Upton hit me in the head and a racist(!) fan.

So, this past weekend I went down to Port Charlotte to catch a few games.  Unfortunately, Friday's game was rained out so we were stuck at John Hall's Goal Post Bar watching the Big Ten tourney (Evan Turner is redic, BTW).  Not much happens up to this point, but...

Saturday is a different story.

As everyone knows by now, BJ hit a pair of homers.  One was wind aided but the other, not so much.  What makes the weekend a great story is that his first monster shot landed squarely on my dome.  I was on the phone with my dad when the ball was hit so I was only somewhat paying attention.  I tried to juggle my phone and beer while trying to catch the ball with my left hand.  Bad idea.  As soon as it made contact with my skull I hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

From what I was told the sound of impact was amazing.  The ball shot up over the wall behind me and ended up with some old guy.   After about 10 minutes of my friend begging him for the ball he finally gave in and handed it over.  So then I had to convince the ushers that I did not need medical attention so I could return my seat/table along the OF wall. 

About two innings later, Rick Vaughn (the name alone is sorts of WIN) of the Rays came up to make sure I was okay and asked if I needed anything.  I told him I was fine and there was nothing he needed to do for me.  I told him Stu and I were tight (right, Stu? :-)) so I was not going to ask for anything.  He asked one final time, "Are you sure?" So I gave in and asked if it was possible for Upton to sign the ball.  He said no problem and returned a few innings later with a signed BJ Upton ball.  BJ wrote "Sorry about that" on the ball.

This whole story goes to show that Karma is a bitch.  I'm the guy who usually makes fun of people that get hit with foul/home run balls all the time so I guess it was my turn. Oh well, better me than a kid I guess.

After the game ends we head over to Joe Crakcers for a few tall boys.  My buddy with me is asking everyone if they saw the home runs Upton hit and where the first one landed.  One older guy says "You mean the one that guy wore in the face?"  We all get a laugh out of it then we tell him Upton signed the ball.  He then says "Did you see him sign it?"  We say no.  "Then you have a clubhouse kids autograph because Upton can't read or write." he says.  I'm assuming that he knows this to be fact because of the color of his skin.  FAIL #1.  We also proceed to tell him how the owner of the club was nice enough to donate to my walk for cancer (which you can still donate to...I'm lookin' at you RJ) and he again shows how fantastic of a man he is by asking me "Did he actually give you the check?"  Obviously he did not and after we tell him that he says "Then it wasn't really him.  He pinches every penny he can." FAIL #2.  I assume he knows this to be true because, ya know, he's Jewish.

So that's my wonderful weekend and I hope to be back again this weekend.