When Zack Hample snags balls, they always seem to have awesome logos and sweet grass/bat stains. Mine are usually pretty vanilla. I've had some "practice" stamps, a magic markered "H" from an Astros ball, and some minor staining, but never any logos. That changed tonight!

Woohoo, the Fenway 100 ball! I'm back to doing the early RSN entry. So I was on the Monster for Red Sox BP. Cody Ross hit a hooking rocket to my right. I tracked it along row 3 and it slammed into the empty row. There it was on the ground at the end of this row which I photographed later:

Of course I hustled all the way, even as it sat there with no one else in view, because I knew someone could come around the corner from row 2 at any second. But I got to it before anyone else appeared. First thing I did was look for the logo--and I got the good news.

But the fun continued!

A Camden Yards 20th anniversary ball! The A's just came from Baltimore, and must have picked up one of the O's balls. (This is not unprecedented--Zack has gotten a Camden ball at a non-Orioles game already this season.)

On this one, I was now in center, and an unidentified Athletic hit one in right toward the front cross-aisle of the bleachers. I was on the stairway between section 34 and 35, in row three, waiting for any balls that went beyond row 1. In this case, there was actually a big long gap along the front wall with no people, as there wasn't a huge crowd that early after the regular gates opened. So the ball bounced in the space, and I prepared to run up the stairs to whatever row it landed in. But on the bounce in front of row 1, it skimmed the front of a seat, and went spinning straight up in the air. Instead of letting it fall, I realized I was actually close enough to make the catch. People came up from row one, but I was focused on the spinning ball, and watched it into my hands as I moved left along the row seen above.

The balls at home, to prove I didn't just borrow other people's balls just for the pictures. I'm now at 20 lifetime, all batting practice. I've gotten 14 since the beginning of the 2009 season.

I will put up the rest of my photo gallery from this 11-6 win on Tuesday at some point.