Second Trifecta - 07/17/09

Game 1: Portland Sea Dogs vs. Trenton Thunder
For the second time this year we were able to get autographs from three different games. The day started out in Trenton, in the early afternoon, as we were able to get most of the Thunders players coming in. Being there that early was fortunate as Zach McAllister was sent up to New York City to be evaluated by the team doctors.

The whole idea of getting there early was to meet the Sea Dogs' bus with the main goal of getting autographs from Lars Anderson and Junichi Tazawa. Luckily we were able to get both of these players before they entered the ballpark, and was able to get a few of the other players as well such as Iggy Suarez, John Otness and Felix Doubront. Once inside we were able to get a bunch of the other players right before the game started (Brye Cox, Ryne Lawson, Adam Mills, Ryan Khoury, Ryan Kailish, Matt Sheely, Josh Reddick, Jarrod Plummer, Chad Rhoades, Chris Province, Juan Apadaca, and batting coach Dave Joppie). Several other players also signed on the other side of the dugout.

The crowd of collectors was pretty big but surprisingly not as large as we expected. After the game started we headed back down I-95 with the intention of stopping at the Wilmington Blue Rocks game mostly to see which pitchers were charting in the stands.

Game 2: Frederick Keys vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks
On the way to Wilmington, DE from Trenton the skys opened up and a huge storm hit. When we arrived the rain had stopped but the field, as it turned out, was unplayable and the game was called. Being there at that time payed off as were able to complete most of the Blue Rocks' 2009 team set as the players left the stadium.

After finishing we continued down I-95 to Aberdeen, MD where the IronBirds were playing the Vermont Swamp Monsters.

Game 3: Vermont Lake Monsters vs. Aberdeen IronBirds
This game was delayed by the storm and was in the 8th inning when we arrived. We didn't have a lot of cards so we were only looking for a handful of the Vermont players as they exited the field after the game. Even though Jack McGeary had started the game and went only 4 innings he was in the dugout at the end of the game. So along with him we got all of the other players we had cards for: J.P Ramirez, Graham Hicks, Sandy Leon, and Washington's 2009 2nd round draft pick, Jeffrey Kobernus.

After that we went around and got a bunch of the IronBirds as they left the stadium. Thankfully we had team sets cards as well as our blank cards as we asked every player to sign at this point.

So thanks to the weather we were able to graph at three different stadiums in one trip, in one day.