The Durham Bulls park was selected to host the AAA National Championship game this year, the first time this game has ever been held east of the Mississippi. I had my eye on this game for quite some time and was not sure if I was going to make it, (busy time of the year at my job). So as the time got closer and closer I kept noticing that my name was not in the training roster to teach and all of my work was up to date so I knew I would be going then. I waited until the last minute to order cards as I didn’t have much on the 2 Pacific teams (Reno and Omaha) that were battling it out for the berth into the Championship game so I ordered a bunch form both teams.
Game day arrived and it poured down rain pretty much all morning and all afternoon and I was praying and hoping that either the rain would stop for the game or the game would be postponed one day (no rain in the forecast). Well the game went out as scheduled and I graphed pre-game. I decided to bypass Pawtucket and went straight for Reno. Very glad I did! I must say Reno was probably the most autograph friendly team all season long! While waiting for a few players to come out of the dugout, I ran up to the announcement booth and met Jim Kaat who was the honorary announcer for the game. He signed a program and one of his cards. He was a super nice guy! Wish I had bought a ball but oh well! I finished pre game with Reno and made my way to the seat.
Reno jumped out to a 8-0 lead until Pawtucket got a few runs but that was as close as they would get. Trevour Bauer, the 3rd pick up the 211 draft started for Reno and ended up winning the game for them. He def. had control issues but overall his weird delivery style, throwing from the hip pretty much, confused Pawtucket for a while. More on Bauer later. The game took about 4 hours to play. The rain slowly came back into play and finally when the game ended, a steady downpour was hitting us. That didn’t stop Reno from partying it up.
After the game we all tried to get post game autographs but it poured and poured. Both teams came out of the same door which helped a little. But with the rain, many stayed on the inside of the stadium merely taunting us! LOL! I think I maybe got 3 Pawtucket guys, they were horrible both pre and post game. A lot of the Reno guys, stopped outside and signed even in the rain while waiting to go to the after game party. Brett Tomko actually told all of us waiting he would sign and he didn’t want out cards getting wet so he actually let us stay under an awning to keep from getting wet while he signed and got soaked! Trevour Bauer eventually came outside and signed as he promised he would after the game. Talk about a super nice guy! He signed for a good 15-20 minutes. He even signed multiples if you had them! I did get my AAA Championship ball signed by him. Enjoy!
The haul! Will listen to trade offers!
Jim Kaat 2/2 (1 card and 1 program)
Trevour Bauer 3/3 (1 card, 1 ball, 1 program for CW13)
Ken Broxton 2/2
Charles Brewer 2/2
Brett Butler 3/3 (the nicest manager in baseball)
Rick Burleson 1/1
Jonathan Albaladejo 1/1
Josh Bell 5/5 (Shocked!)
Brett Tomko 5/5
Matt Gorgen 1/1
AJ Pollock 1/1
Daniel Cabrera 4/4 (09 Topps NFT)
Joe Paterson 3/3
Billy Buckner 1/1
Mike Jacobs 3/3 (09 Topps/09 A&G NFT)
Joe Martinez 2/2 (09 A&G NFT)
Pawtucket
Andy LaRoche 1/3
Ryan Dent 5/5 (08 Tri Star NFT)
Gerald Perry 3/3
Tried for others but they refused.
Jim Kaat / Trevour Bauer
Trevour Bauer – AAA Chamionshiop ball
Game day arrived and it poured down rain pretty much all morning and all afternoon and I was praying and hoping that either the rain would stop for the game or the game would be postponed one day (no rain in the forecast). Well the game went out as scheduled and I graphed pre-game. I decided to bypass Pawtucket and went straight for Reno. Very glad I did! I must say Reno was probably the most autograph friendly team all season long! While waiting for a few players to come out of the dugout, I ran up to the announcement booth and met Jim Kaat who was the honorary announcer for the game. He signed a program and one of his cards. He was a super nice guy! Wish I had bought a ball but oh well! I finished pre game with Reno and made my way to the seat.
Reno jumped out to a 8-0 lead until Pawtucket got a few runs but that was as close as they would get. Trevour Bauer, the 3rd pick up the 211 draft started for Reno and ended up winning the game for them. He def. had control issues but overall his weird delivery style, throwing from the hip pretty much, confused Pawtucket for a while. More on Bauer later. The game took about 4 hours to play. The rain slowly came back into play and finally when the game ended, a steady downpour was hitting us. That didn’t stop Reno from partying it up.
After the game we all tried to get post game autographs but it poured and poured. Both teams came out of the same door which helped a little. But with the rain, many stayed on the inside of the stadium merely taunting us! LOL! I think I maybe got 3 Pawtucket guys, they were horrible both pre and post game. A lot of the Reno guys, stopped outside and signed even in the rain while waiting to go to the after game party. Brett Tomko actually told all of us waiting he would sign and he didn’t want out cards getting wet so he actually let us stay under an awning to keep from getting wet while he signed and got soaked! Trevour Bauer eventually came outside and signed as he promised he would after the game. Talk about a super nice guy! He signed for a good 15-20 minutes. He even signed multiples if you had them! I did get my AAA Championship ball signed by him. Enjoy!
The haul! Will listen to trade offers!
Jim Kaat 2/2 (1 card and 1 program)
Trevour Bauer 3/3 (1 card, 1 ball, 1 program for CW13)
Ken Broxton 2/2
Charles Brewer 2/2
Brett Butler 3/3 (the nicest manager in baseball)
Rick Burleson 1/1
Jonathan Albaladejo 1/1
Josh Bell 5/5 (Shocked!)
Brett Tomko 5/5
Matt Gorgen 1/1
AJ Pollock 1/1
Daniel Cabrera 4/4 (09 Topps NFT)
Joe Paterson 3/3
Billy Buckner 1/1
Mike Jacobs 3/3 (09 Topps/09 A&G NFT)
Joe Martinez 2/2 (09 A&G NFT)
Pawtucket
Andy LaRoche 1/3
Ryan Dent 5/5 (08 Tri Star NFT)
Gerald Perry 3/3
Tried for others but they refused.
Jim Kaat / Trevour Bauer
Trevour Bauer – AAA Chamionshiop ball
