I Met Joe Carter!!!! Salem-Keizer Volcanoes at Vancouver Canadians (08/20/13)

 Yesterday I went to possibly my last game of the year. The main reason I picked this game is because of the legendary Joe Carter. He came to the game and signed autographs and met with the fans. Joe Carter might not be a Hall of Famer (which...I am not sure if he deserve it or not), but he certainly is the most popular player in Canada. He was the one who got the final out of 1992 world series when the Blue Jays won their first ever championship. The next year, he hit a 3-run homer to WIN the world series!

We got there the second the gate opened. And there was such a long line up already that it went all the way around the stadium and out of the stadium to the middle of the parking lot...We were in the middle of that huge lineup. It was 6pm, and he doesn't start signing until 7 after he threw out the first pitch. Personally, I think the organization can be a lot better. I think they should let him sign the second the gates are open, and then take a maybe 10-20 min break and go throw the first pitch, and then back at it again. There was this grandma who is at least 70 years old, an avid Blue Jay and Joe Carter fan, took out her collection since the 1993 world series and was so happy to see Joe Carter. That was just amazing. Comparing to people around me, I am no where near a complete avid baseball fan.

By the time we met Joe Carter, it was already 8:45pm. I have two balls for him to sign. One is a 1993 world series baseball and one is a regular major league ball. I asked him to inscribe "touch them all." Which is the famous line the broadcaster said after he hit his world series winning homerun. 

There were a lot of people watching Joe Carter and taking pictures. The photo is unfortunately hit with a flash light by some other fan....

Anna had jersey and a ball for him to sign. I asked her to ask Joe to sign "WS winning HR" on the baseball. She did that, and Joe Carter asked her jokingly, "who told you to do that?" They had to good laugh. Joe Carter is a great guy.

Here are the 3 baseballs that I got. (One is for a friend so unfortunately I can't keep them all)

The game today also is a really fast game, the typical low scoring game. By the time we were done, it was 8:50pm and there were only 2 innings left. It was a 1-1 game. Volcanoes is actually the best team in the league so far this season. Vancouver Canadians are trying to make playoffs in a race against another team. They need to win. The game was tight the whole way. Our seats were amazing as we were in the first row of our section. 

The atmosphere at the stadium were amazing. We are very loud. Vancouver Canadians won in the bottom of 11th with a walk off double by the catcher Matt Reeves. I went home very satisfied. Unless Vancouver Canadians make the playoffs, I won't be watching another game this season. It was a great way to end my baseball (fan) season as I start school next Monday.  

Everett Aquasox VS Eugene Emeralds 8/16/13

I happened to be at Seattle visiting my sister for the weekend. I checked the Everett Aquasox's schedule, they start their 4 game home stand against the Eugene Emeralds. Chen hooked me up with tickets once again. Big thanks to the guy. Man, it is awesome to know someone who is in the baseball world. The drive there was about 30km and suppose to be around 20-30 min drive. However, it took me an hour and half because of the traffic....I still got there before the game since I was suppose to meet up with Chen about at least an hour before hand. 

The stadium is literally the first you would see the second you get off the 192 exit. The parking is free!!! I repeat, the parking is free!!! At Vancouver Canadians, the parking is 7 dollars.... The stadium is also next to a giant track and field area. I am not sure if any team uses that or any school has the right for it. 

The event staff took my tickets at a fence quite far from the stadium. I was just wondering why they set up the fence so far away, then I saw the huge field with a inflatable playground.

At Everett, they give out free game day guides that is pretty much like a mini magazine for the week. I really loved it. It has a lot of info about the team and also have info about the teams they are playing that week. I had a good read of that.

The stadium itself doesn't have any roof. If it rains, it would really suck for the fans. The floor is the same with the bleacher seats, which are made from the same type of metal from the seats, which makes a lot of noise when people are walking around. The stadium is very quiet comparing to the Canadians'. 

The stadium itself looks nice and open but is quite different from Vancouver Canadians' stadium. The outfield is not as high but has net preventing the ball from going into the parking lot and other offices. 

The right field is quite messed up as if you look closely, you would see this stupid extra field space and a sharp edge between that space and the center field..

Vancouver Canadian's stadium actually have indoors. This one doesn't. Everything is within the building but instead of having a door, it just doesn't have the wall facing the outside of the stadium. However, I quite like it as Vancouver Canadians' stadium can get really crowded. Especially the team shop. Talking about the team shop, Everett's team shop has much better selections in pretty much everything. Also, a heck lot cheaper. It even have game used broken bats for only 25 dollars. 

If only I carried more than 20 dollars with me....

Friday also had a promotion of "Mystery Baseballs." They basically have a bunch of baseballs in a brown paper bag each. They are autographed by players from the Aquasox team, Majors such as Mike Moorse, and HOFer Rollie Fingers. Autographed baseball is like my weakness. It is the one thing I really love to collect. But, I didn't get any, for the same reason, I didn't bring enough money. It was 15 per ball and 30 for 3. I couldnt afford it....which might be a good thing since I already have Fringers' autograph.

I met with Chen briefly before the game for a short chat. He once again game me a few balls for my friends and some of his baseball cards, which he later signed. Too bad the pen really sucked...

Before the game, I went to the playground and spent a dollar, which in return, I get 3 pitches. One of the staff members had a radar gun and they would let me know how fast my pitches were. The fastest pitch of the day would win a prize. This is a lot of fun as I think I never actually got clocked before. I might have in Taiwan but I dont really remember. However, this is also quite dangerous. I was in my jeans and without warm up, I was trying to throw the hardest pitch I could. My shoulder didn't like it at all. I threw 55, 60, and 57 respectively. I am pretty sure with some warm up, I could do better. But I am not sure if I can go over 70....

I also saw a lot of autograph seekers before the game asking for autographs. Asking for autographs is one of my favorite things to do at a baseball game. But I didn't really come prepared and I didn't have anything for people to sign. Last year I grabbed a tiny Vancouver Canadians' bat and got abuot 15-20 autographs on it in one game. I should have done the same. But for some reason, I wasn't really feeling like doing all the work.

The game itself featured Donovan Tate, the former 3rd overall pick (2009?) for the Padres. Signed for 6.7 million dollars. He isn't living up his expectation though as he is still struggling at Rookie A level hitting 0.180. Austin Wilson, second round pick of the Seattle Mariners this year, who is doing decent so far. Not outstanding but not bad. Hitting around 0.280. I didn't focus too much about the game since I was trying to soak in the new stadium and the new experience. Also chatting to Chen and the rest of the bullpen quite a bit. The bullpen is literally right in front of my seats.

19 = Chen, 34=Ricardo, a reliever from Venezuela, very very nice guy. 

There were activities during the game between innings, but the crowd doesn't seem to be very into it for some reason. Maybe it's because there were not a lot of people. Chen didn't play as he played the day before. He did do some throwing and catching with outfielders between innings.

The game was pretty fast because it was a pitchers' dual. Until Chen's roommate, Richard White, a short but super strong reliever came in to the game. His pitches are very fast, but just wild. There were errors and wild pitches. He gave up a few runs and the game got away from the Aquasox. I left around the 8th inning since I had to get going before its too late. 

Crazy clouds make up a nice stadium view eh?

The Aquasox lost. It wasn't pretty. The score...well, for once, I don't remember.

Topps Series 1 HTA Jumbo box 2012!

So the other day, I went by a collectible store downtown Vancouver. It was pretty packed so I decided to go in and check it out. Mainly all sort of comics, figures, toys, and some magic cards. It was pretty cool as I saw some superman comics from the really early days. They aren't the cheapest thing in the world though...

Then, just as I was walking out, something caught my eyes..

A topps series 1 baseball Jumbo hobby box from 2012. I know it is not 2012 anymore and this product has been out for around 20 months now. But, it was going for 30 dollars from the store. If you aren't that familiar with prices of baseball cards, well, let me tell you, that is a really really really good deal. I was quite surprised. Later on, I tried to find the exact price of this online, I can't find it anymore as it is now out of stock at most places. I later broke into the box..

 Yep, there are a lot of cards.... This product is the traditional ones that mainly is for set collector. one stack of cards you see are just base cards. The stack in front with Matt Moore rookie card is a stack of about 30 rookie cards.

I was very happy to see 3 Mariano Rivera cards and a Derek Jeter. 

There were a lot of inserts, which gave a few really decent cards, such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Ty Cobbs, and other hall of famers. There are also a few current superstars like Ichiro and Jeter.

Now onto the big boys, like the box said, I got 3 "hits." One autograph, two relic.

Here is my autograph....

Very sad....

First, Chad Billingsley isn't a great hit at all. He is a OK player, but not really the player I want, or actually...not really a player most people would want to pull for autographs.

Now for the relic hit....

Jersey card of Tommy Hanson 

Not good....not what I wanted at all...

Here is the last hit that I got, a relic card, and it is a fat card, literally. 

Babe Ruth Retired Rings card!!!! Numbered out of 736!

 Now this is a great card, especially for a yankee fan who loves the babe. I was very very happy when I pulled this out! Possibly the best ring card you can get from this product?

Overall, for what I paid, this is a great value and great fun. I always wanted to break a proper box like this but was never capable of affording it. Other than the Babe Ruth card, the box was not so strong unfortunately. Oh, I later went back and tried to see if I got any short prints, well, I got one. And I loved it.

 Card #7, Mickey Mantle.

For those of you who doesn't know, Mickey Mantle was retired by topps so now every year in this original product (series 1 to be exact), there either won't be a card #7 (which is his number), or it would be this. Interesting eh?

Overall, the Babe Ruth card probably will help me break even or make profit from buying this box. But that is not the point. The point of this is ripping open packs of cards, flipping through them and look for the players you love, rare cards that would make you jump, and trade them with your friends. 

To be honest, collecting cards is whole lot of fun and I absolutely love it, but I think this will be the last box for me. Well, it is because this can really consume a lot of money if I don't be careful. And also, I think I have enough cards. 

Vancouver Canadians Game August 14th, 2013 (Erine Whitt, Brent Hayden, and Min-Sih Chen)

My friend Jeff and I got some free tickets from a pitcher of Everett Aquasox (minor league team of the mariners), who we met the last time he was here. His name is Min-Sih Chen, a Taiwanese reliever. It was raining quite heavily. Before the game even started, Jeff decided to try the foot long corn dog.....as he said, it was "so-so."

The game also had Erine Whitt, a former Toronto Blue Jays' catcher and team Canada's head coach, signing autographs and greeting fans. And to my surprise, Brent Hayden, my favorite Canadian swimmer (possibly best Canadian swimmer ever) was also there as part of BC sports hall of fame. He threw out the first pitch and was greeting fans later on. I had a good chat with him and had a picture taken.

After that, Jeff and I went to line up for Erine Whitt. The line wasn't bad as Erine isn't a familiar name to many people. He however, is the best catcher bluejays have ever had. He also coached Team Canada over the last few years, most recently, the WBC 2013. I still remember, after the fight between Canada and Mexico, a reporter asked him, "did anyone one the team got hurt?" In which, he replied, "no, you can't hurt us Canadians." 
I had my white bluejays jersey with me. And they also gave out Erine's 5x7 player cards at the door, so I got those two signed. 

After that, we went to sit beside Min-Sih Chen for the rest of the game and just chatted. He got us 4 tickets but two of my friends didn't come at the end. Chen was kind enough to give me a ball and signed it for me. Which my friends later claimed that they wanted balls as well. Chen....if you are reading this...well, I need more haha.

The game wasn't that great since it was very lob sided. I was quite conflicted which team to support though. I always support the Vancouver Canadians. However, I got to know some of the pitchers from Aquasox, and they are all really fun and nice people. So I was confused about which team I should support. During a game, a Canadians' player hit a homer and the ball hit a root beer logo on the outfield wall. The chance of that, well, I think its once a season. By doing so, everyone gets a free root beer and teen burger from A&W! 

Canadians won 10-1. Which is good since because Everett has already cliniched playoff birth by being the champions in first half of the season, Canadians need to make up some grounds to qualify and defend their back to back titles. I really hope they make it so the Aquasox will come play again. 

After the game, we waited for a bit for him to come out. And took some pictures and said goodbyes. I hope to see him pitch again soon. Next stop, Everett!(?)

Everett Aquasox @ Vancouver Canadians ( ft. Larry Walker !!! ), Aug 13 2013

Tonight is the second time this season that I come to watch the Canadians play. Last time, it was also the Canadians against the Everett Aquasox, during which we get to meet this very nice pitcher from Taiwan, Min-Sih Chen.

Tonight's ceremonial first pitch is thrown out by Mr. Larry Walker, so as you may imagine, a sellout crowd packed the whole stadium in this perfect baseball weather. There's also a meet and greet and signing session going on as well. My friend and I tried to go get the signature right after the first pitch, only to find lineups going outside the stadium and into the parking lot.

Mr. Walker is a really nice guy, I got him to sign the two baseballs, one for myself and one for James. This comes about an hour after that first pitch.

The game was pretty one-sided through 5, with the Aquasox leading 5-0. We went backstage to chat with Chen, and he told us from the score that he probably won't be pitching. He even said maybe we can go home. Good thing we did not.

After 6th it was 5-2, and the Canadians added one more run in the 8th. Then over in the bullpen, we saw No. 19 warming up. Indeed, pitching change was made on bottom of the 9th, with Chen coming up to close out the game.

First pitch is a off-speed at 79mph, and then a series of fastballs got Mike Reeves out swinging. Next up, Brenden Kalfus, was down after 3 pitches. However, the next batter caught Chen's off-speed pitch and took a base hit to the left.

It appears that Chen had trouble communicating with the catcher, as the second pitch to the 4th batter, Ian Parmley, went past the catcher. Later he called the catcher up to talk, then successfully struck out the batter on a 92mph fastball and earned his first save of the season.

After the game, we were told that he didn't think he would be out to close, and his condition was not perfect during warmup. Neverthless, he overcame the pressure of the home crowd and got the job done. ( He told us before that the crowd is crazy here in the Nat Bailey Stadium. )

This baseball was from the last pitch that earned him the save. He was surprised that we were in the stadium too. After this series, probably the only chance Chen will be back in the Nat will be if the Canadians make the playoffs. Well, I guess I'll be back cheering for the Canadians as usual.