Kj’s Baseball Collection: Cristian Guzman Autograph

One of the things we were given as part of our unique experience at the Nationals Park was a baseball signed by Cristian Guzman. The ball is an official unused one that Cristian Guzman signed on one side. There may be no design to the ball, but the autograph makes it much more special than any design ball. It is my favorite ball of the trip and it will go great next to my favorite ball in my collection back home. The favorite ball I have ever gotten is one my mom’s friend got signed by Jon Rauch for me. That ball has the Nationals Park Inaugural Season logo on it and Jon Rauch was the winning pitcher for the Inaugural Game at the park and I was at that game. Now I have a ball signed by the player that got the first hit and scored the first run at Nationals Park in that same game.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Nationals Park

At the Nats game I got a Nationals Park baseball for my collection. It has one strip that has a field view image. In the middle of the image is the Nationals Park circle logo that says Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. and has an image of the ballpark with the Capitol and Washington Monument in the background. The other strip is red and has a white curly W logo on one side and a Washington Nationals logo on the other side.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Wood Braves

At the Braves game I choose a ball with a wood looking background. It says Atlanta Braves on two sides. Another side has the Atlanta Braves A logo. The did have a Turner Field ball, but I did not get it because it did not even say Turner Field on it and the field view look did not look unique.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Coca Cola

Finding a souvenir baseball for my collection was not as surprising as Mik finding a mini bat at the World of Coca Cola because I have gotten ones at Disneyland and Niagara Falls (this is the most surprising one for my collection). The baseball I got is red and white. On one side is says Atlanta Home of Coke in a white circle. On another side it says Coke Est. 1886 in a red circle.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Ty Cobb Museum

They had two different baseballs at the Ty Cobb Museum. Both basically looked the same, but one was just a cheaper vinyl one and the other was an actual leather Rawlings ball. I just went with the cheaper one, since the only thing on the leather one was the Rawlings logo that would end up hidden when I put the ball on my display rack. The ball has the museum’s logo in black ink. The black ink logo is of a bat with a ribbon around it that says Ty Cobb Museum. Below the bat logo it says Royston, GA.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Camden Yards

I was able to find a pretty interesting Camden Yards ballpark baseball at the Orioles game. One strip has a brick background and says Camden Yards in big orange letters on it. The other strip is a view of the Orioles Park at Camden Yards outfield with the unique warehouse and Eutaw Street in the background. Actually it really is not a view of the outfield and really just of view of the park behind the outfield wall. Anyways it is a view that makes it quite clear that it is none other than Orioles Park at Camden Yards.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

At the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum I got a souvenir baseball with the museum’s logo. The logo features an image of Babe Ruth at bat and says Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. The baseball also has an image of Babe Ruth’s signature. The other side lists Babe Ruth’s records such as home runs, walks, home run titles, and mutli home run games.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Citizens Bank Park

At the Phillies Team Shop I was able to get a ballpark baseball for Citizens Bank Park. The ball has one strip with a brick background. On this strip there is a logo that says Home of the Phillies Citizens Bank Park Est. 2004. On the other side of the strip is a red Phillies P logo. The other strip has a view of the infield including the World Series 2008 logo.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Citi Field Inaugural Season

The ball I got at the Mets game commemorates 2009 as the Inaugural Season for Citi Field. One the blue strip is the Citi Field 2009 Inaugural Season logo on one side and an orange NY logo on the other side. The other strip has a sun ray background design and says New York.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Green Monster

The second ball I got at Fenway is a Green Monster one. I mostly got it because it has a cool Fenway Park logo on one side of the green ball. The other side has Boston Red Sox B logo. The other strip has a view of the Green Monster along with a picture of the Green Monster mascot.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Fenway Park

One of the two baseballs I got at Fenway Park is a blue baseball. This one says Fenway Park on one side and Built in 1912 on the other side. The other strip of the ball has a view of the field. It is different than many of the other balls of field views, as it shows the infield and not just an outfield view that could be any park since the Green Monster is also obviously there.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Yankee Stadium Inaugural Stadium

They had a few different Yankee Stadium Inaugural Season balls to choose from. I choose one that is dark blue and silver. The dark blue strip says Inaugural Season New York Yankees. The silver strip has the 2009 Yankee Stadium Inaugural Stadium logo and the Yankee baseball and bat logo that has the patriotic top hat on the bat.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Gold 2009 Hall of Fame Induction

At the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum I got a baseball commemorating the 2009 inductees. The ball is colored gold. It has a logo for the 2009 induction. It has the names under the logo (Gordon, Henderson, Rice). On the other side it says July 26, 2009, Cooperstown, N.Y. The other part of the ball has the three inductees signature logos.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Toronto Skyline

Finding an interesting baseball at the Blue Jays was hard. There were plenty of designs to choose from, but none really stood out besides the Canada Day one. I did not want to get that one, though, because we did not actually go to the Canada Day game (July 1). I was about to choose a ball of the field that came with a tin, but it was expensive and had a rather generic seeming photo that could have easily been any outfield. Then I finally found the Toronto Skyline one buried in the bins of balls.

The Toronto Skyline one has a light blue silhouette view of the Toronto skyline on a darker blue background. On one end of the skyline it has stamps that say Toronto Ontario 2009 and American League. On the other end of the skyline it has a stamp design with the Rogers Centre. The other strip of the ball is silver and on one end it has a Jays logo and the other end says Toronto.