Calling all ballhawks

[yankees.stub]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

I dont consider myself a ballhawk of anykind, but I do have access to batting practice balls and game used ball from Yankee stadium (both Old and New Stadium).

(I can see the question coming about the special access ... I will try to be as brief as possible ... Ballboy's relative ... clubhouse's employee ... and poker-friendly acquaintances)

I lost count of number of balls I have in my possesion but I can say it is around 1500 or so. I get about 5 balls for every game - gave away batting practice balls to toddler (not kids) only (a sucker at heart for young toddler going to the game with their parents.

I kept most of the game used ball even if there is no significant or historical event happened.

As for keeping track of the balls - I took picture of the baseballs along with my tickets with some friendly soul (who I normally bribed with one of the balls as an eye-witness) along with his/her/family's contacts (phone number and email address). I have been successfully at getting eye-witness with this give-and-get method.



Yes, I do have all the balls that carried some weight - opening game, 1st win, Alex's HR balls (still have one from the 500 HR game with Alex signature along with youngest to 500 HR statement), Jeter's 2722nd hit game (I traded and gave away these balls to some die-hard fan who happened to be my boss, business partner, etc.)


I dont sell any of my baseballs - I trade for them mostly. Bartering system is BEST when it comes to game used items



Just some random thought!

[ironmanfan]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

Other than the foul ball that went off the bat of the Orioles' Gary Roenicke that found it's way to me in the stands in Memorial Stadium back in April, 1983 the only other time I "ballhawked" was in June of 1996, where I flew out to KC to see Cal Ripken Jr., pass the Japanese "Ironman," Sachio Kinugasa for the then World Record of 2215 consecutive games....We had gotten good seats behind home plate from an Orioles rep. and while I enjoyed the seats, I knew I couldn't get a foul ball due to the protection of the net...After a couple of beers, the idea hit me to attempt to buy an actual foul ball off someone in the stands of Kauffman Stadium....I watched a few fly into the seats and I tried to ascertain if the person who retrieved it would actually care to keep it or not....In the 4th inning or so, Chris Hoiles hit a pop fly foul ball that landed into the seats behind first base and I noted the guy who caught was a 20 something year old enjoying a few beers himself...Needless to say, I had my mark and the deal was consumated for $50....Knowing the rep that brought Kinugasa to town didn't hurt either, as we all rode back to the hotel after the game & Kinugasa signed my ball in the towncar (had Cal sign it several years later).....

[ballhawknet]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

Ok , here ya go

1) Wrigley Field 81x a year , Comiskey 30-40x , others 10-15x
2) Since 1977 - first ball from Ivan Dejesus and I still have it
3) About 4800 including MLB , MiLB , ST
4) 3 Gamers one day 2 times . ( 4 gamers - st ) ( 18 in bp wrigley )
5) Usually they all get marked lightly in pencil , then #'d hologram ,
photographed , then if sold all info included on signed letter.
6) Yes, you cant take them with you , and you cant eat them
7) Touch question , the odds agaisnt catching a Major Leagers first hit
are so great that it has to be Bill Hall's . I still have it only because
he was given the wrong ball(purposely)by the team Traveling Sec.
8) No, but some dont count spring training either and I do .
So to each his own. However , I do remember being peeved once
when a Ballhawk story came out saying I had 10 Sosa's and this other
hawk had 18. His were all batting practice.....lol.
9) Dont touch anyone Be kind to the newbies who do catch a ball.
For most people it is a once in a lifetime experience and I always try
to be the first to high five them and give them congrats. I actually do
want more ballhawks...the more the better. Plus they tend to get in
the way of the other hawks
10) As above per the documentation of baseballs , plus I have started to
use BallhawkCam . Ive been able to photomatch a number of home
runs this way http://www.youtube.com/user/ballhawknet

[joelsabi]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

saw ballhawknet online today. hoping he sees this and replies.

[gingi79]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

If you are a ballhawk and attended either the 9/17/09 Mets at Braves or 7/26/09 Braves at Brewers game and caught a BP, Foul, or HR baseball and have some solid proof of it, I am paying top dollar!

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

1) Mainly the Chicago stadiums, although I do go to Miller Park and other stadiums on occasion. I have caught at least 1 ball (usually BP) in every MLB stadium I've hawked in.
2) Close to 20 years, although I'm semi-retired now due to health limitations.
3)1,743
4)2 in a 1998 spring training game at Port Charlote FL (Dmitri Young and a Rangers prospect name Diaz. Regular season record: 1 (set 14 times). Postseason: 1 (set 3 different times).
5)Home Runs and Milestone balls (100, 200, etc.) are noted, the others rarely get itemized.
6)I sell most of 'em now...would pefer to keep them, but too many medical bills thse days.
7)Bret Boone (Reds) HR May 5, 1994 at Wrigley Field. Most memorable due to being mentioned by name on SportsCenter by Keith Olbermann (in his pre-political days) during the highlights. At the time, several Waveland Avenue hawks (does not include ballhawk.net) were royally PO'd at the attention my catch got on ESPN, as none of them had been similary been identified by name during network highlights...it REALLY frosted a few of 'em.
8)I count anything...hit, thrown, on the fly, on the bounce, whatever. Again, my approach on this front isn't well-received by some of the self-proclaimed superjocks on Waveland Ave., but outside of them, very few people would care HOW I got a ball, just that I actually GOT one.
9)Don't run over or shove people, and don't pimp friends. (Ballhawk vocabulary: "Pimp" has two different meanings, the first/second person definition being to steal a ball away in flight that is headed for another person through non-violent means, i.e., running in front of them, or sticking your mitt in front of theirs. The street shaggers rarely pimp each other, but some delight in pimping newbies, wannabes, etc., in the hopes that it will discourage them into not returning).
10)Apparently, my reputation and/or my personal LOA suffice.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[flota89]

Re: Calling all ballhawks

Well I don't call myself a ballhawk, but I do try to get baseballs at games.

1. Busch stadium
2. About two years so far
3. I'm not sure of the exact number, but close to 100.
4. I put every ball in a bag or box and write all the information about the ball on the box or on a piece of paper.
5. No
6. My favorite ball is a home run hit by Prince Fielder in the 2009 Home Run Derby. It was his 14th.
7.Yes, a ball is a ball
8. I just stay in my area, try not to run anyone over, and grab anything that comes close. If a player throws a ball to someone and they miss it, I grab it and keep it, unless it is a young kid or it was clear who the player was throwing it to. I have been pushed pretty hard before, so I don't like when people get a little too crazy.
9. I try to document everything as good as I can but since I keep all my baseballs, it only really matters that I know it is real.

[joelsabi]

Just wondering how many here call themself a ballhawk.

1. For what team/stadium?
2. how long so far?
3. How many baseballs in your collection?
4. Whats the most homerun baseballs you have caught in one game?
5. How do you keep track of your baseballs (do you have a system to know what ball is what)?
6. do you have plans to sell any of your baseballs?
7.what is your most prized baseball you have caught?
8. Do baseballs you ask from players or anyone on the field count in your baseball totals?
9. in your experience, are there any rules when trying to catch a baseball?
10. how do you prove that you caught a baseball if the catch was not caught by the television camera?