On this date last year, I was at Camden Yards in Baltimore to see the Yankees and Orioles. I left with 3 baseballs. You’ll see why that’s ironic later.

Twins @ Mets. Consider this my “revenge” game for having not gotten a single opportunity to get on the board last year when I was in Queens. And revenge it indeed was.

That’s beside the point. The ENTIRE reason I attended this game was to hopefully come up with a Mets City Connect ball. It’d be a huge contribution towards my charity campaign with Pitch In For Baseball, but they’re only used on Saturdays, so getting one would be a challenge. I knew that though and was completely up for it.

Here’s the view from outside:

Yes. I went in through the Robinson Rotunda. The home plate entrance. But trust me, the line was fast and the journey to left field was even faster. I’m glad it was because BP was going on for the Twins, and I wasn’t even inside the stadium for 10 minutes when I saw a home run coming straight for me. Some guy bobbled it down in front, it bounced around a few rows, and ended up in my hands. Easy scoop.

Sign of things to come? I’d say…yes.

The Twins only ended up taking one group of BP. Let’s just say they weren’t the most generous with toss ups, so being on the board felt nice. Especially with the level of competition.

After BP I rushed over to the Mets dugout of all places. Why? Because of the need for a commemorative, I tried orchestrating several connections to get one. The first of which required me to be at the dugout. Long story short, it didn’t work out.

By that point the bullpen crews were heading to the bullpens, so I made my way over there. Got there just in time to get a toss up from Mets catcher Luis Torrens as he was finishing with the pitching machine.

I had no need for a ton of balls in my bag, so I wound up giving that one to the nearest kid.

As Torrens was starting to play catch with bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello, the rest of the coaching staff was still in the bullpen getting things set up. With the need for a commemorative but the inability to identify any of the guys without numbers on their shirts, I gave the worlds most generic request for one hoping they knew what I meant.

“Hey guys! Any chance you might have a City Connect ball down there?”

They knew what I meant alright. One of them began to search the ball bag that the pitchers use. I had ZERO confidence they’d have one. That’s not saying it was impossible though. To my absolute delight…

I wish I knew who it was so I could thank him properly. Needless to say I made it well aware to him that his efforts were very much appreciated. It’s VERY rare that a commemorative ends up in a practice bag here and there. It happening to me with terrible luck the entire season up to that point was sooooooooooo refreshing.

As for the logo itself, I’ll be honest, it’s kind of boring. Three letters of the alphabet in a fancy font. That’s it. That’s the logo. I can’t complain though, a commemorative is a commemorative. Just having it made me feel amazing.

I remembered that the usher by the bullpen had politely instructed me that I had to leave before the national anthem, and with the singers heading to the field, I left there to get a first look at what I’d be dealing with for the night.

I chose that spot for two main reasons. A, great foul ball spot for lefties. B, it’s directly in front of the tunnel where the umpires walk through.

The foul balls part came to prove itself in the bottom of the 4th when Jesse Winker sliced one. I knew it was going to reach extremely close to my row and judged that it’d be a little short. I drifted down 3 steps, and just as I had read, it landed in the same row but too far to my left to reach. Very similar to the BP home run I snagged earlier, it bobbled around for a few seconds and ended up on the very next step. Unfortunately a guy beat me to it, but the thrill of that whole situation was super fun.

I took that as a sign to stay in my section. Unfortunately though, it was the last close opportunity I’d have the rest of the game. Time flew by like it was nothing. I will say, one of my favorite parts of the whole day, besides the commemorative of course, was getting to see Mets closer Edwin Diaz enter in total NY fashion.

It’s one thing seeing it online, but it’s a COMPLETELY different energy seeing it in person.

That was just about it though. The Mets wound up winning 2-0. I know earlier I mentioned getting an umpire ball, and trust me I tried, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I was okay with that, I got what I came for, and that’s all that mattered. Ended up with 3 total. Now you see why I said my Baltimore total was ironic?

STATS FOR THIS GAME

3 baseballs snagged:

– BP home run from righty on the Twins

– Toss up from Mets catcher Luis Torrens

– Mets City Connect commemorative from Mets coach

MLB LIFETIME TOTAL: 27