I find myself yet again at what I’ve called previously and will continue to call the “happiest place on Earth.” Usually, I have a reason to be at said place, but this was kind of random.

Mets @ Railriders. Arrived a half hour late. Yay. This was the scene:

The pitchers had already begun warming up, so I didn’t even bother moving to right field like I usually would. Here’s Will Warren starting his bullpen session:

I decided to stay there, and I’m glad I did. After he finished, I got Carlos Narvaez to toss up that ball. He’s been super cool to me over the last 2 years. That ball can be seen right here:

After that I scurried over to the 3rd base side as the Railriders were finishing playing catch. Right as I got there, I caught the attention of outfielder Oscar Gonzalez. He attempted to chuck his warm up ball over the netting, but ended up low throwing me by a single row. Luckily, there was no competition, and I scooped it up.

By that point my parents had made their way over to the bar in right field to chat with our friends who work there. So, I figured I’d join them and stay out there for a bit. Found a nice shady rock to sit on because it was 90+ degrees out and hardly any escape from it. Right as I sat down though, my favorite friendly usher came over and walked right in front of me. Why? He had this behind his back and placed it in my glove in the most casual way possible:

I love that guy. He has to have given me at least 7+ balls this season alone, and it wouldn’t be the last time he played a part in the stats today. I ended up giving that ball and the one previous away.

The game itself started out extremely rough. The Railriders looked extremely bad defensively and couldn’t spark anything offensively. The Mets, however, started off with a bang. Come the top of the 2nd, Rylan Bannon stepped up with 2 men on base. Then…

He crushed one to, of all places, straightaway center field. Literally, it was dead centered with the batters eye once it landed.

This was my view of it once I got to the fence that blocks the area off:

Now at first glance, I thought I’d be able to reach it with my cup trick. However, that idea would prove to be ineffective with how far out it was. I almost gave up on it, but out of nowhere came that same usher from earlier. I guess he saw me give those 2 others away, as he stepped over the fence, retrieved that ball, and called my attention. I couldn’t think him enough, really. And yet, I STILL don’t know the guy’s name. That’ll be my goal for when I’m back Thursday. But for now, here’s the ball:

This was my 2nd game HR in 2 games, 4th of 2024, and 13th lifetime.

With a smile on my face, I headed over to our seats in foul territory to hang with my family for dinner. I was impatient to get back out to the outfield, so I quickly finished and hurried to left field. Just in time to see the main reason I’m seeing games this week:

You’re probably asking yourself, “Who’s THAT guy?” That’s Max Kranick, a middle reliever who happened to graduate from my high school. A fellow Valley View Cougar in professional sports isn’t an everyday occurrence, so obviously I had to come out and show my support. I didn’t worry about adding any more balls to the total of 4, I just wanted to enjoy watching him.

He spent about 15 minutes warming up, then headed out to the mound. How’d he do? Pitched 2 innings Threw 19 pitches in 2 innings faced letting up ZERO runs and topping it off with a PERFECT 8th inning. After he was taken out, I figured my time was up as well. It was 8:00 and had I had school the next day. Plus, I’d be at 2 more games that week, so I wasn’t upset one bit. Oh, and here’s the score when I left:

STATS FOR THIS GAME:

4 baseballs total:

– toss up from Will Warren

– toss up from Oscar Gonzalez

– handout from usher in right field

– Rylan Bannon game HR given by same usher

LIFETIME TOTAL: 270

Oh boy…where to begin with this one.

Let’s start with the simple but important details. Railriders against Red Wings. First of all, I was in attendance for one reason with one goal. To put it lightly, my grandmother passed away the day before this (Friday the 10th). She was super close, so I wanted to see a game within 48 hours to hopefully snag a game home run in memory of her. Would have gone Friday, but of course it had to rain, meaning that Saturday would be a doubleheader. And that just screams “YES!”

Because of stuff, I got to the stadium right as the first game was ending. Based on the score alone, I kinda wish I was there for the full thing:

Woah…ok.

I pride myself in having a 4 year long consecutive game streak of snagging at least one ball at every game I’ve attended. I count doubleheaders as 2 games, and luckily as the bullpen was exiting, I managed to save that streak and get on the board for the first game.

That felt great. And honestly, that was it for a while. The entirety of pregame went by, nothing. Naturally, I took that as a sign to take my operation to the outfield.

Going into the top of the 1st, a home run was launched to left field behind the bullpens. Here’s that ball:

Usually, people aren’t allowed back there to grab home runs. However, somehow 2 college kids were granted access to down there with no connections to anyone. Excuse my language, but that kind of pissed me off for a bit. I got over it though, and I’m glad I did.

After that, I headed back to right field and positioned myself between where the grassy berm ends and the walkway to the bar starts.

Fast forward to the bottom of the 6th. I’ll be truthful, I kind of lost hope for snagging a homer. Everything has to go right to get one, and usually I don’t get more than one opportunity for one. That’s not to say I wouldn’t, all I remember is this:

Jose Rojas CRUSHED a deep fly ball in my direction. I read it perfectly and was right under it, genuinely thought I was going to catch it on the fly. However, the wind was blowing straight out, and it kept carrying going just over my head. Luckily…

I was able to beat the race and grab that ball. And as you can tell by the celebration, I was pretty happy about it. I’m also super happy that the broadcast caught me giving a point to the sky for my grandma.

I could snag literally any home run after this one, and NONE of them will be nearly as meaningful as this one. For how special my grandma was to me, snagging a home run for her was all I wanted to accomplish in this game. I honestly broke down in tears afterwards, and I’m still shedding some as I’m writing this.

That was basically it. Doubleheaders mean that each game is only 7 innings, and since the Railriders were leading 5-3, there wouldn’t need to be a bottom half to the 7th if they kept the lead. That they did, and despite only snagging 2 balls for the entire day, I’d say I was more than satisfied.

STATS FOR THESE GAMES

2 BALLS TOTAL:

– Game 1: toss up post game from Red Wings bullpen

– Game 2: Jose Rojas game home run, bottom of the 6th to right field

LIFETIME TOTAL: 261

Oh boy, another day at the happiest place on earth!

Mk, seriously, if you couldn’t tell, life has been rough mentally. At least as of recently. And since I went TWO WEEKS without the single thing that makes me happy (that being ball hawking), it felt good to be back at it.

As for the game itself, the Rochester Red Wings came to town for the first time this season. Considering it was a school night, I didn’t plan on staying the whole game, and wanted to keep it pretty laid back as far as snagging balls. It was sorta just a way to get me out of the house.

Like usual, I started making my rounds as soon as I got in. It was the first game of the series, so they definitely took BP. And as if knowing that off hand wasn’t enough, I think the batting cage being left out was a dead giveaway.

What’s weird is that usually the cage is the FIRST thing they put away after BP. Today? It was the LAST. It stayed out until like 10 minutes before first pitch.

Anyways, after left field, I quickly headed over to the right field bar where I knew some people. And as expected, said friends had a little something, my first ball of the day.

It’s nice having connections like that. Not only is it handy to get me on the board, but it’s also nice having people to socialize with about my nuts hobby. I can’t do that with many people at all, maybe one or two at most.

Upon leaving the bar, I headed back to left as the pitchers began warming up. Out there as well was my buddy and fellow ball hawk Gary. Super great guy, snagged over 400 balls at PNC Field ALONE. As I was chatting with him, Railriders starter Will Warren was finishing playing catch with catcher Carlos Narvaez. Apparently, Carlos was trying to get my attention to toss me a ball, but I was too busy talking to Gary to notice. Oh well.

Once I noticed that the position players were beginning to warm up, I ditched the bullpens and headed for the 3rd base side. There, Jeter Downs tossed up my second ball of the day once he finished playing catch.

The game itself went kind of slow. I couldn’t stay in my seat as usual, so I was all over the place. First inning, I stayed in foul territory, where to my surprise, I saw this guy step to the plate…

It completely crossed my mind that Joey Gallo was on a rehab assignment with Rochester, and he wouldn’t be the only MLB name in the building.

The bats woke up pretty early with Rochester banging in 4 quick runs, including a home run that would have been extremely easy to catch. So, naturally, I went to the outfield.

Remember how I said Gallo wasn’t the only MLB player on the rosters? Well to my surprise, out of the bullpen came…

Yea. That’s Richard Bleier. As in, MLB reliever Richard Bleier. For those who don’t know, Bleier is a really good friend of Zack Hample, the guy who’s the main reason I ball hawk. Bleier was just as cool and friendly as he was in Zack’s videos, so it was super cool to see him in person.

I don’t know what happened after that, as the middle of the game came a lot faster than i expected. Maybe it was because I was in the outfield the whole time? Considering I wasn’t staying the whole game, and that my ball total was still stuck at 2, I figured I’d try for one more 3rd out ball in the 7th inning and then head out. So, I did just that. I headed back to my seat just in time for the Railriders to finish the 7th with a strikeout. That ball, as seen in the picture, ended up in my hands. It was tossed up by Yankees pitcher Nick Burdi who was on rehab with the Railriders. He airmailed me by a row or two, but luckily nobody was there and it rolled right to me.

I knew Burdi would be there, so I was really happy to get a ball from him. Technically, it’s a MLB ball from a MLB pitcher, who happened to be 1/3 MLBers in the house.

So that’s all I’ve got for this game. Like I said at the start, life has been all over the place and not in the most favorable ways, so it felt good to be doing something I truly enjoy.

STATS FOR THIS GAME:

* 3 balls total:

– Handout by usher pregame

– Toss up by Jeter Downs pregame

– 3rd out toss up by Nick Burdi to end 7th

LIFETIME TOTAL: 259

I happen to be writing this entry at like 12:00 in the morning because I’m stressed, feel like crap, and can’t sleep. If it sounds sloppy, just bear with me.

It also happens that the Railriders were away the week this game took place, and for the second week in a row at that. Luckily, the Railriders yearly high school series was happening that same week. This game featured my high school, that being Valley View, and Scranton Prep. This was the scene upon arrival.

I purposely chose to sit on the 1st base side because the batters for both Valley View and Prep were mostly right handed. Notice the endless rows of empty seats?

Ouch. That was a bummer. Though I totally understand why they did that, between staffing issues and the fact that there was almost nobody there to begin with. I’m not going to complain.

I briefly moved behind home plate for a bit after seeing 2 foul balls go in that general vicinity. And of course, the second I left, a foul got drilled right where I was standing before. Luckily, there was no competition, and I was able to run and grab it.

Before anyone asks, no. I do NOT count high school balls into my lifetime total, only Minor League. It’s still always nice to get the first one out of the way. And yes, I gave it back after taking the photo.

After that, there honestly wasn’t too much more action. HS games only go 7 innings, so the end of the game came rather quickly.

As the Cougars triumphantly stormed the field after beating Prep 7-5, I too left triumphantly knowing I wouldn’t go insane from weeks without ball hawking. No, that wasn’t a joke, ball hawking is what keeps me going. Lol.

Going into this day, I was somewhat upset over the fact that I had just waited an unexpected extra 48 hours along with the 5 very long months of offseason from the one thing that makes me truly happy in life, that of course being ball hawking. The Railriders were scheduled to play their first home game on Tuesday the 2nd, but Mother Nature wouldn’t have it. Same for Wednesday the 3rd.

At the same time, however, I was also extremely excited to finally get back at it from where I left off last year. I didn’t have any big goals, besides maybe snagging the first PNC Field home run of 2024. (FORESHADOWING…) The forecast seemed promising, and sure enough, it stayed that way the entire day.

Let’s get down to business. Syracuse Mets @ Railriders. This was the first sight to my eyes upon arrival:

My first thought was, “Damn, did I miss this.”

After I got checked out and scanned my ticket, my first thought was to go straight for right field in case they had taken batting practice earlier. Along the way, I got my first glimpse at the new safety netting. I shared my opinion on that in both an earlier blog post and the YouTube video from this game, so check those out to hear my thoughts. Seeing it in person only made me hate it more, and it’d prove to be an added difficulty for both myself and the players throughout the game.

Just as I thought I had struck out in right, a very friendly usher flagged me down on my way to the bullpens and let me choose 1 of the 5 balls he had collected from BP. Met with an obvious choice, I took the “oddball” out of the 5:

I still have no clue why exactly the Railriders use Florida State League balls, but I’m more than happy to start my season with one.

Not long after, the pitchers and players of both teams began to warm up. At that point I had thought that it’d be packed. But, to my surprise…

Empty…emptier than I had ever seen it. The whole game would continue to be that way.

My next ball was tossed up by Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott. He didn’t hear my initial request, but happily hooked it up after I repeated myself a bit louder. First MLB ball of the year.

By the time he had finished, both sets of position players had already finished throwing, so I just decided to head to my seat. This was my view:

The next few innings would go by rather slow, not much action whatsoever other than snagging my 3rd ball of the day, a 3rd out ball that ended the top of the 1st. Remember what I said about the net? Both Railriders 3rd baseman Josh Groshans and I had trouble with it on this ball. His first attempt to make it over was too low and caught the tippy top of it, and I was positioned too far back on the 2nd. Guess it’s still a new thing for everyone to get used to…

Besides that, I literally just wandered around a bit and ended up grabbing some food to satisfy my cravings. It was the bottom of the 4th when literally right as I was finishing my last bite…

Everson Pereira blasted one to left field. Oh course, right as I had just left that area…it would have been such an easy catch too. That ball ended up bouncing off the concourse and down below to behind the bullpens.

I immediately dropped everything I was doing and raced to get over there with my retrieval device. Didn’t even think I had a chance on it. Upon arriving, I quickly realized that there were 3 balls in a similar spot. The first two looked like brand new pearls, and the third seemed like it might be the one. A groundskeeper then appeared out of nowhere and tossed up the first two up to the swarm of people next to me. The third went to you guessed it:

Sure enough, mine was rubbed with mud like all game balls are, and had some very convincing scuffs and marks. Right next to the middle “Official” stamp was a nice scuff from where it had hit the concourse, and right above that was a dirt mark from where it landed below. It HAD to be the one. And everyone I showed it to seemed to agree. Completely unexpected, but I had just achieved my goal of the day.

So triumphantly, I returned to my seat, where not long after I sat down, it began to rain again. Then rain became snow, then snow became sleet. And considering it was a school night, my parents and I decided that it’d be best to end the night there. So, we did just that. 4 was a respectable total considering the conditions, especially considering the game HR at the end.

STATS FOR THIS GAME:

#1: Usher pregame RF Berm

#2: Toss up pregame LF bullpen Christian Scott warm-up

#3: Toss up 3rd base side Josh Groshans 3rd out top of 1st

#4: Game home run LF bullpen Everson Pereira bottom of 4th tossed up by groundskeeper

LIFETIME TOTAL: 247

At the time of writing this, the 2024 ball hawking season is just under a week away. With that comes my views on what to expect this year. I honestly expect it to be very similar to last year, however there are 2 or 3 big changes that will/might be put into play. Most factors will be based on solely Scranton, PA and PNC Field, as well as some other aspects sprinkled in. So, let’s start with the big stuff first.

PROTECTIVE NETTING

As I’m sure most of you know, Major League Baseball has a requirement that all stadiums must abide by regarding protective netting. It must be a safe enough height and must extend from foul pole to foul pole. This rule will also begin to go into effect for all Minor League affiliated clubs no later than the 2025 season. This is one area that PNC Field has lacked for years, and while I definitely agree with the idea of safety, it’ll also make snagging foul balls and toss ups much more of a challenge. Especially considering the fact that the netting at PNC only extends to about 3/4ths of the dugouts.

CHANGE IN SEATING/GATE OPENING

Last season, I was a Railriders season ticket holder. This year, however, that will change. Considering they have changed their policies, I will not be returning as one. With that comes the need that I will not be able to see BP upon entering, unless I go through the team directly. However, it will also allow us to try out more seating options in different areas of the ballpark.

NEW BASEBALLS PUT INTO PLAY

I saved the best for last. This year, Minor League Baseball will be debuting a brand new ball for their fresh rebrand in conjunction with the Majors. As we can see below, the ball features the new MiLB logo featuring the iconic silhouette that we see in the big leagues, along with a much lighter blue ink than used in years past. Personally, I think these look really nice and can’t wait to snag some. Hopefully, Triple-A will use them along with the lower levels instead of standard MLB balls.

So besides some smaller changes such as new retrieval devices, debuting a new glove, and different filming techniques, that basically covers what I see happening in 2024. I won’t make any predictions yet in regards to players and game home runs considering I haven’t seen how any of these new guys play. As for content, I think you all are really going to enjoy what I have in mind for this season, so stay tuned!!! You won’t want to miss a single second of it.

The title is very self explanatory and is actually a question I get a lot. The answer is yes, I bowl. And it’s NOT a new thing either.

If you’ve been friends with me since 2nd grade, this probably isn’t new to you. For everyone else, however, it’s a very little known fact that I haven’t really publicized until now. In fact, I only just started taking it seriously last year, even though the 8 years I’ve done it may make it seem otherwise.

So usually, the next question I get is “Do you have your own ball?” The answer to this is, yet again, yes. Make it 3 of them at that. I have two main ones, and then one that’s kinda just there in case I want to use it. I won’t get to in depth with them unless you really want me to go into “total geek” mode and drop a 3 paragraph essay for them. I will, however, insert pics of them below.

Storm Hy-road Pearl (used as my main strike ball)

Storm Tropical Surge (primarily used for spare shooting)

Phillies plastic ball (Used miscellaneously and occasionally for spare shooting)

The final question I get is usually something along the lines of “Are you good at it?” or “Have you won in anything?” Those questions I can’t really give a definitive answer. I like to think I’m good, I average around 130 per game, with a high game of 210, could be better but could be worse. As for the winning, I’ve been in the same youth league for those 8 years but that’s more of just a “for fun” type thing, so the only real things I could mention is placing top 10 in a few scholarship tournaments. Hopefully that changes soon though.

I’m thinking about doing more content that’s bowling related, but I wanna hear your guys thoughts before I do anything, so let me know!

I’m sure you can guess what this entry is about judging by the title. We all know I take lots of pride in ball hawking, but why? What drives me to keep going? Let me explain, and it’s not an easy answer to take in.

I’ll be honest, I’m a pretty odd kid. Lots of people think I’m “weird” and they’re 100% right, I’m sure I make that very well known. Because of that, I truly struggle making friends. I’m not in a relationship, and I only have maybe 2 handfuls of really good and true friends (you know who you are if you’re reading this). And even then, I don’t spend as much time with them as I’d like. But what does any of that have to do with ball hawking?

Because of everything I just listed, life gets pretty rough at times, especially during the fall and winter. As soon as the spring and summer come around, however, that all changes. Sure, we all have our things that make us happy, but ball hawking does so much more than that for me. It allows me to slip away from the real world we live in. It gives me a sense of inclusion and belonging that I wouldn’t have without it. It’s something that I look forward to and am good at. Stuff as simple as catching a game home run makes my entire summer. Above all else, it’s something that I thoroughly enjoy and care about. It’s become a part of me, and that alone makes me motivated to keep going with it.

Lots of people put me down for it and avoid me because of it. But y’know what, I don’t let that bother me. I may be single, and I may not have as many close friends as I might want, but that’s okay. As long as I have ball hawking, that’s enough for me.

I’m nuts. Like, really nuts. But I think I’ve established that pretty well over the years. Sometimes because of my actions, others because of ideas like the one I’m about to share. Let me explain…

See the baseballs pictured?

During the 2023 season, the Miami Marlins celebrated their 30th anniversary, and the Tampa Bay Rays celebrated their 25th. Both of which got commemorative baseballs. Now you’re probably asking yourself, “Ayden, you own both already. What’s your point?” 

You see, those baseballs didn’t actually come from their respective teams. I got bored and purchased them, and rubbed the Marlins one with Lena Blackburne Mud for that game-ready look. The Rays one came from their batting practice. I still feel cheap for doing that, so I came up with a plan.

As far as the Rays go, I heard they had a crap ton of extra commemoratives and used them in batting practice at the end of 2023. Hopefully, they still have lots left, and I get to see them at some point in 2024. For the Marlins, I have that same hope if I make it to Miami, only there’s no proof that they had/have any extras. The second and final step would be to either snag one in BP or somehow make a connection between a player or staff member politely asking for one. Simple, right? 

It’s probably not going to be as simple as it sounds, but it never hurts to try. Especially in a year where commemoratives probably won’t be used as much as I’d like.

At the time of writing this entry (1/29/24), baseball season, specifically MiLB, is exactly one month away. With that, I’m sure many of you are wondering what to expect from me this coming season, and I’m happy to give answers. This year I’ll be planning:

1. College Ball Hawking: While I don’t count college balls, it’s still fun to catch them. And considering college ball starts a month before MLB and MiLB, I like to go to college games as “Ball Hawk Spring Training”. Hopefully I wind up at more than two this year, and I do intend on filming videos for them all.

Me at a local D3 game in 2022

2. Longer, better videos: Last season, my videos barely made it past 6-7 minutes, and half of the clips were just random fill ins with not many being actual snags/catches. This season, I plan to change that, with the help of the GoPro shown here. Not only will I be able to get lots more snags on camera, but I also won’t have to worry about getting a videographer.

3. Travels: With the travels 2023 brought, I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings. Hopefully these trips align with any teams that may be using commemorative baseballs so I can expand my logo ball collection, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll still be able to add more stadiums to my list of visited ones over the years, and add to my Major League lifetime total of 16.

Me with the Phillies Wall of Fame commemorative I snagged on 8/12/23

4. Charity Work: Last but not least, this season I hope to kick off my charity campaign. Basically, for every ball that I snag, I’ll donate money to various charities throughout the season. My goal is to partner with a sponsor so I can donate a reasonable amount per ball while also helping out said sponsor by promoting their company. And even if I don’t get a sponsor, I’ll still donate some sort of amount.

With all of these ideas in mind, I’m always open to new ones as well. Got suggestions? Shoot me an email (aydentempesta@gmail.com) and I’ll see what I can do! Here’s to an amazing 2024!