AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 17 & 18

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 17 & 18

1-7 Aug

Akron is on the road all week and no home games for week 17.


Week's total: 0 games, 0 balls (0 give-a-way), 0 autographs
Games: 0 day  0 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 0-0

Akron's total: 43 games, 142 balls (63 give-a-way), 134 autographs, 2 bat, 9 SGA,

Games: 9 day  34 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 26-18

2016 baseball season total: 60 games, 174 balls (68 give-a-way), 219 autographs, 9 bats

9-14 Aug

Since the All Star break Akron is 6-18 and has falling out of the playoff race. They start the week at 56-59 and 7 games out. The Ducks look and play like a Freshman on the varsity team. With only five weeks remaining in the season, this is a do or die time to start making a run or they will not make the playoffs. Both first and second place teams are playing each other this week. All the Ducks have to do is win and let them two teams beat up on each other and we can sneak back into the hunt.

Game 1: Still busy doing lots of stuff during the day to get ready for our road trip next week. I arrived just as the players were taking the field. At the end of the first inning Ducks pitcher DJ Brown covered first and received the toss from Nellie Rodriguez for the final out of the inning. As DJ returned to the dugout I was the only fan standing asking for the ball and he threw it to me. I'm honing in on another BallHawk milestone. I now stand at 298 baseball and by the end of the week I will be over 300 baseball retrieved. I'm hoping for #300 to be special and no "Easter Eggs" (find a ball just laying on the ground).

The player I called the spark plug of the team was sent down from Columbus to make room on their roster for a player sent down from the Majors. When Eric Stamets plays the Ducks do pretty good. Case in point in the first inning he climbed the ladder to snag a ball from falling into Left Field. Then, he started a rally with a double. I like to see all players get promoted, but I'm glade he's back even if it's only for a short time.

Akron jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the first four inning. In the seventh I saw lighting in the sky and I started to the gate to get home before the storm came. Akron would hold on and win 6-2.


Game 2: Still busy around the RV, no BP or autographs. When I arrived to the ballpark it started to rain. The field was covered and the USA vs Australia basketball Olympic game was being show on the scoreboard. After a 1:33 hour rain delay the game was on. I'm glade I stayed, officially the attendance 3,090 but it looked to be half that (come on the 50/50 total was only $48... 3,000+ people ...NO WAY). After the Ducks starter Julian Merryweather struck out the side in the first inning catcher Danial Salters threw me the ball when returning to the dugout (#299). After watching the first inning with the Ducks at bat I knew it was going to be good game. I have not seen ever batter run down the first base line after hitting the ball hard in months. Take away the 6th inning where Merryweather gave up 2 hits (after I got home they changed a hit to error. I thought it was an error when I saw the play) and 2 runs he threw a gem. Unfortunately, he would only go 8 inning and the game was tied 2-2. I moved to the first base stands as there was fewer fans sitting. As the Ducks took the field in the 7th the last out ball was laying in the outfield and Jordan Smith threw the ball in the stands. I chased it down for my BallHawk Milestone #300. With runners on first and second Jeremy Lucas would have the game winning hit that would break the tie and the Ducks walkoff in the ninth. The play looked like Bill Buckner's 1986 World Series game 6 play, except the ball was hit to the third baseman.

After the game I stood next to the Hartford dugout and when Noel Cuevas was heading to the clubhouse I asked for his broken bat, and I got it. That makes my 10th bat this year.

Game 3: As a Duck fan it was a hard game to watch, but as a baseball fan it was a showcase on how to play small ball and win a baseball game. Hartford is the affiliate of the Rockies and in the National League is know for small ball. Yard Goats bunted, stole bases and scored runner with out the ball leaving the infield.  Ducks lost 4-6, but won the series. I know they can't win every game, but winning the remaining series will put them in good conditions to hopefully make a playoff puch.


Game 4: This was the biggest day for me as a baseball fan. Today would mark the first time for me to be on the field of play with player. First, I got to be on the field to watch Akron's BP. We arrive three hours before the game where as a season ticket hold I used my loyalty point to see BP on the field. Even Hiromi was allowed on the field with me. We stood on track behind the batting cage. Akron was using the pitching machine for BP to hit balls at 90 MPH and Jordan Smith broke his bat. When his round of BP was finished he came to me and thanked us for coming out and gave me his broken bat.

When BP was finished, manager Dave Wallace came over to thank us for coming out too and asked, "How we liked it?". Two weeks ago was Dave Wallace bobblehead give-a-way and I asked if he would sign the bobblehead and he did.


Dark clouds started to roll in and Portland did not get to have BP on the field. Second, I used my first pitch ticket to throw out the first pitch before the game. In front of 7,674 fans (68 from our campground) I threw a strike right down the middle of the plate to Jermey Lucas.

In the 5th inning Hiromi and I where on the scoreboard for Kay's Kiss Cam.


 Akron put a hurting on Portland scoring 18 runs on 20 hits. Every started got at least one hit. The top players was Todd Hankins who went 4-5 with 2 HR's (one was a grand slam) 6 RBI's. Nellie Rodriguez was a close second going 2-5 with a HR and 5 RBI's. This was by far the best game they played since the All Star break. I think I have to go to Ducks BP on the field and throw out the first pitch everyday now. I just hope they still have pop in the bat for the remaining two games this weekend.

Game 5:Brown's bobblehead give-a-way of two different players Kevin Mack vs Earnest Byner. Fan have to vote and they got only one bobblehead ticket when they entered the stadium. Good think I had Hiromi come with me. We were able to get one of each. The nice thing is that these bobbleheads are limited to 500 each instead of 1,000 like all the other bobblehead nights. Tonight is also Bradly Zimmer bobblehead give-a-way at Mahoning Valley Scrapper game (about 30 minutes from Akron). I think lot of people would be going to Scrappers game instead.


The rain came and would not stop, at least we got our bobbleheads. We saw a break in the clouds and took off for the gate to head home. When we got home we saw that the game was postponed. Doubleheader tomorrow with first game moved up to 1:05pm start vice 2:05pm with game two to follow. Hiromi will not be going to the games tomorrow. She did two games back-to-back and I thank her for helping me out. Before the rain came too hard I got Eric Stamets to autograph his 2016 Ducks team set I now have all the player (that are on the roster now) only need two coaches, one mascot and the super fan insert (I have not seen him at a game the last two weeks). I have only eight players who are in Columbus to left to complete the set. I hope they are still with the team next year so I can get them to sign at spring training in AZ.

Game 6: It has not rained in three weeks and now it rains six days straight. The last two days the rain has effected the games. Today's doubleheader was looking to be a wash with a four hour rain delay. I guess the two team decided to play only one game instead of two. Portland has a 15 hour bus ride back home and that might had something in the decision.

Jordan Smith had a 2-run homer and the duck won 3-0.

This week of baseball is one I will not forget in long time. I got to see BP on the field, throw out my first ever first pitch, I set a milestone with my 300th baseball and got not one, but two broken bats in one week.

The Ducks looked like the Ducks of old going 4-1 this week. They now stand at 60-60 and only 3 games back of the playoffs.

Week 18 Haul

Week's total: 5 games, 3 balls (0 give-a-way), 6 autographs. 2 Bats
Games: 1 day  4 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 4-1

Akron's total: 48 games, 145 balls (63 give-a-way), 140 autographs, 4 bat, 11 SGA,

Games: 10 day  38 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 30-19

2016 baseball season total: 65 games, 177 balls (68 give-a-way), 225 autographs, 11 bats

RV & CAR MAINTENANCE WEEK

 RV & CAR MAINTENANCE WEEK

When something goes wrong or needs to be done it usually comes all at once. I held off to get maintenance done since we are not moving this summer and when I finally took the RV in the list grew from stuff we need to get done while adding stuff we wanted. First I had to buy the Ford headlight from a Ford dealer. The RV shop said it could take up to two weeks to arrive, while I got it from the dealer the next day. Next I had the roof resealed and coated. They said there was no cracks in the sealing so they just cocked over the old sealing. It looks like crap and missed the whole section by the ladder. At least it won't leak if it snows when we are in Tennessee this Peak Season at Amazon. Hiromi kept saying she wanted a new toilet. So I got her a new toilet. It's a little bigger then the old one. The flush is by foot where our old one was by handle. The weird thing is we still reach for the handle after we flush by foot. We got hit by a rock (or something) as a semi passed us on the highway and the window cracked. The shop estimated $1,500 so I called my insurance to help cover the coast. After taking the RV to a body shop it only coast $225.00. The RV shop prices are jacked to high. Over all I paid way more for all the maintenance and upgrades than I wanted, Hiromi said that what I get since I waited to do everything all at once.

I did some DIY on our steps. Rreally easy except for the old hook springs were rusted, but the the mat came off with ease.

                                 BEFORE                                                      AFTER                 

There still are a few more thing we want to upgrade to the inside of the RV that we will DIY. We want to pull up the carpet and lay tile, remove our day/night shades in the bedroom & put up curtains and our dinning cushions are getting warn and need replaced.  We still have lots of work to do in the five or so weeks we have left in Ohio before we hit the road. I hoping to video record the carpet and bedroom upgrades to have a DIY on Youtube.

It took a few day to set up the car maintenance appointment, I wanted to make sure everything with the RV was done first. The turn single would not turn off after I made a turn, the AC / heater would only work on high and not the lower levels and front turn single light burned out. There must be a leak somewhere in the front of the car as they found rust in my vents that prevents the AC/ heater to work correctly. They told me I was lucky to have it working at all. I thought that I could DIY on the headlight bulb, sounds pretty easy right? Not anymore these days. The bulb is located under the wheel wall. I took out the screws but then there are plastic bolts with no way of coming off unless I broke them off, then the wheel wall would be flapping when I would drive. The body shop did the turn light bulb for free.

Both the RV and car should now be in perfect working order (knock on wood) and should have nothing to fear. It's good that we got all the work done while we are located in one spot then have to have something go wrong when we are on the road. Time to go back to work at Amazon so we can replace our emergency funds.

We still have to find time to do spring cleaning in our outside storage and lose some weight that we are carrying. We will be on the road for the next three years and there is no better time to clean now when we are at home so we can put stuff in my parents attic. Also, we want to spent a couple days on a local road trip to give the RV a road test to make sure it's running smoothly after being parked all summer before we hit the road again next month.

I know it's been a while since my last Youtube video, but I still need to do voice over for the cooking episodes. I can't talk Hiromi into doing them with me, I guess I'll have to do it myself. Keep your eyes open for new post I have in the works. Just to give you a taste of what videos I'm working on, Cooking with Life-in-RV, RV tour, American Sushi, What is there to do in Canton, OH? and of course where ever we go on our local trip.

FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME & FAMILY YARD SALE

FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME & FAMILY YARD SALE

The last three weeks have been non stop. There seems not to be enough time in the day to get everything done. We wake up and are busy all day, before I knew it three weeks have flown by. We had two straight days of RV maintenance, followed by one day of car maintenance. A week of Akron RubberDuck baseball, football Hall of Fame game, family yard sale, Youtube editing and that's just the tip of the iceberg. To keep the post somewhat in order and understandable I broken them up by topics and I'm working on four different posts all at once.

Our family has had tickets to the Football Hal of Fame game before I was even born. Living in the Football Hall of Fame State, I grew up loving football. Growing up I always looked forward to the start of the football season, I would see the first game of the year. Now that I'm on the road anytime we are in Ohio in August there is always a ticket with my name on it.

You know I'm getting old when 6 of the 8 players getting inducted into the Hall of Fame I watched growing up. For the first time EVER, the game was canceled after fans have already entered the stadium. There was issues with the paint that was used on the field. Most of the newly inducted Hall of Famers came out on to the field as there name was announced, just like they would have if the game was going to be played. Fave was in shorts and no Hall of Fame gold jacket. I would rate the game a big fat ZERO and a black eye to the Hall of Fame and the NFL. Right now I want to boycott this years NFL season, but who knows how long I can hold out when the baseball season comes to an end? The best part of the whole game was meeting my nieces KaraLynn (17) and Mei (20) for the first time.

Here is where I would have sat to see the game from Row E 50 yard line. Can't get much better than that.

When the Hall of Fame weekend comes rolling around, so does my Aunt's yard sale. It seems to get bigger every year. This is her 43rd year of having the yard sale and this year there are 18 different families who have brought stuff to sale.

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 15 & 16

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 15 & 16

18-24 Jul

Akron is on the road all week and no home games for week 15. 

Week's total: 0 games, 0 balls (0 give-a-way), 0 autographs
Games: 0 day  0 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 0-0

Akron's total: 38 games, 133 balls (56 give-a-way), 131 autographs, 2 bat, 9 SGA,

Games: 9 day  29 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 25-13

2016 baseball season total: 55 games, 165 balls (61 give-a-way), 216 autographs, 9 bats


25-31 Jul
Akron is 54-48 and in third place 2 game back. Depending on how you look at, bad new for the Ducks. Zimmer and Frazier, the Tribe number one and two prospects got the call up to AAA. Lots of teams are trying to trade for them, maybe the Tribe is trying to fast track them and get them on the 40 man roster to protect them. Whatever the case most of the Ducks who started the season in Akron is now in Columbus. Good for them and their career, but bad for Akron fans who were looking for a Championship in 2016. Most of the roster is now new players from Advance A Lynchburg. I hope the team can start to click with this new group we are still in the playoff race.

Game 1: I arrived early for BP and for the first time EVER a player asked me if I wanted a ball. I said sure and Tyler Mizenko from Richmond threw it to me in the stands. The ball was beat up, but it was a 2016 AZ logo spring training ball. I would get two more balls in BP.

With the big name players gone there was very few autograph seekers. I got three autographs and I'm still working on the 2016 Akron team set. I got a game used foul ball toss up by Akron catcher Eric Hasse. Another major league player, Zach McAllister was on rehab with Akron tonight. He threw one inning and his fastball was 93-94 and no one could hit. His off speed that was left over the plate got hit. That would be the only hit in his inning of work while recording one strikeout.

The team my have new players and at times it looks like it, but they played a good game only to lose in extra innings 2-1. I gave away two BP balls to kids before I left the stadium.

Game 2: I arrived early once again for BP and got 5 balls. I would gave them all away to the kids sitting in my row before I left the game. The Ducks would lose 4-10.

Game 3: A afternoon start time and I could not make it to the game, I had RV maintenance appointment. (Blog post to follow soon)

Game 4: Another day of RV maintenance, by the time I got back to the campground and hooked everything up the game was had already started. (Blog post to follow soon)


Game 5: I was running behind schedule with my long list of to do and arrive at first pitch. The Ducks pulled it out and stopped the losing streak at 7 game and won 3-1.



Game 6: Saturday give-a-way and firework show. Hiromi came to the game with me so I could get two bobbleheads of Ducks manager David Wallace. The Ducks lost another close game 2-3.

Game 7: The last game of the current home stand and the Ducks once again lost a close game 0-1.

Week 16 Haul

Week's total: 5 games, 9 balls (7 give-a-way), 3 autographs
Games: 0 day  5 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 1-5

Akron's total: 43 games, 142 balls (63 give-a-way), 134 autographs, 2 bat, 9 SGA,

Games: 9 day  34 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 26-18

2016 baseball season total: 60 games, 174 balls (68 give-a-way), 219 autographs, 9 bats

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 14 (EL ALL STAR GAME) & LOCK 3

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 14 (EL ALL STAR GAME) & LOCK 3

With the season at the half way point, the Eastern League will showcase it's best players in the All Star Game. One of the reasons I got the season tickets was because of the All Star game. This will make my first of any All Star week that I have attended. I'm excited to see the celebrity softball game, Homerun derby (two Ducks in the showcase) and of course the All Star game itself. Friday night concert in Lock 3 was Aerosmith tribute band Aeroforce.

12 Jul
The EL All Star celebration kicked off with the celebrity softball game. Both teams had former Indians and local celebrities. Team (Carlos) Baerga vs Team (Dave)Wallace at first it looked like team Baerga was going to make it a laugher after posting a 10 run top of the 3rd inning. But, team Wallace answered with a two out 8 run rally in the bottom of the 3rd inning. In the end Team Baerga won 18 - 17.

The night was not over, as the top EL homerun hitters had their chance to show off their power in the Homerun Derby. There were two Duck players in the showcase, Bradley Zimmer and Nellie Rodriguez. In the first round I sat in my seat and watched on onslaght of power by the eight players. After the first round it looked like the two Ducks players made it to the second round, but after further review Zimmer had 7 HR and Rodriguez had 8 HR. Zimmer was out and Rodriguez was the last Duck to represent the local fan favorite. In the Second round I mover the the Homerun porch in left field. It was a made house. Hundreds of people (mostly kids and fathers) trying to catch the elusive homerun ball. Rodriguez tied for second and went on to the final round. With no chance at a ball I mover the the first base side and watch the final round. Rodriguez put on a power hitting clinic, but it was not enough as he finished second in the homerun derby. I usually don't stay for the firework show, but  tonight I mad an exception. Lot of Ohio and local band music played to the fireworks.

13 Jul
I was driving to the stadium and I saw the Goodyear blimp as I drove into Hartville. When I got the the stadium the blimp arrived. I beat the blimp to the stadium? I guess the blimp got stuck in traffic.

I kind of thought that it would be crazy to try and get autographs during the All Star game, and it was. I could have gotten the VIP pass with my season ticket holder points, but there was no All Star team set and I did not have cards from every player. I thought it would be wasting my points so I did not do it, I was just a baseball fan. Former Indians manager Mike Hargrove threw out the first pitch to Carlos Baerga behind the plate.

Then, the EL All Star game was in full swing. There was even a flyover during the National Anthem. (Sorry no PIC) In the 5th inning after the third out all the kids where running down the stairs and leaning on the dugout asking for the player to throw them the ball and out of nowhere for the corner of my eye I see a ball thrown from the dugout by a different player, I grabbed it. My First game used All Star baseball. I don't know what player did it, but I will never forget it. The game was lopsided as the Eastern Division powered there way to 10-2 victory while pounding out 20 hits to the Western Division only collecting 5 hits.

14-17 Jul

The kick off to the second half of the season where the Ducks host the Erie SeaWolves for a four game series.Akron current 1.5 back in the division needs to start out of the gates strong and but a winning streak together.

Game one: I got to the stadium at 5:00pm to watch BP and hope for an All Star ball. No All Star ball, but did get four balls. Three were practice balls and got my first 2016 AZ spring training ball. Good thing I got a game used All Star Ball during the game, the team shop was selling them for $12 a piece.

I was at the Ducks dugout close to the entrance to the clubhouse. I wanted to get the coaching staff autographs. When they come out they stay close to that side, however they did not come out today until the last second and did not have time to get them. I did get four autographs before the game.

After a long week where most of the team had a few days off Zimmer and Frazier both had the night off. I noticed the Eric Stamets was called up to Columbus. Good for him and I wish him luck, but I think he was the spark plug Ducks. Whenever he was in the lineup the team did good. Now that Stamets is gone, Zimmer and Frazier has the night off it doesn't look good for the home team. Erie jumped on the board 4-0 by the second inning and added one more in the 7th. Nellie Rodriguez hit a solo homer in the 8th, but by then it was to late. Duck lost 5-3.

In the 8th inning the sun was setting and the sky was pink and purple. I moved to the first base side to get some good pictures.

After I took the picture I gave away three BP baseballs and wouldn't you know I got a foul ball off the bat of Akron's Jordan Smith.

Game two: I arrived early again for BP. I Called out Erie's Cal Drummond and later Tommy Collier and both of them threw me up a ball. To my surprise both balls were 2016 AZ Spring Training Balls. I would get three more balls at BP. Before the game I got eight Ducks autographs. During the game I called out Jeremy Lucas name as he was returning to the dugout after the third out and threw me the ball, but some old guy sitting next to me jumped out of his seat and snagged it from me. I let him have it, then I showed him the five I got a BP.

Michael Brantley rehab assignment with his second stent on the DL was in Ducks lineup.

He looked good in the field chasing down ball. With his bat he could not get a hit going 0-4. The Ducks won 2-0. On my way out of the stadium I gave three of the baseball away to kids.

I arrived at Lock 3 to see the last three songs of the first set of Aeroforce. The Second set was all early 70's songs. What a night of good old Rock n' Roll.  At the end the guiterest threw out his pick and I chased it down. Then some lady came out of nowhere and jumped on me trying to take the pick away from me. I told her I would give it to her. She did not believe me and would not get off of me. Then, she said she would give me $5 for it. I still told I would give it to her. When we stood up I gave her the pick for free. She jumped on my and would not stop hugging me. It's only a tribute band with a common pick nothing special. Then her friend came over and started to hug me too.

Next Friday is Nightrain a Guns n' Roses tribute band. I have already talked Hiromi into coming with me. GnR is a special band in our relationship. The night before I went to see them live in Tokyo was the night I meet Hiromi. If I would have not gone to see GnR in concert we would have never meet. I'm hoping to post about this night next week... stay tune.


Game three: Newly enforce stadium rule NO early entrance to Saturday games, So I showed up at first pitch. It was a good pitcher dual lasting just over 2 hours. One bad pitch by Duck pitcher in the fourth that was hit for a homerun was the only scoring in the game. Ducks lost 1-0. The game was over and the sun did not even set yet, not good for a fireworks night. I did not stay for the fireworks so don't know if they still had it after the game or did they wait for the sky to get dark.

Game four: The final game of this home stand to see if we can split the series or do we start the second half of the season with a losing record? I arrived early for BP, there was not BP this Sunday. I did get to see the Ducks pitchers workout  and got 8 autographs. I also got to walk the outfield pre-game to play catch, but I did not have anyone so I walked around taking pictures. I got a close up of a ball that got stuck in the outfield wall during the Homerun derby. The I took one of me making a catch at the wall and the with the Areos/Ducks Eastern League Championships

Michael Brantley was back in the lineup. His bat was nowhere to be found as he went 0-3. I got a game used foul ball toss up by Akron's JD Brown (pitcher), Ducks lost 8-5.

After a great start to the season, then a drop off at the end was the only thing keeping Akron alive. After the first week of the second half of the season the Ducks are 51-44, fall into third place and out of the playoff berth. Next week on the road for seven games, where will Akron stand in the playoff berth when they return?

Week 14 Haul

Week's total: 4 games, 12 balls (6 give-a-way), 20 autographs
Games: 1 day  3 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 1-3

Akron's total: 38 games, 133 balls (56 give-a-way), 131 autographs, 2 bat, 9 SGA,

Games: 9 day  29 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 25-13

2016 baseball season total: 55 games, 165 balls (61 give-a-way), 216 autographs, 9 bats

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 13

AKRON RUBBERDUCKS WEEK 13

A bit of good news for the RubberDucks... the Eastern League All Star roster have been chosen and there are six Ducks player who will be represented in front of their home crowd next week. They are;
Clint Frazier, Bradley Zimmer, Nellie Rodriguez, Jeremy Lucas, Shawn Morimando and  Perci Garner. Unfortunately or fortunately (depends on how you look at at it) Morimando and Garner were promoted to AAA Columbus and will not be on the All Star roster. However, two other Ducks have replaced them on the roster in Luis Head and JP Feyereisen. Next week will be busy a one for Frazier as he was also selected to represent the USA Team in the Sirius/XM Futures game in MLB All Star week in San Diego on July 10th. Another Indians minor leaguer Francisco Majia was also selected to represent the World Team in the Futures game too. It was also good news for two Indians who was selected to their first All Star games Francisco Lindor and Danny Salazar.   There was a late addition to the AL All Star roster where Corey Kluber was add to replace and injured player.

Before the All Star festivities kick off the Ducks has business to complete this week with a four game home stand against the division leading Altoona Curve. From most of the games I've seen the Ducks handled the Curve and have a good record against them. Only 1.5 games back in the standings this is the perfect time for the Ducks to retake the division lead.

Game one: Did not attend, spent 4th of July with family. Ducks won 5-3.

Game two: Cult movie classic night Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory and a fan came out in costume.

I don't no for sure, but since Eric Stamets came off the DL the Ducks are 3-1.Whatever it may be the Ducks came out to play tonight. Jordan Smith set the tone for the defense with an outfield assist gunning a runner out a second. The starting pitcher DJ Brown flashed the leather starting not one but two ending inning double plays. The offence was just as good with Bradley Zimmer started the onslaught with a solo homer in the first and then following that up with a 2RBI double in the third. Not to be out done Mike Papi had even a better game with a 2RBI triple in the fourth and caped off the night in style with a grand slam in the seventh.
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The Ducks minor league team set are out and I got three sets. One set is for my collection and the other two are for autographs.

Game three:I arrived early for BP and got one ball before the staff put the rain tarp on the field. It rained for hard for about 30 minutes and then stopped. They used weighted rubberducks to hold the tarp down from the winds.

The tarp was removed and the game started on time.

The defense once again flashed the leather when Mike Papi threw a canon from the deep left field corner to get a runner at second. The offence did not disappoint either scoring 6 runs in the 2 second inning. This was a team effort as eight Ducks had a RBI as they won 8-4. Julian Merryweather picked up his first career AA win after getting promoted from Lynchburg. I saw another first tonight. Leading off the game in the bottom of the first the music and PA was still playing, but the time clock hit zero and batter was giving a strike by the umpire. The home plate umpire was dramatic behind the plate call strikes, screaming loud and pointing his finger. Close, but not as bad as the umpire scene from the 1988 movie Naked Gun.

I had a good night for autographs too, I got 7 from Altoona and 16 from Akron.

Game four: Arrived early for BP and the tarp was on the field again. A few seconds after I entered the rain came. But, just like last night the clouds cleared and the game started on time.

One costly error by the pitcher scoring 2 unearned run was all Altoona need to take the lead and keep it. Ducks lost 6-2.

Akron won the series 3-1 and took the lead back in their division by .5 game. They are on the road this weekend to close of the first half of the season before the All Star game in Canal Park next week.

Week 13 Haul

Week's total: 3 games, 1 balls (0 give-a-way), 23 autographs
Games: 0 day  3 night  0 doubleheader   Home record: 2-1
---ADD AT THE END OF THE SERIES---

Akron's total: 34 games, 121 balls (50 give-a-way), 111 autographs, 2 bat, 9 SGA,

Games: 8 day  26 night  1 doubleheader   Home record: 24-10

2016 baseball season total: 49 games, 153 balls (55 give-a-way), 196 autographs, 9 bats


NEXT WEEK
Eastern League All Star Game at Canal Park.

4th of JULY WEEKEND & YOUTUBE CHANNEL

4th of JULY WEEKEND  & YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

We have completed all our holiday shopping and running around. We have locked ourselves in the campground and are not leaving until the holiday weekend is over.... It's gonna be crazy out there!

Monday I finally found a tripod at the flea market. I knew if I keep going back sooner or later I would fine one. It's a good size, small when it's folded up and pretty tall and sturdy when opened to it's full size.

 

 

Thursday was a big spending day. I found some GoPro accessories (gooseneck and roll bar mount) at Wal Mart for cheap. I don't know why, but I did not ask either. We also found a portable propane grill at Target (assembly required). After three plus year our charcoal grilling we burned a hole in the bottom and was needing to get replaced.

I have been working on ideas for my Youtube channel and it went live last week. My first episode is an intro to why I set up the channel and what kind of videos I will be posting. You can view all my vlog post by clicking on the Youtube icon to the right. (If the link is not working, let me know) Along with my blog post I will post a video every 5-7 days. Right now I'm using a GoPro and Fuji Film XP for my videos. When shooting in low light the video is a little dark. The sound on the GoPro is OK as long as I not using it with the waterproof case. These are just a couple things I have noticed. Hopefully, I can work on the lighting and sound to make the videos better. This summer will be easy, but once we leave and head to TN for Amazon it will get tricky. I just hope I can keep up. Sometimes it was hard to keep the blog up to date when I'm on the road and now I will be doing videos too. I think that is why I said I'll post about once a week to start.

To clear the air, I did NOT start the Youtube channel to make extra money. I will NEVER ask for anyone to donate. I'm doing it because I like taking pictures and editing videos. Also, sometimes I might not write in depth details on where we are and I think showing the videos will make it feel like you are right there beside us. All I do ask is if you like my videos to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. Because, I will not post in this blog every time that I have a new video uploaded. However, I will post it on Facebook so my family and friends will know.

1 Jul
I hope this is not a sign of thing to come this weekend as we woke up to rain. When the rain finally stopped one of our canopy strap stitching ripped off by the rain. After the canopy dries I will have to glue or tape it back together.  

2-4 Jul

Cutty's kept me busy with lots of actives to photograph and videos to shoot all weekend long. Lots of kid actives so I will not post pictures. I did get some nice sunset pictures and even got some help from Hiromi in one of the picture.