Category: BP Report With Jacoby Nolnaho

Jacoby Nolnaho dives into batting practice and the moments leading up to it. It covers weird, bizarre, serious, and other things. Check for blogs, pictures, and videos of my ballpark adventures.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: 4/6/18

On April 6, 2018, I went to my first baseball game of 2018. As usual, it was the Yankees hosting the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have now introduced a three hour batting practice block. In other words, on select Friday home games, the gates will open three hours before game time instead of the traditional two. This is great for ballhawks like me, giving us an extra hour of opportunities to catch balls. Using the Clear Lane, I was able to get into the stadium a tad before anybody else. Only the right and left field seats were open, but I was still in luck.

Within ten minutes of getting in, a worn baseball was sitting approximately twenty feet from the wall. Yankees reliever Adam Warren was making his way to the dugout when I exclaimed, “Hey Adam, over here!” Warren turned and threw a liner right to me. I did not realize I caught the ball until I turned around and saw it in my glove. I quickly turned around and thanked Warren along with giving him a thumbs up. Later during BP, I ran into Zack Hample (once again). I did not want to bother him because he was swarmed with ten year olds, so I simply said hello and moved on.

The game was long and very slow. The game went 14 innings with the Yankees leaving lots of men on base. I was originally sitting in the Budweiser Party Deck, but as the game moved on, I transitioned to the Toyota Terrace. I was over the Yankee bullpen when Orioles hitter Pedro Alvarez launched a game winning grand slam into the right field stands. The Yankees ended up losing to a final score of 7-4.  I was happy the game ended since I was there right when the gates opened up until the final out. I was actually at Yankee Stadium well over ten hours.

Overall, I had a lot of fun and hope this game is just a beginning for good things to come in the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: All Good Things Come to an End

On July 31, 2017, I went to yet another Yankee game at Yankee Stadium. I got there early right when the gates opened, but there was some season ticket holder event that let other people in earlier. By the time I got in, right field was really crowded. The Yankees groups hit about ten baseballs into the home bullpen. I went over there, put my hands in the air, and got, well, “competed” by a kid. He put his thumb in my earhole, the middle finger around the earlobe, and twisted. It really hurt and I went down. I would’ve accepted it, but the kid got the ball, and I was empty. Later in BP, Zack Hample showed up. I went over to him and had a nice chat. This is the second time I’ve talked to him. I warned him about the kid, and asked him how many balls he had gotten. He only had two, and you could see he was having a rough day. I helped him out by telling him who was up at the plate. I didn’t get any balls during batting practice or during the course of the game. This ended my three game streak.

The game was very interesting and fun as the Yankees won 7-2 over the Detroit Tigers. Aaron Judge hit a home run, but sadly I missed it as I was in the bathroom. I enjoyed a milkshake from Johnny Rockets and a bowl of soup noodles from the Noodle Bowl. Even though I didn’t get I ball, I know that people are always better than possessions.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: Old Timers’ Day

On June 25, 2017, I arrived at Yankee Stadium at 10:00. It was the 71st annual Old Timers’ Day. After an hour of absolute nothing, the Yankees greats finally took batting practice. Since these legends are getting up there in age, the baseballs were not flying out. My one (and only) chance came when a weak dribbler hit against the wall. Four time World Champion Jeff Nelson came over a tossed me the ball (For those of you who don’t know, I have actually met Jeff Nelson at an AT&T grand opening celebration). And as many of pitchers have noticed, the seams on the 2017 baseball around more thin and tighter wounded compared to the 2016 baseballs. This has been thought to have happened after the incline in home runs. Old Timers’ Day was fun, but it was extremely hot.

For the actual game, I was sitting in home run territory right near the left field foul. Despite an epic comeback from a 7-0 devastate, the Yankees fell to the Texas Rangers 7-6. In this game, Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks left with a rib cage/oblique injury and took an MRI. Team officials say he will be out 3 to 4 weeks.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report With Jacoby Nolnaho: Dingers

On April 28, 2017, I went to my third game of the season. Everything went right. It looked like I wasn’t going to make the train, but it was late, and switched to the train I currently was on. When I got to stadium, I was able to get the fleece blanket. I made a beeline to left field. I missed the Yankees’ BP, but not the Orioles’ BP. I expected a lot of home runs to come to left field. A matter of fact, there was only one lefty in the Orioles’ lineup. After a disappointing BP,  I got my food, and watched the game.

I had free seats in the upper deck, so I decided to get up and walk around. I went to the Toyota Terrace to watch the rest of game. It looked like the Yankees were going to lose. They were down 9-1!  But after Jacoby Ellsbury hit a grand slam and later, when Starlin Castro hit the game tying home run, we were back in it. In the beginning of the tenth inning, Aroldis Chapman was warming up. When he was done with his warmups, bullpen catcher Jason Brown threw me the ball. Overall, it was a great game. I got a ball, made it on the jumbotron, made it on TV three times, and got a pressed penny for my pressed penny collection. The Yankees ended up winning 14-11 on Matt Holliday’s walk off homer.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report With Jacoby Nolnaho: Zack Hample

On April 16, 2017, I went to my first game of the 2017 MLB season at Yankee Stadium. After some train mixups, delays, and cancellations, I ended up at the stadium five minutes before the gates opened. Thanks to Clear, I was able to get on the fast line and get a Peeps purple plush. They are huge! After putting the plush in my backpack, I ran down to right field. Things got off to a slow start. Tommy Layne and Tyler Clippard threw nothing into the stands. After a disappointing Yankees BP, the Cardinals took bat. My friend caught a Matt Carpenter home run and gave it to me. Later, Zack Hample showed up. For those of you who don’t know who Zack Hample is, click here. Zack and I had a nice talk. We both had our umpire hats on and red shirts. He told me he caught 8 balls today. He signed my ball. On the ball, he put 9,535. This stands for 9,535 lifetime balls. I only have four!

For the game, the Yankees won 9-3 over the Cardinals.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: Yankee Stadium

The last game of the 2016 regular season took place on October 2. All games started from 3:00 to 3:15. I was at Yankee Stadium for this game. I arrived at the stadium an hour early. I walked around, checking out the different parking garages. A half an hour before game time, I got on line. Thanks to me being a Clear member, I was the first person in the stadium. I picked up a Mark Teixeira retirement shirt and went down to right field to do a little ballhawking.  I was the only person in the stands. Brett Gardner hit a line drive off the wall. The ball was alone on the warning track. I yelled out to Yankees’ outfielder Mason Williams who was shagging balls. I yelled “Mason, you mind getting the ball for me when you have a chance?!” He walked over and tossed the ball to me. The ball was perfect white and had practice stamped on it. I was on the board without being in the stadium for five minutes. This also happened at Citi Field. Click here for more. I had two more chances to get a ball. Gardner hit a bullet off the Modell’s ad. It bounced two rows in front of me. I violently jumped over the two rows bruising my upper leg. I did not end up getting the ball. The second time, Mason Williams tossed a ball to this four year old kid next to me. The kid didn’t have a glove, so he dropped it. It hit me in the upper leg (ouch!) and landed in between my feet. I kicked it to the kid and he ended up with it. Mason Williams didn’t see that. He told Tyler Austin not to throw any balls to me. It was a good run.

It was a perfect day for batting practice. The wind was blowing out and the balls were really carrying. Brett Gardner and Ronald Torreyes were smashing the ball. Gardner hit multiple second deck shots. Then Mark Teixeira stepped in. He practiced bunting followed by real swings. He wasn’t smashing it like usual. They were little ground balls. Tex decided to take a break for a while. Gary Sanchez was next and I ran over to left field. Sanchez only took two pitches and Teixeira was next. It his last batting practice at-bat, Teixeira hit a home run into the first row of the second deck. The entire stadium was cheering for him. He tipped his cap and went back to the dugout. The game ended in a loss for the Yankees. Brian McCann hit a homer and Matt Wieters hit two from each side of the plate.

This has been a Bleacher Creature exclusive.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: Dutchess Stadium

On July 11, I attended a Minor League Baseball game. It was the Hudson Valley Renegades (Rays farm system) versus the Virginia Black Bears (Pirates farm system) at Dutchess Stadium. This was very hard for me because I was missing the Home Run Derby in San Diego. I attempted to collect a ball but later found out that the Renegades were not allowed to give balls away. The reason I went to the Renegades game was because it was champions night and the first 1,000 guests received a Wade Davis bobblehead. (Since Wade was celebrating the All Star festivities, his family showed up for him.) Being in the area, I had to go. The novelty wasn’t the only excitement. Although nobody hit home runs during the game, foul balls were flying everywhere. It was a good thing the roofs were metal. Also, the defense was great. Double plays were extremely common. I wanted to catch the rest of the Home Run Derby so I left during the seventh inning. (I did see Stanton win. I posted it the next day.) The Renegades won 6-1. Overall, it had been a really fun day. Despite missing the Home Run Derby, the great defense and bobblehead made up for it. I really hope I can catch another Renegades game another time.

This has been an official Bleacher Creature exclusive.

by Jacoby Nolnaho

BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: Citi Field

August first. Subway Series. Yankees versus Mets. Bottom of the tenth inning. Betances on the bum. Granderson at the pate. It’s past 11 o’clock. Strike three, yer out!

Now you may be wondering about this. What’s so special about this game? I was at it. It was a great day. But you probably heard about the game, right? Well, in case you didn’t, the Yankees won 6-5 in a ten inning thriller against the rival Mets. BP was almost as exciting as the game. Not only was the ball flying out of the park, but I also snagged by own ball. I was standing in left field foul territory when Mark Teixeira grounded one to third base from the left side. 22 year old Luis Severino scooped up the ball and walked back to the wall. (TIP: If you want to snag your own ball, remember the number one rule of ball hawking: NEVER stand in the front. I was standing a couple rows back to have mobility and stand out.) Seeing me in my empty row, he threw a four seam fastball right to me. At first I thought it was going to drop in but later realized it was going over my head. Desperate for the ball, I leaped up on one leg and the ball plopped (more like slammed) into my glove. The whole section was clapping for me. The first thing I did was look at the ball. What the heck? I thought to myself. I caught it on the fly from Severino and it is in trashy condition. (The ball I snagged at Yankee Stadium wasn’t that nicked up). The thing is, after a ball is used in a game (typically four pitches including outs and hits) get thrown into the dugout. After that, they get used for batting practice and later get sent down to the minors. But the snag wasn’t the only thing drawing the crowd’s attention.

     2015 was great for Alex Rodriguez. 2016… not so much. All the reporters who said the Yankees would release Alex have obviously not seen his batting practice. A-Rod hit a total of five home runs including the longest home run I’ve seen at Citi Field since this. I later picked up a penny book with engraved coins and grabbed a bite at Nathan’s. From my personal experiences, I have concluded that Citi Field is better than Yankee Stadium. It is more kid friendly and generous. Thank you for reading this exclusive Bleacher Creature blog. Stay tuned for pictures and videos from my great experience. Come back and check for more blogs about Yankee Stadium and more.

This has been an official Bleacher Creature exclusive.