Okay - Round 3 is in the books and what a day it was!
First off, I knew today was going to be a short one for me, as one of my buddies had tickets for the Indians/Angels game tonight, including ON FIELD PASSES for batting practice. As you can tell from some of my previous posts, I'm an autograph collector, too, so the chance to get Trout, Ohtani, Pujols and/or Lindor was exciting. I've gotten Pujols before, but he'd still be a nice score.
I mean we were right there, I could not quite spit on them but it would still be close.
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To get ready for the potential, I bought a 2014 All Star ball (Trout MVP), a 2016 All Star ball (first time Lindor was an All Star) and a regular MLB baseball (could use for anyone). I was ready to rock!
Well, as terrible luck would have it...Lindor had finished BP before they let us down on the field. Strike one.
Trout is hurt with a right wrist injury and apparently hasn't swung a bat in two days, so he didn't participate today. Strike two.
Ohtani doesn't pay attention to anyone, including the Angels family folks. Strike three.
Pujols actually walked over right next to us to talk to someone he knew. By that time, it was one little kid and me and my buddy - 3 total autographs - but when we asked he says "Not right now, Papi" to my friend and walks off. Strike four. Thanks, Albert.
COMPLETE DISASTER! My buddy said that has never happened to him before, and he travels the country and does this frequently in many different cities thanks to his job. To borrow a phrase from someone on Instagram who was disappointed that Trout wasn't in the lineup after they planned their trip including a 7 hour drive - "I'm getting a good taste of the Cleveland fan experience." UGH, really disappointing but still cool to hang out on the field. I'd been to BP many times before, but never that close so it was neat. The stadium is pretty cool as well. Tough to really complain, and yes I understand no one is crying for me. First world problems - I get it.