Saturday, July 30, 2011

Friends Forever

This past week we got a card in the mail from some life long friends, Dave and Carol Chanteleau. It was a special card showing their support for Gavin and I and also included a check to match our $33.25 donation we were up to on July 11. Thanks so much Mr. and Mrs. Chantelau!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Game 31: Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 4 Columbus Clippers 0

This was boys night out. My cousin Garrett wanted to make sure that he got to go to an Iron Pigs game while he was here in July. Sunday was the perfect day because it was also kids replica jersey night. We love going on giveaway nights...especially for a cool shirt! So it was my Uncle Rick, Garrett, Chad, Joe, Papa, dad, Gavin, and I all heading up to Lehigh Valley. Thanks to Tagg, we had seats in the shade right behind home plate. Larry Bowa was at the game sitting about 6 rows in front of us with Scott Mathieson who was charting pitches. In between innings I got to get their autographs. Larry signed my hat and Scott signed 6 cards that I had from the Iron Pigs and Phillies. If I hadn't gotten them it could have been one of my lower counts of the season but it turned out ok. Pigs win 4-0 and a great night with family!





Today's autographs: 16
Season autographs: 796
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $39.80

Louie Louie!!

I mentioned that while Bridgeport was in town this past weekend we got to see our friend Luis Lopez. He has had a long professional baseball career and is closing in on 2,000 minor league hits...only 7 more! We've had the opportunity to get to know Luis over the past few years and he is definitely one of the good guys of baseball. He has always signed autographs with a smile, played the game hard, and been a great guy to look up to.


Saturday night he came out of the clubhouse before the game and handed us a bat. It was not cracked but was a game used bat and he signed it, "God bless you guys, Luis Lopez" This one is definitely going in our sports room on display! He was sporting one of the "Team Up For Alopecia Areata" bands this weekend that we gave him and started out the game 3-3 helping him get closer to his 2,000! Thanks Luis!


Today's autographs: 1
Season autographs: 780
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $39.00

Monday, July 25, 2011

Game 29: Bridgeport Bluefish 7 Lancaster Barnstormers 1 Game 30: Bridgeport Bluefish 15 Lancaster Barnstormers 11

Friday and Saturday night we went to the Barnstormers games against the Bridgeport Bluefish. We always love to watch the Bluefish and cheer on our friends Luis Lopez, Adam Greenberg, and Antonio Alfonseca. The whole Bluefish team is always really nice to us. We got there really early on Friday to tape our new kid reporter videos. It was soooooo HOT! If it wasn't the Bluefish we may not have stayed for the games this weekend. The heat index was 112 on Friday and almost just as hot on Saturday. The Barnstormers had cooling stations set up and even gave away free slushies, so that made it nice. Gary Gaetti was here helping the Barnstormers out as a coach this weeknd, so I was able to get a few cards signed from him too. Great, but HOT, couple of nighs at the park.

My cousins Brooke and Garrett with us and Adam Greenberg





Today's autographs: 26
Season autographs: 779
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $38.95

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Louisville Slugger!

Our friends Aaron and Meg have been traveling the US and one of their latest stops took them to Louisville, KY. They visited the Louisville Slugger museum which is a place we definitely need to get to. There was a package for Gavin and I when we got home from vacation with a few special gifts. We each got our own Louisville Slugger wooden bat engraved with our names and Aaron got a card made and signed it for us. Thanks so much for thinking of us while on your trip. They also made a donation to Autographs 4 Alopecia. Thanks Aaron and Meg!!!




Today's autographs: 2
Season autographs: 753
Other donation: $25
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $37.65

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Game 28: Bowie Baysox 4 Harrisburg Senators 2

Monday night we headed up to Harrisburg to watch the Senators take on the Bowie Baysox. It is the 3rd time we've seen Bowie play this season. Back in May the Baysox invited us down and I was able to throw out a first pitch and get quite a few autographs, so we're getting to know who their players are. It was cool too because the Orioles announced that Luke Scott would be doing a rehab assignment for the Baysox that night too...we were hoping to snag his autograph.

The big story right now in Harrisburg is Bryce Harper, the 18 year old number 1 prospect in all of baseball. It was our first chance to see him live and we were hoping for and autograph. Just as the players started coming out, the tarp was put on the field for a rain delay! We waited out the delay and Harper came over to sign for a few minutes. We were just a few people away when he quit signing. Dad said we could wait after to see if we could get him, but he snuck out the front. It would have been a little more disappointing, but we did get to get Luke Scott's autograph and a picture with hm. I also got to say Hi to Mr. Kendall the Baysox manager and he remembered me and talked to me for a couple minutes. Overall a good night...and a late night.


Orioles slugger Luke Scott


just missed...




Today's autographs: 17
Season autographs: 751
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $37.55

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Game 27: Somerst Patriots 9 Camden Riversharks 1

On the way home from Long Beach Island, we took a little detour and headed north to Bridgewater, NJ to watch the Somerset Patriots take on the Camden Riversharks. It was a beautiful day for baseball and our first time seeing the Patriots at home. We have now been to every Atlantic League ballpark except Southern Maryland. It was autograph Sunday and the entire Patriot team was out...WOW! I had the 2011 team set and got almost all of them autographed. Gavin worked on the poster they gave out so it was a great day. We set a new single game record with 64 autographs! Special thanks to our friend Rob Crossman who helped make it a great day at the ballpark.


Blake, Gavin, and Rob








Today's autographs: 64
Season autographs: 734
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $36.70

Back from Vacation

We spent the last week at Long Beach Island enjoying the sun and sand. Had a great time and even caught a ball game on the way home. Back to the updates...busy week ahead!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Iowa Inspirations

This past weekend we got a special package from our dad's cousin in Iowa. Josh and Jenise Colyer sent us a signed baseball by their family. Normally the sweet spot on the ball is reserved for the manager of a team...now we know who rules that house! :) They also included $20 for us. Thanks Josh, Jenise, Caleb, Kietlyn, and Landon for the ball, the money, and following along. We love you guys can't wait to see you again.





Today's autographs: 5
Season autographs: 670
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $33.50

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mail Call!

It's been a while, but we got a couple of cool surprises in the mailbox today. I received a 2008 Midland Rockhounds team set which has current Barnstormer Tommy Everidge. That was sent to me by Steve and Lily Green of STB Sports, which is a great source for minor league card sets. Can't wait to get the card signed after the all star break. I also received a 2011 team card set from the Lynchburg Hillcats, the High A team for the Atlanta Braves. It is my first 2011 team set that I've had donated and can't wait to see when I could get them signed. Thanks to the Greens and the Hillcats for supporting Gavin and I in our effort.



Monday, July 11, 2011

Games 24, 25, and 26: Lancaster Barnstormers first half Division Champs!

Wow! What a weekend! The Barnstormers went into the weekend 4 game series with the rival York Revolution with a 1 game lead and needed to split the series to win the first half. They won the first 2, so the last 2 didn't matter and some guys got to get rested up before the all star break. It was a great weekend for autographs too! York may be our rival, but the team is full of nice guys that were great about signing autographs, chatting with us, and even playing catch on the field with us. We got there at 3:00 Sunday (for 6:00 game) to do our next kid reporters taping. A few snags in the schedule with the all star break here didn't allow it to happen, but we did get to checkout the video and sound room and listen to all the sound effects with Tom Richards. We also went down to play catch and Ricardo Gomez started throwing with us. He is a pitcher with York that played for the Barnstormers for 2 seasons. All in all a great weekend...especially knowing that we'll have playoff baseball in Lancaster for the first time in 5 years!




York outfielder Chris Walker








Weekend autographs: 64
Season autographs: 665
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $33.25

Friday, July 8, 2011

Farrell's Fifty!

This past week while at a Barnstormers game I was in the team store looking around. John Farrell, the merchandise manager, came up to me and said that he saw the story on CBS 21. He then gave me a $50 donation for alopecia. Thank you so much Mr. Farrell...We really appreciate it. There have also been other people that have asked about donations so I will have more information on that early next week.





Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Lancaster Barnstormers Kid Reporters

Blake talking to the players about cartoons



Gavin finding out who is the funniest and messiest guy in the clubhouse

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Game 23: LV Iron Pigs 3 Rochester Red Wings 1

Sunday we made the trip back to Lehigh Valley to watch the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs take on the Rochester Red Wings. It was a beautiful night for baseball and fireworks. Our whole family went along with my Uncle Rick, Aunt Ginger, and Chad. It was fun hanging out with them and seeing the Iron Pigs win. They were wearing special patriotic jerseys and were doing a raffle for one signed by the whole team! That would have been awesome to get to sell for alopecia but maybe next time. No trip to Lehigh Valley is complete without a piece of corn on the cob from AW Shucks...always great! We also got to meet Ryne Sandberg, Hall of Famer who is manager for the Iron Pigs. Great day for autographs, baseball, family, and fireworks!


Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg



The whole gang





Today's autographs: 15
Season autographs: 601
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $30.05

Monday, July 4, 2011

Game 22: York Revolution 10 Camden Riversharks 4

Friday night, we took my cousin Chad across the river to see the York Revolution take on the Camden Riversharks. We were cheering for the Riversharks since we know a couple of their players and York is battling Lancaster for first place with just a week to go in the first half. We also wanted to see former Phillies 3rd baseman and world champion, Pedro Feliz, who is now playing for the Riversharks. He was really nice and signed autographs and took a picture with us. We also got to see Lloyd Turner, Juan Francia, and Octavio Martinez...all 3 are former Barnstormers. Great night of baseball except that York won. Should be an exciting weekend next weekend when they finish up with 3 at Lancaster!



Former Phillies 3b Pedro Feliz



Chad, Gavin, and Blake



Gavin (purple) got to do the fruit race










Today's autographs: 36
Season autographs: 586
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $29.30