Inside the Park - Buffalo Bisons

 

Buffalo Bisons v Worcester Red Sox
2021-May-04 Waterfront Park (Arm & Hammer Park) Trenton, NJ
Bisons (Thunder) 6-1 Worcester

Attendance 1,525

Red Sox RBI: Jonathan Arauz

Bisons RBI: Josh Palacios 2, Breyvic Valera, Forrest Wall 2, Tyler White

Pitching: Tayler Saucedo (W-Bisons) Tanner Houck (L-Red Sox)

Nate Pearson started for the Bisons pitching 3.2 innings giving up 1 run, striking out 8 walking 1

Trenton (Buffalo Bisons) e-ticket

Due to continued Covid-19 travel restrictions, the Toronto Blue Jays will again play their home games at Sahlen Field, Buffalo. That has forced their AAA-affiliate team, the Buffalo Bisons to find accommodations for their home games. 

When the NY Yankees pulled their affiliation from Trenton, that left the former Arm & Hammer Park (Waterfront Park) without a team. A deal was brokered and the Bison found a temporary home, with a strange twist. During home games played in Trenton, the Bisons players will wear Trenton Thunder Uniforms, while on the road they will wear their Bisons uni

Cover was signed by Red Sox hitting coach Rich Gedman, prior to the game. Gedman mentioned they were not supposed to mingle with fans, however after we both mentioned we were vaccinated he agreed to sign the cover for me. I did not attempt to obtain any other signatures due to the restrictions

Rich Gedman, catcher

Boston Red Sox 1980-1990, Houston Astros 1990-1991 St Louis Cardinals 1991-1992

Inside the Park - Baltimore Orioles

 

2005-Jul-30 Camden Yards, Baltimore, Md

Chicago White Sox 9-6 Baltimore Orioles

Chicago RBI: AJ Pierzynski (HR), Tadahito Iguchi, Jermaine Dye (HR), Carl Everett, Joe Crede (HR)

Baltimore RBI: Rafael Palmeiro (HR), Brian Roberts, Eric Byrnes

Pitching: Neal Cotts (W) Chris Ray (L)

Inside the Park - New Jersey Jackals

2004-Jul-25 Jersey Jackals - Yogi Berra Stadium, Little Falls, NJ

smudge of dirt from home plate

signed by Chris Rowan

Inside the Park - Philadelphia Phillies

 

2015-May-14 Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia, Pa

Citizens Bank Park senior stroll, smudge of dirt from 2nd base

Phillies defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2

Phillies RBI: Grady Sizemore, Cesar Hernandez, Ryan Howard (home run)

Pirates RBI: Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez

Pitching: Aaron Harang (W) Vance Worley (L)

Inside the Park - Somerset Patriots

2003-Sep-03 Somerset Patriots, Bridgewater, NJ

smudge of dirt from home plate

signed by Robinson Cancel (Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets), Norm Hutchins

Spring Training Florida - 2018

Florida Statehood first day cover with Major League Baseball passport stamps from George Steinbrenner Field, Tampa and Spectrum Field, Clearwater for the 2018 season

Mailed through the Clearwater post office off Rt 19, after the Phillies game.

Inside the Park - Somerset Patriots

Another visit to the local Somerset Patriots:

 MLB passport cancel had not been updated from Jul 11.

Signed by pitcher Amalio Diaz #38, coach Marty Janzen #36 (Toronto Blue Jays)

pitcher Matt Soren #35

Jul 12, 2015 Somerset Patriots, Bridgewater, NJ

The Long Island Ducks defeated the Patriots 7-2

Inside the Park - Lakewood Blueclaws Beatles Night

Henri Lartigue (11), Luke Williams (12), Bailey Falter (9), Dave Martinelli (31)

Gustavo Armas (14), Ismael Cabrera (36), Luis Carrasco (32) Mauricio Llovera (26)

Tyler Hallead (17), Addison Russ (15), Casey Brown (5), Will Hibbs (54), Jake Kelzer (44)

Felix Paulino (24), Daniel Brito (21), Adonis Medina (16), Nick Fanti (20)

Bold= Majors

The Lakewood Blueclaws, affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, held their Extravaganza and Beatles Night on September 2. The gates opened at 3:30 with pre-game activities that included Hell on Wheels bicycle demo team, police and construction vehicles, free games and rides for kids, and 3 bands.

The headline band was BritishMania, a Beatles tribute band, which played from 5-7pm. To further celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles Sgt Pepper album, the Blueclaws were expected to wear a commemorative Sgt Pepper Jersey.

Unfortunately the rains generated by Hurricane Harvey hit New Jersey earlier than expected and the game was rained out. Due to the rain batting practice was canceled and members of the Kannapolis Intimidators were walking through the crowd to get to the indoor batting cages. They were very accommodating to the fans.

Starting at 6, the team held a signing in the batting cages located behind the concession stands. The team were wearing the special Sgt Pepper jersey. I created the "jersey" cachet to commemorate the event on a Beatles first day cover. As a fan of the Beatles I appreciated the event.

Other teams to wear Sgt Pepper jerseys this year included the Toledo Mud Hens (there was one person wearing the jersey in the crowd), Memphis Redbirds and the Fresno Grizzlies.

Feliz Paulino (Blueclaws Twitter) wearing the Sgt Pepper jersey on Sunday, after Saturday nights rainout.

Inside the Park - New York Yankees

2017-Jul-30 Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY

 My wife, the boys and I had been to the new Yankee Stadium for Soccer matches and concerts, but had yet to go for a Yankee game. We finally made the plans and went to see the yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays. I brought along a Babe Ruth Celebrate the Century first day cover, place the passport stamp on the cover. I will attempt to get it signed by one of the Yankees at a later time.

The Rays defeated the Yankees 5-3, as Corey Dickerson of the Rays, drove in a pair of runs and the Rays bullpen held the Yankees scoreless in five innings to take the final game of a four-game series. The Yankees took the first three games.

Ronald Torreyes of the Yankees had the first 3-RBI game of his career, hitting a 2-run homer and a run scoring double.

Dennis the Menace - King Features Syndicate (2017.08.05)

FYI - The Yankees do not employ a T-shirt or hot dog cannon

Inside the Park - Somerset Patriots Fan Fest

Cory Domel, Glen Barker, Brett Jodie, Jon Hutton, Scott Kelly, Aharon Eggleston, Adam Donachie, Carlos Guzman

2017-Apr-08 Somerset Patriots Fan Fest, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

Bold = Majors

The Fan Fest offered free admission to kick off the spring and the upcoming baseball season. The Fest included a chance for fans to meet the players and obtain autographs.

I brought along an Olympic Baseball first day cover to obtain a few autographs... It's always a nice day at the park...

1999-Jun-07 Bridgewater NJ

The Somerset Patriots were one of the founding members of the Atlantic League in 1998. However, the team spent its inaugural season as a road team while TD Bank Park was being constructed. In the 1999 season, the Patriots opened their ballpark, where they quickly became one of the most successful franchises of the league in both the win and attendance columns

Inside the Park - Trenton Thunder Fan Fest

Whenever I visit a ballpark I carry a few first day covers to obtain autographs or the MLB Ballpark passport rubber stamp, as a souvenir of my visit.

Bobby Mitchell, Jose Rosado, Billy Fleming, Caleb Smith, Matt Marsh, Zack Zenner, Devyn Tolansky,

  Chance Adams, Mike Ford

Dante Bichette Jr, Caleb Frare, Gleyber Torres, Travis Hissong

Domingo German, Francisco Diaz, Billy McKinney, JP Feyereisen, Justus Sheffield, Yefrey Ramirez, Rashad Crawford

Bold = Majors

2017-Apr-04 Arm & Hammer Park, Trenton, NJ

Trenton Thunder Open House

It was a rainy afternoon, but the plan was batting practice from 3-5, with a 1 hour autograph session to follow with the team. However fans starting lining up at Gleyber Torres table at 3:00 ignoring the limited batting practice. The talk for 2 hours was basically how many autographs could they get from Torres. The limit was 1. They all had their book of cards hoping to get as many as possible, I was just  looking for 1. I enjoy the fact that I can obtain several players at the same time on a single cover, which also always a spot for the MLB passport stamp, to commemorate my visit...

At 5:00 the players and coaches sat at 4 tables, with the only line being at Torres table. Regardless of the staff trying to persuade fans to line up at the other tables, few people moved. The lines moved fairly quickly and everything went smoothly...

Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields - 2001

The USPS issued a set of 10 stamps commemorating Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields on Jun 27, 2001. The stamps had their official issuance in New York, Detroit, Chicago and Boston. The stamps were designed by Phil Jordan. The Ballparks, also known as baseball's cathedrals are Ebbets Field (Brooklyn Dodgers) Tiger Stadium (Detroit Tigers), Crosley Field (Cincinnati Reds) Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees) Polo grounds (NY Giants, NY Mets) Forbes Field (Pittsburgh Pirates) Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox) Comiskey Park (Chicago White Sox) Shibe Park (Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia A's) Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs).  The banner portion across the top of the sheet features a scene from Sportsman's Park (St Louis Cardinals).  The back of each stamp provides details about the baseball fields.

 

Had the opportunity to go to a Pirates game at PNC Park. Brought a Forbes Field cover with a hand drawn cachet. Kent Tekulve was working the game for Root Sports, and he was generous in signing the cover. I then went to the clubhouse store to obtain the MLB passport stamp.

I have to have the ticket, no electronic entry...

Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies

Senior Stroll - My wife and I strolled the bases with the other senior citizens in attendance, there were quite a few. I stopped at short stop to obtain a smudge of dirt for the first day cover, along with the MLB passport

Shibe Park First day cover, former home of the Philadelphia Phillies

The Lakewood Blueclaws usually have a celebrity appearance during the season. 2015, the team had Ron Blomberg on Jewish Heritage Day. Bloomberg, playing for the New York Yankees, was the first designated hitter when he stepped to the plate  on April 6, 1973 in Fenway Park, Boston.

Artcraft cachet

The USPS issued a set of post cards along with the stamp issue.. Artcraft cachet added to the message area of the postcard

Armstrong Cachet

Edken cachet

Harrisburg Senators : MiLB

1987-Apr-11Opening Day

Harrisburg Senators - Riverside Stadium

The Pirates moved their Nashua Pirates minor league team from New Hampshire to Harrisburg, Pa in 1987. the team occupied the newly built Riverside Stadium located on City Island, Harrisburg. The team named was changed to the Senators, in recognition of the original Pirates franchise of the 1940s.

The franchise would move affiliation to the Washington Nationals in 1991...

Franchise history:

Berkshire Brewers (1976)

Holyoke Millers (1977-1980)

Nashua Angels (1981-1983)

Nashua Pirates (1984-1987)

Inside the Park

2017-May-27

Harrisburg Senators v Richmond Flying Squirrels

I brought a Babe Ruth FDC with me to the game, and was able to have pitcher Erick Fedde sign the cover during the pre-game warm-ups. Applied the Major League Ballpark passport stamp applied afterward.

The Senators lost to the San Francisco Giants' affiliate Flying Squirrels, after the Squirrels scored 7 runs in the top of the ninth. Fedde entered the game in the 7th inning

Bryce Harper life-sized bobble-head in Senators Hall of Fame