The Perks of Living in Tampa

So I have lived in Tampa my whole life and there are a lot of good things to say about this place as well as a lot of negatives. The biggest negative is probably the lack of public transit. If you don't have a car around here then you better find a place that delivers or move in next to a grocery store. The perks of living in Tampa would have to be that its centrally located and about an hour from Orlando. Personally, I would rather watch a Disney movie than visit their parks, but that's just me. I prefer Busch Gardens on a nice cool day and Adventure Island on a hot day.

Of course this is a baseball blog and I am a baseball fan so I have to say something about how great the Tampa area is for baseball. I dislike the Rays but I would be lying if I didn't say I was happy there is an American League baseball team just an interstate, bridge and 15 exits away. I have to admit that I haven't always been the best and most diligent baseball fan. I think I went to my first Yankees spring training game back in 1998. I got my first Spring Training program in 2000 but I know I went to games before then. I hardly ever watched the Yankees on TV and I definitely never looked over the TV Guide to see when their games were going to be on. I always knew though if they had won the World Series because there is a high population of New Yorkers that lives in Florida and they always put Yankee news in the papers here. I also would read over the Spring Training guide to see the details of their past season. When I went to HCC from 2006-2009 I actually only attended one Yankees Spring Training game and that was in 2006. This was the year that the WBC took place and my dad and grandparents weren't interested in buying tickets anymore if the big name players weren't going to be there. Why would they pay $80 to see some guys named Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera instead of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter? I remembered both of them from that game on because their names were interesting sounding. I also went to my first Yankees vs. Rays game in 2006 though I don't remember much of it.

My big time baseball obsession started in 2009 when I got a new phone and I set it up to receive text alerts from ESPN on the scores from the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. I still didn't have the time or resources to follow the team as diligently as I do now(thanks Twitter!) As the season went on, I would eagerly await the results of the days games and would get upset when I had seen that the Yankees had lost and the Red Sox and Rays had won. I even turned off my Yankees alerts at one point because I hated seeing that they had lost(I think that was in the middle of a losing streak) but I set it back up towards the end of the season. I was extremely excited to see that they had made the postseason but was too busy to watch all the games. I watched the first game of the ALDS but not all of it. At the time I was working about 35 hours and going to school for 12 credit hours so I really didn't have the time to devote to follow them as much as I wanted. I watched parts of the ALCS and 2 games of the World Series. I watched some of the first game and then the whole game 6. I remember how great it felt to have seen them win it all. When they had won last in 2000 I was only 12 years old so I didn't really appreciate what they had been doing since 1996. In 2009 I was able to get into it more really appreciate the history that had been made. It was just crazy to think that Posada, Jeter, Rivera and Pettitte had won it all together again.

After 2009 I vowed to be a better Yankee fan, I also had a lot more free time having cut my hours at work and being more focused on my classes. I followed the 2009/2010 offseason closely but not crazy close. I vowed to learn more about the players on the team because the last time I had gone to Spring Training was in 2006 and a lot had changed since then. I also didnt want to go to Spring Training and not know who was who. Lets just say I learned way more than I had planned on learning and became a little obsessed about learning everything I could about everyone. It was fun though so I didn't mind. 2010 was a really fun season to watch, I bought the MLB.tv subscription and watched a lot of games. I also realized that we had MLB Network so I could watch Quick Pitch and learn about people on other teams as well (Hello, Buster Posey) I didn't really care that the Yankees didn't win it all again, it was worth it for them to have won in 2009 because it got me interested in them again and I had been neglecting them for a few years.

It was a Saturday afternoon in June when my friend told me her sister got tickets to a Tampa Yankees baseball game. I had been wanting to go to a game but I didn't know much about the team and didn't want to go alone. I went with her and had a really good time, I liked that I could sit really close to the field and the game was pretty cheap. It was after that when I started going to their games more frequently. I learned the players on the team and was really happy to see them win the championships and beat the Stonecrabs(boo Rays!) I joined the Tampa Yankees Booster Club for the 2011 season so I can be more involved so I am looking forward to that.

The past week has been great, being able to go up to the field to watch the team practice and getting to see some of my favorite Tampa Yankee players with the big league club...its just been a blast. I hope you have enjoyed reading this entry, I know its rather long but I felt that I should put all this stuff out there.

Now I leave you with a little blast from the past. When I was little back in the early 90's before the Yankees played at Legends Field, we used to go to Sarasota for Spring Training to see the Cincinnati Reds(when the Yankees started playing at Legends we always went to see them play the Reds) Here are two pictures from one of those games in 1993. Its the Cincinnati Reds against
Houston Astros.

Autographs

Tampa Yankee games are really good for getting player autographs. The players stretch on the right field grass and sometimes when they're done they will come to the fence and give autographs. On Saturday games they have player autographs on the concourse where at least one player sits at the table an hour before the game and does autographs. The pitchers also chart the games behind home plate and if you recognize one of them and have something with you then you can go between innings and get an autograph. They are always willing to sign anything as long as they aren't in the middle of charting pitches at the time. So I have decided to show off the autographs I got last season.

Note: Click the pictures to enlarge.





I went to the game on July 3rd with my dad hoping to see a good game and fireworks celebrating the 4th afterward. Instead we got to the field and it was drenched. The infield was soaked and there was too much water in the outfield, they deemed it unsafe for play. Because so many people had come to the game they didn't want to just tell everyone to go home so they told us over the loudspeaker that they were going to do whole team autographs on the field. They had all the players stand in the home and away dugouts with sharpies and you could go down to the field and get in line to have them all sign something. I didn't bring anything so I borrowed a dollar from my dad and and bought a lineup card and got in line. It was about an hour process because there were two lines for each dugout but I got a lot of good autographs. Hopefully I am lucky enough to go to another game in 2011 where they do this.



Pitchers sit behind home plate and chart pitches for games. Sometimes they chart pitches thrown by the opposing team and sometimes they chart pitches for their team and I have also seem them chart a whole game. Point is, the pitchers sit behind home plate and are totally accessible to fans that recognize them. Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos definitely stand out in a crowd and are quite recognizable when charting pitches which is how I got their autographs. I was thinking what I could get them to sign because I didnt have either of their cards nor a ball, I figured I would just have them sign the ticket from the game they started. I got Betances autograph first, I actually waited til the end of the game for his and almost missed him but I chased him down and he signed the ticket for me. Unfortunately the pen wasn't fresh so the autograph is not perfect. I learned my lesson a few days later when I saw Banuelos charting pitches. I just came into the stadium because I had come late and it was a wet day. When I saw him I ran out to my car and grabbed the ticket from the game he had pitched a week earlier and a sharpie and asked him to sign it between innings. He kindly obliged and now I have autographs of two of the top 10 prospects in the Yankees organization. (Betances also signed the lineup card above)


So now that I have a handful of autographs I realized how many more autographs I could have if I had cards or had thought to get them throughout the season. I don't plan on ever selling these or giving them away. I am a pack rat so they'll most likely stay in my possession for a long time. I also have trouble sharing. I decided to invest in a few cards of some of the players I think will potentially pitch in Tampa in 2011 so if I see them I can get their autograph to add to my collection.

Last but not least....



The most awesome autograph I acquired in 2010 was my Buster Posey baseball. The only real Major Leaguer who has signed anything for me. I know he isn't a Yankee but he was the NL Rookie of the Year and when you get the opportunity to get his autograph it would almost be stupid to pass it up. One of the moms of the kids where I work grew up in the same town as Buster and her brother goes hunting with him, she was nice enough to take a ball up to Georgia with her over Thanksgiving and she brought my ball up with her, not but a few weeks later she was back with ball in tow. It is definitely a very prized possession now.

I got a Tampa Yankee Hawaiian style jersey on the last day of the season. Ill feature it another time, no sense in giving it all up in one post. If you ever want something signed by a Tampa Yankee member playing in 2011 just let me know and I'll see what I can do.