yazfan71's IP Success Thread

[yazfan71]

So last night was Padres Affiliation Night at Parkview Field with the TinCaps. We were hoping that they'd be either auctioning off or giving away the jerseys in a drawing, but no such luck. It was a beautiful day for baseball as they finished up their series with the South Bend Cubs & even though they couldn't pull off a sweep, it was still a good day. Even though I only managed to come home with 1 autograph & I wasn't able to get the line up card, my wife got tossed one of the bullpen balls & I did manage to bring home this little gem from our starting shortstop....



So that brings my 2015 totals to:
163 signatures
1 line up card
3 baseballs (2 gu, 1 bp)
1 bat

That will be it for a little while as work is gonna get in the way for the rest of the month!

[yazfan71]

My wife & daughter were going to the TinCaps game today so my daughter could get her some autographs on the ball she snagged the other week. I had to work today, but called my wife on my break to see how she was doing. The first thing she asked me was if I was calling to tell her that I was taking off work early to go to the game with them. Now to be honest that thought hadn't crossed my mind as it's near impossible for me to just take off whenever I feel like it from work, so I told her no. Well about 10 minutes later the idea of going to the game was in my head & I knew that the jobs I was going to run on my machine actually played into my favor. So I presented the idea to my supervisor & since he knows I've got another 7 days to go before I get a full day off he said he didn't have a problem with it if I took off a little early.

Even though I didn't make it to the start of the game, everything worked out great. The staff that takes money for parking were already gone, so I got to park for free. Then as I'm walking up to the ticket booth, one of the staff asked me if I was going to buy a ticket for todays game as he had an extra that someone else had given to them that wasn't going to get used! Jackpot! Nothing better than free baseball!

Well, the game was just awful today so I guess it was God's way of telling me that he didn't want me to have to pay to watch it! The TinCaps had more errors today than hits 2:1. The lone hit didn't even come until the 8th inning from the number 9 hitter! I have been first & foremost a baseball fan, so to see these guys screw up when it comes to the fundamentals just drives me nuts.

Anyway, enough of me complaining....back to the good stuff. It may have taken me 4 games with the visiting South Bend Cubs, but I finally managed to get the line up card from the game.



The manager, Jimmy Gonzalez was kind enough to sign it for me before handing it over. I was only able to get C - Gloskar Amaya & SS - Jason Vosler to sign the card before they left the playing field as they were all eager to head back home after the road trip.

After that I headed over to get in line with my wife & daughter for the post-game autograph session with the TinCaps. Since this game was unplanned for me, I didn't have anything with me to really get signed. Fortunately, my daughter got one of the mini helmets filled with ice cream that she was gonna throw away when she was done. So I took & washed it out & decided to get a signature on it. I also figured that I'd get my ticket signed from the game as well. Got them both signed by the TinCaps starting CF - Michael Gettys.



So that brings my 2015 totals to:
168 signatures
2 line up cards
3 baseballs (2 gu, 1 bp)
1 bat

OK, so I really mean it this time that this will be it for this month, as no one in the family has tickets or are making plans to attend any other games until the second week of May!

[yazfan71]

I know, I know....I said that I wasn't going to make it to any games until the second week of May. But my car died on me about 5 miles into my 52 mile drive into work on Tuesday, so I called in to get it into the shop. My wife & I decided to go to the game that night so the day wouldn't be a total waste.

The Dayton Dragons were in town & I must say that they have one of the coolest looking buses for a single-A club that I've ever seen...


Since I wore my Reds gear. the players were more than happy to stop & sign for me. Here's how I did:


Manager - Jose Nieves


1B - Avain Rachal
C - Jose Ortiz
2B - Ty Washington
OF - Jimmy Pickens
C - Garrett Boulware


OF - Brian O'Grady
Hitting Coach - Luis Bolivar
P - Tyler Mahle
P - Mark Armstrong
P - Brennan Bernardino


OF - Narciso Crook
2B - Ronald Bueno
P - Scott Brattvet
OF - Aristides Aquino
P - Jake Paulson
P - Conor Krauss


P - Alejandro Chacin
SS - Wendell Soto
3B - Gavin LaValley
OF - Jonathan Reynoso
SS - Luis Gonzalez
P - Brian Hunter
C - Julio Morillo

I also took a full size Reds batting helmet for them to sign which all of them did!





The one signature that I wanted to get was that of Pitching Coach, Tom Browning. Not only was it his birthday, but when he threw the first perfect game in Reds history, he did so on my birthday! I missed getting him before the game & figured I'd try afterwards. The problem was that both Luis Gonzalez & Wendell Soto broke bats this game & I wanted to try for one of them as well. I also like getting the line-up cards from the games. So first I see Luis leaving & ask him about his broken bat. He said he needed it but did apologize. Next came Wendell, who said his was still in the dugout but he didn't care if I got it. Well, while talking to Wendell, I ended up missing both Tom & Jose leaving the field, so no auto or line-up card. So then I'm waiting for anyone else to walk over by the bat rack where Wendell's broken bat was at. I'm not sure who the guy was, as he wasn't in a uniform, but you'd have thought I was asking for his unborn child! He had a stern look on his face & with attitude a very loud "NO!" came from him when I asked him for the broken bat. Even after I had told him that Wendell said he didn't care. So, what should have been a great day for memorabilia ended in defeat!

So, barring any other misfortunes in my regular life, my next autograph opportunity will be with the Lake County Captains. I was actually hoping to make it for the entire 4 game series, but my class got rescheduled for that Tuesday's game, so I will only be able to make it to 3 of them. I had pretty good luck with them last season, so we'll see if my luck holds!

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
216 signatures
2 line up cards
3 baseballs (2 gu, 1 bp)
1 bat

[yazfan71]

All I can say about Monday nights game is WOW! The Captains thoroughly destroyed the TinCaps 16-5 & while I didn't get the entire starting line-up players autographs on this night, I did get the heavy hitters of the game! Here's how I did:


These were actually the first two players that I handed the ball to & they bothtook the sweet spot!
C - Fransico Mejia (3/5, 2-2b, 1-R, 2-RBI)
DH - Bobby Bradley (3/4, 2-HR, 3-R, 5-RBI)


OF - Dorssys Paulino
P - Anderson Polanco


DH - David Armendariz
3B - Taylor Murphy (4/6, 1-HR, 2-R, 4-RBI)
P - JP Feyereisen
OF - Bobby Ison
Pitching Coach - Steve Karsay


Hitting Coach - Larry Day
P - Cameron Hill
P - Jordan Carter
P - David Speer


1B - Grant Fink
C - Martin Cervenka
P - Justin Garcia
P - Luke Eubank

The weird thing was that I actually got snubbed by the manager! That really threw me off, considering that the pitching coach walked all the way to the bullpen & back to sign for me so he could put everything down that he was carrying first. I didn't even get a chance to ask the manager for the line-up card as he immediately rolled it up & threw it away! Fortunately for me though, the batboy recognizes my wife & I as we attend games so frequently that I asked him if he could reach in there & grab it for me! Being the trooper that he is, he did just that!
So with any luck, later today now, I can get this bad boy signed by the starting lineup!


I don't think I'll try & ask the manager to sign it though as he'll probably ask how in the world I got it to begin with!

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
233 autographs
3 line-up cards
3 balls (2-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat

[yazfan71]

This was our first ever day game other than Sundays that we have attended at Parkview Field. Apparently the area schools decided to have their field trips today as well so the place was packed. Unfortunately, the TinCaps lost for the 3rd straight day & have been outscored so far 26-7. I went down before the game to try & get the line-up card that I picked up on Monday & here's how I did:


OF - Greg Allen
OF - Dorssys Paulino
OF - Bobby Ison
C - Francisco Mejia
1B - Grant Fink

I got one more shot tomorrow night to finish getting this signed by the starting line-up. I did try to get the manager to sign the card, but got snubbed again. Apparently, he has something against signing autographs.

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
238 autographs
3 line-up cards
3 balls (2-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat

[yazfan71]

So these are from last Thursday nights game at Parkview Field, which is the only game last week that I knew for certain that we were attending. It was turn the park pink night with the TinCaps players all wearing pink jerseys with them being auctioned off with the proceeds going to breast cancer. My wife desperately wanted one, especially since I had gotten 3 jerseys last season. But I'll get to all of that in a minute....

First things first, that line-up card that I had been working on after obtaining it on Monday. Well, I wasn't quite able to get it completely filled with everyone that played in the game, but I was able to obtain a few more. Here's how I did:


2B - Claudio Bautista
SS - Yu-Cheng Chang
3B - Taylor Murphy
DH - Bobby Bradley
P - Justin Garcia

The only ones that I am missing are OF - David Armendariz (who came in for Bradley), starting pitcher - Jordan Milbrath & relief pitcher - David Speer. I almost forgot to mention, Manager - Shaun Larkin...When he was walking out over to the dugout before the game, he saw me standing over beside the dugout where I had been for the previous games. As soon as he noticed me, he turned his head away from me to walk right past. I told him as he walked by, not to worry this time as I wasn't going to bother to even ask for his autograph!

I did talk to Bobby for a bit before the game as I also wanted him to sign my ticket from Monday's game since he hit 2 home runs that day. As it so happens, Monday was only his 2nd game back from coming off the DL. He ended up not playing on Wednesday night, but Thursday came back with a bang & hit another HR! He has a very good eye for the ball for only being 18 years old. I don't see him staying in low-A ball for long!


If he's still at Lake County by mid-June, look for him to be in the MWL All-Star Game in Peoria!

The TinCaps didn't fare to well against Lake County this series, losing all 4 games getting outscored 34-11. It definitely wasn't a pretty sight. Thursday's game was by far the best fundamentally played game that we saw, with only 1 error per team being committed, so for me even with the TinCaps loss it was a great game! The turn the park pink night was not as big of a success as it had been in the past, primarily since its' primary sponsor, Vera Bradley, who had always been known for being American-made announced earlier in the year that they were closing down facilities in the U.S. & starting to manufacture in foreign countries. This did however, make obtaining my wife the jersey that she had wanted so much easier! In fact, 7 out of the 35 jerseys being auctioned off didn't even receive a bid. So here is what she got:




TinCaps starting RF - Franmil Reyes signed game worn jersey. He also signed the card that she held up at the end of the game to know who won his jersey!

I had put in some extra class hours at work so that I'd have some extra money in case the auctions went too high. Since I had money left over & so many weren't even getting bid on, I decided that she should have 2 pink jerseys, so I got her this one as well!




TinCaps Manager - Francisco Morales

She wasn't expecting this one, but she actually enjoyed meeting him on the field so much more than she did meeting Franmil! Mr Morales seemed more excited than we were being down there on the field! He thanked us both for our support of the team, shook my hand & gave my wife a great big hug! She was even happier when I told her that he not only signed the jersey but added a "Best Wishes" inscription!


That really did make her night!

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
248 autographs
3 line-up cards
3 balls (2-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat
2 jerseys

Next game: Tuesday, May 26th vs. Great Lakes Loons & it's a double-header to boot!

[yazfan71]

So tonight was the TinCaps first night back from an 8 game road trip. They were playing a double-header tonight against the Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers affiliate) to make up some of the games from the beginning of the season that got rained out. Speaking of rain, we had a nasty storm that made it appear that Parkview Field actually might fall prey to its first ever rain-out in the 6 year history of the park. Fortunately though, it was a very fast moving storm that past by us before game time even started. It did however, for some reason delay the opening of the main gates & we weren't allowed in the park until a half hour before game time. So by the time we got to our seats (and we were the first ones even through the gate) all of the position players were already out in the field warming up. So my team ball fell quite a bit short from being full of signatures. But here's how I did:


Manager - Luis Matos


P - Kyle Hooper
P - J.D. Underwood
P - Karch Kowalczyk
Coach - Angel Sanchez


P - Grant Holmes
P - Derrick Sylvester


P - David Reid-Foley


P - Joe Broussard
P - Charles "Bubby" Rossman

After all the pitchers had come through, I knew that would be it for pre-game from the Loons, so I thought I'd try & get the TinCaps newest SS, 18-yr-old Ruddy Giron, who just started with the team on their first day of the road trip. He lit the MWL on fire his first week, hitting .526 & winning MWL Player Of The Week honors. I had actually found a fitted TinCaps hat at a rummage sale over the weekend that I thought would be perfect to have him sign. I caught him, right before he was walking back to the dugout from warming up & he snubbed me! I was the only one there graphing too. But hey, it's okay, I've got broad shoulders....let's see how the kid does at home now. Well let's just say he didn't fare to well for the home crowd going 0-6, 3K, 1E. So maybe I'll just hang onto that cap for someone else to sign in case this trend lasts a while.

Well, game 1 went to the TinCaps 4-2, so I knew that I probably wouldn't get any of the position players from the Loons after game 1 & boy was I right. The bright spot was that their catcher in game 1 was Spencer Navin, who used to play with Yaz at Vanderbilt. I chatted it up with him everytime he went to the on-deck circle. Of course he didn't play in game 2, which also went to the TinCaps by way of a walk-off triple. So needless to say the signing after game 2 wasn't going to be easy either. I did however catch Spencer walking off & he was the lone Loon player that even looked our way. Being the great guy that he is, he didn't hesitate to sign my tickets from the game & thanked me for coming out & wishing him well.



Now this last bit I really need to explain. I don't know if any of you follow Bowman on twitter, but they have been having contests giving away special packs of 2015 Bowman cards & tonight contest was that you had to guess how many hits Loons OF, Alex Verdugo would get in the double-header tonight. Needless to say, I got it wrong. Poor guy had a lousy night & to make matters worse, he misplayed the ball that resulted in the walk-off. After everyone had left, he just sat there in the dugout collecting his thoughts. My wife was ready to leave, but I wanted to give him one last chance at signing the card that I had of him. My daughter stayed down there with me as she was given one of the foul balls by a Loons player earlier in the game & she wanted it signed by Alex. We waited for almost 15 minutes & my daughter was asking me if we should just leave since he looked so disgusted with himself. The thought had crossed my mind as I knew he wasn't going to be in the best of moods, but I wanted to see how this kid would handle himself. By the time he got up, no one else was around. He got over to us & I politely asked him if he'd sign his card for me. He did without hesitation & signed the ball for my daughter as well. I was happy to see that he wasn't going to let anger get the best of him, especially when dealing with fans immediately following. The kid has a good head on his shoulders so I had to wish him all the best!



I may not have won a Bowman pack with a card of him in it, but I'll take this one over the pack pulled any day!

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
262 autographs
3 line-up cards
4 balls (3-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat
2 jerseys

Next game for me is June 1st when the West Michigan Whitecaps come to town! Wish me luck!

[yazfan71]

Went to the TinCaps game last night where they took on the West Michigan Whitecaps. There were several other people there graphing so I didn't do as well as I hoped I would. I did help a few kids get signatures, so I guess I was partially to blame for not getting as many autographs. Anyway, here is how I did:


Manager - Andrew Graham


P - A.J. Ladwig
Pitching Coach - Mark Johnson
3B - Zach Sheperd
OF - Austin Schotts
1B - Will Kengor


P - Gage Smith
P - Tyler Ford
P - Jeff Thompson
P - Gabe Speier


P - Spenser Watkins


P - Gabe Hemmer

I had this batting helmet sitting around so I thought that I'd try & get it signed as well.


P - A.J. Ladwig
OF - Austin Schotts


Pitching Coach - Mark Johnson
3B - Zach Sheperd

After missing so many of the Whitecaps players, I decided that I'd try & get the TinCaps newest player again.


SS - Ruddy Giron

I was hoping that he would've centered it on the bill of the cap better since I didn't plan on having anyone else sign it, but at least I got it finally. The kid is still batting over .400 & even though we still haven't seen him get a hit yet, his introduction to the team has definitely ignited a spark with the rest of the players. The TinCaps had quite a run, winning 9 of their games over the last 2 weeks. Maybe he's just what they needed!

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
279 autographs
3 line-up cards
4 balls (3-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat
2 jerseys

Next game for us is on June 11th, where the Kane County Cougars are in town. It's also Colts Night at Parkview Field where kicker Adam Vinatieri and long snapper Matt Overton will appear, as well as a few of the Colts cheerleaders. So it should be a good night for signatures!

[yazfan71]

It was Indianapolis Colts Night at Parkview Field tonight where the TinCaps took on the Kane County Cougars. As soon as my wife & I got there we headed straight for the line to get signatures from Matt Overton & Adam Vinatieri. Since neither of us move as quickly as we used to I am glad that we went straight there. After standing in line for nearly a half hour they made an announcement that the signing line was going to be cut off due to time limits. It seemed like we didn't even move 50 feet in that half hour & we had to deal with a couple trying to cut in line! Well, we managed to be ahead of the cut off & we started moving up in line when our daughter called my wife. Her & her boyfriend were attending the game with us but had drove up by themselves & low & behold they forgot to bring any cash to pay for parking! And just as we were about to start up the steps to the autograph pavillion. So, my wife takes off to go give them some cash so they can park, but doesn't make it back in time to help me with the signatures. Fortunately for me both Matt & Adam understood the situation & both of them signed a pair of items for me! What great guys!


I have had these pennants just lying around & thank God I did, since I'm not really a big football fan I wasn't really sure what I was going to have Vinatieri sign!


Close up view of the signatures.

I was so glad that I had seen online that they were giving away Colts posters as I had absolutely nothing for Overton to sign. I couldn't really have him sign the Superbowl pennants as he wasn't even in the NFL then. Even though the posters were just generic schedule posters, they did the job just fine!


I just wish they hadn't been so dark as the signatures don't show up as well. But, free is free & it was better than nothing!


Close up view of the signatures. I would have liked to have gotten a photo with them but since I didn't have anyone up there with me that was out of the question.

So, by the time I got to our seats I had missed a few of the Cougars players walk by as they were already out on the field warming up. But all in all I still think I did rather well. Here's how I did:


Manager - Mark Grudzielanek


SS - Ildemaro Vargas
1B - Marty Herum (2/5, 1R)
DH - Ryan Hutchison (2/4, 1R, 1-2b, 2-RBI)
3B - Joe Munoz (4/4, 4R, 2-HR, 5-RBI, 1-BB)


P - Tom Jameson
C - Jose Queliz
P - Steve Hathaway


OF - Colin Bray (2/5, 3R, 1-2b)
2B - Cody Regis (1/4, 1-BB)
P - Cody Geyer
P - Nick Baker


OF - Chuck Taylor (1/5, but should have been 1/4, 1-BB but the Umpire made a very bad call.)
P - Jency Solis

Before the game, we stopped by a local hobby shop so I could get a pair of holders for the pennants & while there my wife noticed a box of 2015 Bowman, so we bought a few packs. Glad we did as we ended up pulling this one that I was able to prep & get signed:


C - Jose Queliz

We also pulled the base card of pitcher, Touki Toussaint, but for whatever reason he wasn't at the game tonight. After the game, I was hoping to get the line up card from Grudzielanek, but no such luck. I was able to stop Joe Munoz & congratulate him on the outstanding performance! He thanked me by signing a pair of tickets!



So that brings my 2015 totals to:
300 autographs
3 line-up cards
4 balls (3-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat
2 jerseys

Next game for us is Saturday night when the Clinton Lumberkings are in town! Wish me luck!

[yazfan71]

So tonight was the TinCaps SNL theme night & my only chance to get signatures from the Clinton Lumberkings as I have to work the next 2 days. Mother Nature didn't like me at all today, as she waited until we got to the stadium to start raining and the system wasn't going to let up long enough for them to play. Good news is I can redeem the tickets for another night, bad news is I was only able to get 4 autographs! So this is going to be a very short post, but here's how I did:


P - Hawtin Buchanan
1B - Kristian Brito
3B - Luis Caballero


P - Zack Littell

So that brings my 2015 totals to:
304 autographs
3 line-up cards
4 balls (3-gu, 1-bp)
1 bat
2 jerseys

Next game for us is hopefully Friday night when the Bowling Green Hot Rods are in town for Star Wars Night! Wish me luck!