees baseball.

Oh yea, and it was “Malmo Oat Milkers” day for the Jays. That’s a new promotional thing MiLB started this year with the dairy company Oatly where for one day, every team in MiLB will change their name and wear special jerseys. So if you see different uniforms, that’s why.

This was the scene upon arrival:

Yea, the place is tiny, but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was the spacious outfield walkways and the fact that the ENTIRE STADIUM was general admission seating.

Truth be told, I didn’t ask for any balls during pregame. After Thursday’s game in Palm Beach, I realized that the teams probably need those practice balls way more than I do. So, I just decided to take in all the sights.

While wandering and checking the place out, I couldn’t help but notice the amount of baseballs just sitting in open areas. Here’s two that I found extra odd:

That last one was on a half field used for infield practice behind the right field wall. You would think someone would pick that up, right?

Anyways, the game was about to begin, so I found myself playing for foul balls in a nice shady area under cover along the third base line. My 1st ball of the day didn’t come until the bottom of the 2nd when Coby Morales of the Tarpons tossed up the ball that ended that inning.

Nice.

Finally on the board, I decided I’d give the outfield a try. I positioned myself more towards left center because most of the hitters were right handed, and straightaway seemed a little too tight with the bullpen swallowing tons of room. That play ended up working out EXTREMELY well. How?

That’s Willy Montero demolishing a home run. Where’d the ball go?

Off the batters eye more towards right center and down into the gap below.

Now I know what you’re going to say. “Ayden, there’s 3 balls down there. How do you know that’s the right one?” Remember, I was standing right there when it was hit, so I was eyeing that ball the entire time.

I should mention that ball retrieval devices, such as my cup trick, are NOT permitted inside the ballpark. Therefore the only way I’d be able to get it was to ask someone to go down and toss it up. Sure enough, an employee was walking by, so I quickly asked him if he’d be able to do just that. He was SUPER friendly and said he’d happily do it. I also suggested he toss the rest of the balls up to the kids in the outfield around me.

Moments later, there he was, down behind the fence. He held up the ball to confirm that it was the right one, then made the hookup. I couldn’t thank him enough. Here’s that ball:

The big scuff below the MiLB logo is where it hit the inside of the fence.

That was my 15th lifetime game home run, 6th of the 2024 season, and 1st outside of PA that actually counts. But the madness doesn’t end there. Ohhhhh no, that was just the beginning.

I figured I’d take the long way back to my seat to maximize opportunities. Ended up getting the outfield warm-up ball from the Blue Jays at their bullpen to start the top of the 6th…

Then the 3rd out ball that ended the bottom of the 6th from Tarpons right fielder Anthony Hall…

Then on the way back to my seat, a George Lombard Jr. foul ball in the top of the 7th behind home plate in the concourse.

3 BALLS WITHIN AN INNING AND A HALF SPAN. All 3 of which I ended up giving away.

And believe it or not, THAT STILL WASN’T IT.

I got back to my seat along the third base line around the bottom of the 7th and chose to hang out in the restaurant behind me to cool off. The top of the 8th came super fast, and as soon as I got comfy, I heard the loud bang of a foul ball getting lined into the seating area I was camped out in. No competition, easy snag. 2nd foul ball of the day.

I want to say it was Coby Morales who hit it.

Then an inning later, Manuel Beltre. Same situation.

3rd foul ball. 6TH GAME USED BALL. WHAT?

I’d love to say there was more, but that was it. The heat was way too high to stay any longer. There were only 6 outs left, and I was satisfied with a total of 7. Especially considering 6 out of the 7 were game used. Are you kidding? Who’d be mad about that?

STATS FROM THIS GAME:

7 total baseballs:

– 3rd out toss up from Coby Morales, bottom 2nd, third base dugout.

– Willy Montero game home run, top 3rd to batters eye. Tossed up by employee.

– Outfield warm-up toss up from Jays bullpen, top 6th.

– 3rd out toss up from Anthony Hall, bottom 6th, right field foul line.

– George Lombard Jr. foul ball, top 7th, home plate concourse.

– Coby Morales foul ball, top 8th, left field foul line.

– Manuel Beltre foul ball, bottom 8th, left field foul line.

LIFETIME TOTAL: 307