Game 2 of my 4 day trip was my 34th game of the season. The New Britain Rock Cats are the AA affiliates of the Minnesota Twins, The Rock Cats played the Phillies AA affiliates the Reading Fightin Phillies. For those not familiar with the Rock Cats. They are located in New Britain Connecticut which across the Long Island Sound from Long Island. I chose to take the ferry across instead of driving thru the city traffic. Taking the ferry takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes and is very relaxing compared to driving. The ferry lands in Bridgeport which is a little over an 1 hour south of New Britain. You may remember in one of my earlier posts that I mention the same ferry. The landing spot is a short distance from the ATL's Bridgeport Bluefish
Other Rock Cats autographs I got are as follows:
Nate Hanson, 1 custom. Nate was a 28th rd pick in 2008 by the Twins
Angel Morales, 1 custom. Angel was a 3rd rd pick in 2007
Reynaldo Rodriguez, 1 team Card. Reynaldo is a 7 yr minor league veteran. He has played also played in the Red Sox and Yankees system getting as high as AAA
Kyle Davies, 2 cards. Kyle was a 4th rd pick in 2007 by the Braves and is a 7 year major league veteran. Has also pitched for the Royals
Danny Santana, 1 team card
B.J. Hermson, 1 card. B.J. was a 6th rd pick in 2008 by the Twins
Trevor May, 6 cards. Trevor was a 4th rd pick in 2008 by the Phillies and was traded to the Twins this past winter
Dan Turpen, 1 team card. Dan was a 7th rd pick in 2003 by the Tigers. He has also played in the Rays and Pirates system getting as high as AAA.
Dakota Watts, 1 custom. Dakota was a 16th rd pick in 2009 by the Twins.
Other Fightin Phils autographs I got are as followes:
Seth Rosin, 2 cards. Set was a 4th rd pick in 2010 by the Giants. Seth was part of the trade that sent Hunter Pence to the Giants at the trade deadline in July of 2012.
Brody Colvin, 3 cards. Brody was a 7th rd pick in 2009 by the Phillies
Anthony Hewitt, 1 card. Anthony was a 1s rd. pick in 2008 by the Phillies.
Sebastian Valle, 1 card. Sebastian signed as an international free agent in 2007
33 autographs on the day is not to bad.
Either later today or tomorrow I will post about the 3rd game of my weekend that was in Binghamton.
There are not to many games left this season. The Ducks have 8 regular season home games left and are still in 1st place. So, I will try to get to atleast another 4 games before the end of the baseball season
Thank for Reading and Check Back Soon!!!!!
Here is a great view of the ferry leaving Port Jefferson Harbor. As you can see from the picture. I like to show off who my favorite teams on my car.
Baseball came to New Britain in 1983 and played as AA affiliates of the Boston Red Sox The team was known as the New Britain Red Sox and played at Beehive Field. The Beehive as the locals call it, still stands today and is now used my the local high school and little leagues. The stadium is surrounded by a chain link fence and I couldn't find any access. I would have loved to take pics inside. So, the only photo I took is below. In my opinion its hard to believe a AA team could play in this stadium.
In 1995 the Red Sox moved there AA team to Trenton NJ and the Twins took over the AA affiliation. The team was then known as the Hardware City Rock Cats. In 1996 the team name was changed to the New Britain Rock Cats and the team moved into its new stadium known as just New Britain Stadium. The 2 stadiums are about 100 foot of each other.
The main entrance
Outside the stadium down the 1st base line.
Today was probably the 2nd best day as far as IP graphing for me this season. Of course behind the day I got Derek Jeter in Scranton.
I had the chance to get the #3, #32, #42, #63 and #73 top rated prospects in baseball. 4 out of 5 isn't bad.
The #3 rated prospect by MLB is Miguel Sano. He is ranked #2 in the Twins behind Byron Buxton and was signed in 2010 as an international free agent and has been climbing the later thru the Twins system ever since. He started the season in advanced A playing for the Ft. Myers Miracle. He played about 55 games before being promoted to the Rock Cats. Miguel arrived at the stadium with a bowl of cereal in hand and did not sign. Miguel is strictly a 1 per when signing. But, I was able to get him on 3 times during the day. Twice inside the stadium once before the game on an 8x10 and then once after the game down near the dugout on a OMLB and the sweat spot. The 3rd time was interesting. During the game he gotten hit with a pitch on his right hand and he is a righty. He came out of the stadium with his right hand wrapped and did not sign anything. I figured I got him twice already. I would have walked away happy. But, having his hand wrapped didn't stop people from asking him anyway. So, he started signing with his left hand and the autograph didn't look bad. After seeing him sign lefty, I decided to get him again. As soon as I walked over he tore the wrapping off his right hand and started to sign.
I decided to use gold on the top photo because most times the players sign the darkest spots. He sweet spotted the ball with out me asking. I looked at his certified auto's on ebay and not many of them look alike.
The #32nd rated prospect is Alex Meyer. I left his card in the car and didn't bother having him sign a custom. What an idiot! I should have had him sign something!
The #42nd rated prospect is Jesse Biddle. Jesse is the Philles #1 ranked prospect in their system and was a 1st rd pick in 2010 by the Phillies and pitches for Reading. I've had gotten Biddle at the All-Star Fanfest this season and once a couple of years ago while he pitched for Lakewood. But, couldn't pass up the chance to get him again. I got him while he was getting off the team bus on an 8x10 and 2 cards. He also signed while charting behind home plate. I had 3 or 4 more cards in the car for him. But, didn't bother. Jesse is one of the nicest guys and usually signs what you put in front of him.
The #63rd rated prospect by MLB is Eddie Rosario. He is ranked #5 in the Twins system and was a 4th rd pick in 2010 by the Twins. Most of the local graphers all said he was tough to get and if he does sign he is 1 per. But, he seemed like he was in a good mood and I got him 3 different times. (2) 8x10's and 1 card.
I'm a little annoyed at myself because I used the gold on one of his 8x10's and you can hardly see it.
The #73rd rated prospect by MLB is Maikel Franco. He is ranked #2 in the Phillies system behind Jesse Biddle. Maikel signed in 2010 as an international free agent.
Other Rock Cats autographs I got are as follows:
Nate Hanson, 1 custom. Nate was a 28th rd pick in 2008 by the Twins
Angel Morales, 1 custom. Angel was a 3rd rd pick in 2007
Reynaldo Rodriguez, 1 team Card. Reynaldo is a 7 yr minor league veteran. He has played also played in the Red Sox and Yankees system getting as high as AAA
Kyle Davies, 2 cards. Kyle was a 4th rd pick in 2007 by the Braves and is a 7 year major league veteran. Has also pitched for the Royals
Danny Santana, 1 team card
B.J. Hermson, 1 card. B.J. was a 6th rd pick in 2008 by the Twins
Trevor May, 6 cards. Trevor was a 4th rd pick in 2008 by the Phillies and was traded to the Twins this past winter
Dan Turpen, 1 team card. Dan was a 7th rd pick in 2003 by the Tigers. He has also played in the Rays and Pirates system getting as high as AAA.
Dakota Watts, 1 custom. Dakota was a 16th rd pick in 2009 by the Twins.
Other Fightin Phils autographs I got are as followes:
Seth Rosin, 2 cards. Set was a 4th rd pick in 2010 by the Giants. Seth was part of the trade that sent Hunter Pence to the Giants at the trade deadline in July of 2012.
Brody Colvin, 3 cards. Brody was a 7th rd pick in 2009 by the Phillies
Anthony Hewitt, 1 card. Anthony was a 1s rd. pick in 2008 by the Phillies.
Sebastian Valle, 1 card. Sebastian signed as an international free agent in 2007
Either later today or tomorrow I will post about the 3rd game of my weekend that was in Binghamton.
There are not to many games left this season. The Ducks have 8 regular season home games left and are still in 1st place. So, I will try to get to atleast another 4 games before the end of the baseball season
Thank for Reading and Check Back Soon!!!!!
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