Fish and Monkeys in Minor League Baseball

A few weekends ago, we got to catch up with our friend Luis Lopez and the Bridgeport Bluefish.  We always look forward to the Bluefish coming to town and getting to see Luis.  With our busy baseball schedule, this is the first time we got to see him this season.  We also took Kyle tonight so he could see the Cowboy Monkey.  He was so excited!  The Cowboy Monkey is on of the most popular acts in Minor League Baseball right now and is definitely worth seeing.  It was a fun night of friends, baseball, autographs, and monkeys!  You never know what you'll see at the ball park!  The Barnstormers won the game 11-3.

Blake, Kyle, Luis, and Gavin

Luis signing Kyle's glove

"Look at the monkey!"

Cowboy Monkey Rodeo

Today's Autographs: 18

2014 Autographs: 165
2014 My Donation $8.25

Game 18 and 19: Gone Fishing

Labor Day weekend was a good weekend for baseball as one of our favorites were coming to town...the Bridgeport Bluefish.  We have always enjoyed watching them in Lancaster and York, mainly to see Luis Lopez.  It was good to see Luis and he was classy as always.

Luis Lopez talking to Gavin

Blake getting Yusuf Carter to sign



Saturday night we got to watch Dwayne Pollok tie the Atlantic League record with 18 wins and set the Barnstormers single season strikeout record.  Dwayne has put together 2 straight awesome summers pitching here and someone should sign him in the off season!  It seemed like the only one hitting him was Luis Lopez who was 2-4 Friday and had 6 hits in the 3 game series.

 

2 of our favorites...Dwayne Pollok vs Luis Lopez

 

Sunday was fun as always as we got to play catch on the field.  Kyle was with us and played catch  and helped us get autographs too.  He was excited to help get autographs, but was really excited to see Elmo was there and handing out goldfish.

Down on the field

Kyle with Elmo

Jerry Owens signing autographs

Kyle waiting to get his ball signed

It was a great series as the Barnstormers won 2 out of 3 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive!

Today's Autographs: 48
 2013 Autographs: 359
2013 My donation: $17.95

Game 7: Gone Fishin!

If you've followed our site for the past few years, probably the Bridgeport Bluefish have gotten the 2nd most coverage to our hometown Lancaster Barnstormers.  Bridgeport has always been our "other" team in the Atlantic League mostly because of Luis Lopez and Adam Greenberg.  They were in town this weekend and dad and Gavin were going over Saturday night.  Gavin was  really excited to get to see Luis again and was even sporting his all star shirt from 2011!  They got there early and Gavin had his Bluefish cards out to sign.  Adam Greenberg is on the DL and didn't make the trip but we did have other Bluefish cards to get signed. 

Gavin with Luis Lopez

2011 All Star shirt

Gavin got to talk to Luis for a while and fill him in on our seasons and hear about how the Bluefish were doing too.  One of our other favorite former Barnstormers, Iggy Suarez, is now with the Bluefish so it was fun catching up with him as well.  All the other guys signed and were really nice, especially Alexis Gomez.  He introduced himself to Gavin and talked for a couple of minutes while signing some cards.  After we went home we did find some more cards of him too!  We can't wait to see the Fish again and are excited because they will have a team card set this year for the first time since 2008! 

As for the game, it was a great pitchers duel that the Barnstormers won 1-0.  Post game fireworks shot off from the field ended a great night of baseball and catching up with some of our favorite ballplayers.  Luis gave Gavin his wristband after the game too...he has finally taken it off.  :)

Gavin with Luis' wrist band

He wore his new wrist band to bed!

Today's Autographs:  21
2013 Autographs: 110
2013 My donation: $5.50

One At Bat ... Adam Greenberg

In April of 2008 we attended a Barnstormers game with our family to celebrate Gavin's 3rd birthday.  They were playing the Bridgeport Bluefish.  That night was the first night we met Adam Greenberg.  We knew of Adam's story with the Cubs because of my friend Matt Murton and had followed his comeback.  We got to know him and watched him play whenever the team would come to Lancaster or York and always cheered for him to make a comeback to Major League Baseball. Adam signed many baseballs, programs, cards, and photos for us and even took us into the clubhouse to hang out. He even wore the NAAF baseball band during a few games last season. His story had been featured on ESPN's Outside the Lines a couple of times and we would always watch. 

In the spring of 2012, Matt Liston made a campaign to try to get Adam One At Bat at in the big leagues.    The Miami Marlins made a classy move and signed Adam to a 1 day contract with the promise to get him his One At Bat on Tuesday night.  We were so excited for Adam and couldn't wait to watch.  We were hoping that he would get to play the whole game, but Ozzie Guillen said he would just use him as a pinch hitter.  He had a tough draw in 20 game winner and Cy Young candidate...knuckleballer RA Dickey.  When Adam came to the plate he received a standing ovation from the Marlins crowd.  The at bat didn't last long as Dickey struck him out on 3 pitches but we couldn't help but smile as Adam walked off the field to another standing ovation from the crowd.

His journey made such an impact that Topps announced that Adam will be featured in their 2013 set and have his very own Marlins card.  We can't wait to ad a few of these to our collection!

It made us proud to have gotten to know Adam over the last 4 years.  Thanks Adam for the many pictures, autographs, and good times at the ballpark.  We hope to see you again in 2013 with the same drive to get back to the bigs.

The Real Good Guys

We attend many Atlantic League games during the season, but Saturday night we had the opportunity to watch one on ESPN.  The center of the baseball world has been firmly planted in Sugar Land, Texas this week with the much anticipated return to the mound of Roger Clemens.

Roger Clemens

Obviously the attention was all on Clemens.  As the lineups were given and the Skeeters took the field, the boys were cheering LOUD...but not for Clemens.  While they were excited to see him pitch like the rest of us, they were more excited to see the "other" guys...guys they know.

"Look dad, there's Vic!"  "Dad, Iggy is starting at short!"  "I can't believe Octavio gets to catch Roger Clemens". "Why is Hagen not starting?"  "There's Mr. Upshaw!"  "Mom, Luis is getting ready to bat" Those were just a few of the things Debbie and I got to hear as we were watching the game. 

While the opportunity to watch one of baseball's greatest pitchers of all time was special, we would never trade it for the impact the "other" guys have made on our boys lives.  The Atlantic League is full of these guys that we get to know and watch each summer.  While many said the Atlantic League would have a chance to shine Saturday night, it definitely did and continues to shine bright in our house...Thanks!

Luis Lopez

Octavio Martinez

Iggy Suarez

Matt Hagen

Vic Gutierrez

Game 21: Lancaster Barnstormers 4 Bridgeport Bluefish 3

Sunday night after we returned from the NAAF conference we went back to work.  We got to the ballpark early to shoot some new kid reporter videos.  Gavin's question was "What is your favorite Olympic sport?" and mine was "What is your favorite baseball movie?"  Hopefully the will get put up soon so we can let you see them.  After we were done in the clubhouse, we went down to the batting cages to see our friend Luis Lopez who was in town with the Bluefish.  We watched them take some swings in the cage and then headed out to watch the game.  We wanted to get some of our Bluefish cards signed since we may only see them 1 more time this year.   

Kid Reporters

Bridgeport Bluefish Shea Hillenbrand

Today's Autographs: 17
2012 Autographs: 603
2012 My donation: $30.52 

Game 13 & 14: Lancaster Barnstormers sweep the Bridgeport Bluefish

Wednesday and Thursday nights we watched the Barnstormers take on the Bridgeport Bluefish.  It was a scorcher out both nights but was good to get to the park and also see our friends from the Bluefish.  Wednesday night was wrestling night and Hall of Famer Sgt Slaughter was there taking pictures and signing autographs.  Also before the game, Gavin was picked to be the Honorary Team Captain and got to take the lineup card out to the umpires with Butch Hobson. 

Thursday night was Toy Story night and Buzz and Woody were there.  They were getting pictures with fans but the line was way too long.  My kid reporter video was played and we'll post it as soon as it is availalbe on Youtube.  The Barnstormers swept the series and put a firm grip on first place in the Freedom division. 

Gavin with Butch Hobson in the dugout

delivering the lineup card

Sgt Slaughter

Woddy and Buzz with Luis Lopez

Today's Autographs: 28
2012 Autographs: 487
2012 My donation: $24.72

Game 4: York Revolution 5 Bridgeport Bluefish 3

Sunday night we headed over the river to York to watch the Revolution take on the Bridgeport Bluefish.  We wanted to be able to catch up with our friend Luis Lopez and there are several former Barnstormers on both teams.  Actually there are 5 of them between the two teams.  At one point, Jonah Bayliss was pitching, Angel Flores was catching and Stephen Douglas was batting...all Barnstormers in 2011.So it was fun catching up with them and we were able to get lots of autographs! 

Today's Autographs: 43
2012 Autographs: 275

2012 My donation: $14.12

Games 46, 47, and 48

The end of the season has been a wet one! Game 46 we traveled to York to see our friends on the Bridgeport Bluefish one last time for the season. There was rain coming and the tarp was covered when we got there. We ended up just hanging out and talking to Luis Lopez for a while. He is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet! He has been so kind to our family and has really been a good friend to us. We also got to talk to Antonio Alfonseca and I got him to sign a ball and card for a friend of ours that is getting married. Lots of Bluefish were wearing the NAAF bands and stopped by to say hi. The game ended up getting rained out but that's ok because it was more fun hanging with them during the rain delay.

Games 47 and 48 were the final 2 games of the regular season for the Barnstormers and they were playing the Road Warriors. I'm sure the Road Warriors were ready to be done as they have spent the entire season traveling. It would have been cool to have the Barnstormers let them be the home team, let them pick their walk up music, and have the crowd cheer for them as they really have no fans because they have no home. We do know several guys that play for them that are former Barnstormers. Josh Johnson is their catcher and he signed a bat for me to auction off...Thanks Josh! So the regular season is over for all of minor league baseball. On to the playoff updates shortly!

Luis Lopez with Kyle

Today's Autographs: 24
Season autographs: 1140
YTD $ raised for Alopecia Areata: $57.00

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

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

Game 6: Barnstormers 5 Bluefish 3

For the second straight game the Barnstormers won on an extra inning walk off! Emerson Frostad hit a walk off 2 run homer to send the Barnstormers into first place! What a series! It was tough watching my friends on the Bluefish lose, but it was a great series of baseball. We also did well with autographs collecting 19 Bluefish autographs. FYI: We didn't go Sunday but the Barnstormers swept the Bluefish with a 3rd straight extra inning walk off win! The best 3 game series ever played!

2003 AL Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa

Cylo and Cylo's mom

Today's autographs: 19
Season autographs: 261
Money raised for Alopecia Areata: $13.05