A Little Pre-Pre-Game

In the past when I referred to "pre-game" autographs I had usually meant autographs I got during the little hour between when the gates open and when the game starts. But this year I've developed another form of pre-game, something I'll call "pre-pre-game" because I am dumb.

This is something I've only done twice thrice. Which is, stand by the employee entrance several hours before the game starts right when the players are arriving/about to go in. I did this for Luis Torrens and Everson Pereira, I just did it this morning with Ethan Hankins.

Hankins was the Clevelands' first round/compensation round pick in the 2018 MLB Player Draft. He was drafted using the pick Cleveland got when they lost Carlos Santana to the Philadelphia Phillies in free agency.

Hankins is armed with an "electric" fastball that MLB Pipeline stated was the best among all of the 2018 draft eligible pitchers. His fastball sits in the mid-90's but can reach 98 mph at times. He's also armed with a curveball, slider and changeup. All of which are work in progress pitches but could go on to be powerful weapons at his disposal. Hankins is currently 19 (dude was born in 2000!) and has done exceptionally well so far in the New York-Penn League (where the average age is around 21). It'll be interesting to see just how much better Hankins can get as he hones in on his breaking pitches as he matures and fills out a little more.

After I got Hankins' autograph I went home. I thought about seeing the Cyclones-Scrappers game, but the weather report didn't look great at all. Plus just getting Hankins was enough to justify the two hour train rides and the $5.50 I spent on subway tickets getting to BK.

Lastly here's a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that's located just outside MCU Park. Meant to take a shot of it the last two times I was in BK but I kept forgetting. Not this time.

And that was my latest IP autograph. Thanks to Hankins for the autograph! And as always thank you (the readers) for stopping by :).

Take care.

2019 IP Auto Count: 21