Fastball Fans

My World Series predictions were foiled mere minutes ago when Carlos Beltran failed to garner a hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases full of Mets.

My Mets vs. Detroit prediction has died.

The Cardinals… =(

The only solace I can take out of this is that the team who destroyed my Braves’ division title run will have no shot at getting a World Series trophy (I had predicted them to lose in five games to Detroit).

I still predict Detroit to win, and I will stick with five games for the hell of it, though it just might go to six.

I still can’t believe they lost… THEY HAD IT!

Baseball, MLB, Major League, St. Loius Cardinals, Cardinals, New York Mets, Mets, Division Series, NLCS, World Series, Playoffs

*Don’t know what “Trick or Cleat” is? Want to read more about it? Then head on over to the Oddball section of this blog.*

Here is the email:

“Clever. Did you mean a fan pack?

Best Regards,
Giants Guest Services”

Ok, this whole Fan Pack thing was cute at first, but they are starting to bludgeon me with it. It is like they get some form of a commission from giving these things away.

And also, if I HAD meant a “Fan Pack”, then it wouldn’t have been a very “clever” email then would it?

MLB must have sent out a mass email a while back about these darn fan packs, and how they are a great way to sidestep our “clever” requests for free goodies.

Can’t say I blame them… =)

Since I was asked a question in the email response from them, I decided to send them a reply. =)

Here it is:

“Come on now, you know that I didn’t mean a fan pack. If I had then you wouldn’t have seen the email as being clever.

My original “request” still stands.

If being clever isn’t rewarded, then what good is having such a quality in the first place?

*My name*
*My address*
*My email*”

I wonder if they actually receive/respond to replies… one way to find out, right? =)

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams, Giants

The Mets kept a 4-0 lead into the ninth before they gave up 2 runs. They were able to stop the Cardinals rally at 2 and claimed a 4-2 victory in 9 innings at Shea Stadium.

The winner of game seven will move on to play the Tigers who have been resting since claiming their spot in the World Series by defeating the Yankees.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: Detroit vs. New York in the WS!

Baseball, MLB, Playoffs, World Series, Cardinals, Mets, St. Louis, New York

*Don’t know what “Trick or Cleat” is? Want to read more about it? Then head on over to the Oddball section of this blog.*

Here is the email I received from the Royals:

“Thanks for your interest in the Royals and our 2006 Pocket schedule and Fan Pack. Please complete the Pocket Schedule Request form and we would be happy to send you a schedule and Fan Pack:

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/kc/fan_forum/pocket_schedule.jsp

Thanks for your interest in the Royals.

Sincerely,
Josh Diekmann
Coordinator, Community Relations”

When they mentioned the Fan Pack I assumed it was just an extra step in the same process that I got from the Mariners; however, on going to their link it only mentions a pocket schedule, as well as implying I will be getting “Royals” spam.

I opted out of signing up for it.

If any of you would like a pocket schedule and perhaps a fan pack, feel free to follow the link in the email. =)

Three down, twenty-seven to go.

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams, Royals

*Don’t know what “Trick or Cleat” is? Want to read more about it? Then head on over to the Oddball section of this blog.*

This one was a gem, a real gem.

Check it out:

“Thanks for writing.

Unfortunately we will have to opt for the trick.”

I literally laughed out loud when I read it. It was a short laugh, but still…

It is short, it is sweet, it is to the point, and it shot me down. =)

This one makes me look even more forward to the 28 other responses that will hopefully find my inbox in the coming days/weeks.

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams, Astros

*Don’t know what “Trick or Cleat” is? Want to read more about it? Then head on over to the Oddball section of this blog.*

Ah the first response. I must say, when I read it I was rather surprised. The response I got was custom fit to my request, which went against the automated replies that I was fearing. This means that all of these that I get back should have a nice original reply to post. (What I was hoping for, yay!)

I can’t call this one a failure, nor was it a full success.

Here is the email I recieved:

“Dear David,

Thanks for your e-mail. Unfortunately, we do not have any tickets or autographed items available to mail out to fans. However, we have put a little fanpack in the mail to you today that has some cards of past and present players, some fun facts and stickers and a poster of the ballpark; you should be receiving it shortly. Again, thanks for being a fan and we hope you get a chance to come visit us at Safeco Field sometime soon - Go Mariners!

Seattle Mariners Fancare”

The cards are a rather nice plus, being a collector and all. =)

Go Mariners indeed!

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams, Mariners

Here is the email, word for word, that I sent to all thirty Major League Baseball organizations:

“Trick or Cleat… give me a ticket to a really good seat, or else, perhaps, an autographed cleat!

Dear *Insert Team Name* Organization,

I implore you to help someone who is no longer at the age where it is sociably acceptable to dress up like his favorite baseball player and go door to door this Halloween to collect on holiday goodies.

Please help me to enjoy this holiday, and in the best way possible, the Baseball way!

*My name*
*My address*
*My email*”

Keep this email in mind as you read the responses, the first of which will be posted right after this goes up!

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams

I just got done spending the better part of an hour, yes an entire hour, sending out an email to each and every MLB team.

After visiting thirty websites, sending thirty emails through their contact page, and receiving thirty “Thank You” messages, I am now awaiting replies.

I was very surprised to only recieve one email right away that stated that the organization would reply to my email as soon as they could. This courtesy was only granted by the Blue Jays, go them!

I will keep you all posted on my latest rejections as they come in.

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams

OR OR

My mind is a beehive of activity, and because of this, the initial idea has changed. My “Trick or Cleat?” campaign has turned from the sport companies to the teams themselves! That’s right; each and every one of the thirty MLB teams will be getting an email from me asking the pivotal question: “Trick or Cleat?�?.

The content of the message will be along these lines:

“Trick or Cleat… give me a ticket to a really good seat or else perhaps a player’s autographed cleat!�?

I will then sign my name and give them my mailing address in the extreme off chance they choose the “Cleat/Ticket�? option as opposed to the “Trick�? variant which would consist of them shooting me down with an email which I will gladly post for all of you to see.

I can feel the “boos�? coming already, except they aren’t from ghosts with the intent to scare, but rather from me because I will be walking out of this empty handed.

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball Gear, Baseball, MLB, MLB Teams

I doth believe the Cardinals got beat rather harshly today. Which, if I might add, means that the series is tied 2-2. Which ALSO means that my prediction for the World Series is looking rather nice (in my eyes anyway).

Alright, I need to go hunt up the last few companies for my whole “Trick or Cleat?�? campaign, which I will try my best to post up tomorrow.

Night, all!

Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Mets, New York Mets, Playoffs, World Series

It is 1:40am, so I am going to keep this one brief because I need some sleep. I left the game when it was 5-0 because I had things that had to be done, and came back to see that the Mets didn’t come back and make me happy. No worries though, they will still take the series. Just you wait and see!

Mets, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, Playoffs, World Series

Welcome to the World Series Detroit Tigers!

They tied it up with a HR at 3-3 earlier in the night, and won with a HR in the ninth. Four game sweep of the ALCS to get their spot in the WS.

Part one of my World Series prediction couplet has fallen into place. Now the Mets need to rally in their game which I am watching as I type this (well… it is a Taco Bell commercial at the moment), and take their series for the other half to work out right.

The Mets are only down by 2 and it is still the second inning, so I still have my hopes.

Congrats to all the Detroit fans! Destiny! =)

Detroit, Tigers, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Yankees, New York, World Series, Playoffs, Eliminated, Walk Off, HR, Homerun

Alright, so not just did I steal this idea from www.prankreport.com, but the whole idea itself is to pretty much steal some free goodies from different companies. Now, I came across Shawn’s idea on prankreport, and thought it was a great one. HIS even makes sense, because he is appealing to food companies, and what do people give out on Halloween?…Food!

It would make no sense, and it would be 100% unoriginal of me to trick or treat to the food companies as well. So I got to thinking (putting my greedy greedy mind to use) as to who I could ask for some free Halloween goodies. I thought of baseball card companies (since I am a collector), but realized that there are only two such companies, and one doesn’t even have an email support system. So then the other big companies… Rawlings… Louisville, etc. popped up, and I figured: “Well, it makes no sense at all for me to be doing this, so if I am going to fail, I may as well fail while shooting big.�?

I am mainly doing this to see the email responses I get so that I and you the readers can have a really good laugh when we read the various ways in which I am shot down and made fun of. =)

A list of companies I will be sending my little “trick or cleat�? to will be put up shortly, so keep an eye out.

Trick or Treat, Trick or Cleat, Baseball, MLB

Yes, that is John Rocker. And yes, he is wearing a shirt that says “Speak English�?. I pulled the picture and the idea for this entry off of his website. He has created a campaign, entitled none other than “Speak English�?. This may seem like a throwback to his days of racist remarks about New York city, and various other statements he has made in the past; however, after reading his mission statement (which can be found on his website), and watching the interview he did with Rita Crosby on MSNBC I have noticed some things. One: that he seems sincere in his mission to both preserve different cultures while unifying our country as a whole through a common language, and two: that he is a lot more articulate than I thought he would be after having said of the things he shouldn’t have said in the past. I particularly enjoyed this quote from him during his interview with Rita Crosby. Rita had just attempted to nullify his idea by stating that the United States is a melting pot, and always has been, and it has worked out fine so far.

John then said, “It’s not really a melting pot anymore, it is more like a… buffet.�? Aside from having a little comic effect, at least on me anyway, in that line, it also holds a lot of truth. He also mentioned in the interview that there are far too many areas that are the “Chinese section�?, or the “Cuban section�?, where they only associated with each other, and in their native tongue.

We call ourselves the “United�? States for a reason and this divisionalism is not that reason.

John Rocker, Speak English

Well, this certainly puts a slight damper on my prediction for who advances, albeit a small one.  I can’t say I expected Carpenter to lose his start, he was, after all, the Cy Young winner last year. I still see the Mets taking the series and advancing to the World Series. It will take three more loses to change my mind on that one. =) 

And to think, I was all hyped to write a post stating how the Cardinals had no shot after their ace lost his start. They were down and being shutout for a while in this one, but it didn’t hold up. Scott Spiezio proved enough to jump start the Cards with his two run triple. They went on to tie it up at 6-6 before scoring multiple times in the ninth while the Mets left the runs unanswered. Trachsel vs. Suppan in game 3. I have to give this one to Traschel. 

Get ready for that Detroit vs. New York series everyone!

St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, Playoffs, World Series, New York Mets, Mets, Trachsel, Suppan