Oh man, I just "binge-watched" the pack break videos, and they are awesome!
Just for the record, I'm on 2 cards this year, with apparently 3 different pictures used (Chuck surprised me with the "Turn Back the Clock" photo). The one that I'm on solo, and is signed, was taken at a baseball game, and I may have even been on the field when that photo was taken.
The set up: The game was June 29, 2009, and was a fundraiser (group ticket sales) for my son's school (where he had just finished his Kindergarten year). The home team is the Hudson Valley Renegades, the class A short season affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Their season had just started a bout 2 weeks prior to this game. The promotion of the night was a local bank giving away 1 month's mortgage payment (up to $2,000). But to participate, they screened people. I forget exactly what we had to do to qualify, but it was either a ball toss or a cornhole type thing. I had no problem and was one of 50 people to qualify to participate.
Event #1 (lasted the first 3 or 4 innings) was a scavenger hunt. The first 24 people to return with all the items on the list moved on. I think I qualified in the late teens.
Event #2 reduced the particiapnts in half - we played a game called "tip of the tongue" where they ask you to rapid fire go between the 2 players citing a list of things (as an example, "name something blue", player 1 says sky, 2 says lake, 1 says bluebird, 2 pauses too long or duplicates something already said, 1 wins). I forget our topic, but I came out of that one victorious.
Event #3 was simply a race across the field, from third base, around behind home plate and down the right field line. We had no idea how many would be "cut", so I ran as fast as I could. Finished like 5th or 6th of the 12. They dropped 2.
Event #4 was one where you had to "ring in" (clap your hands after they were out-stretched) and answer a question correctly. They took the first 8 of the remaining 10.
Event #5 is what caused the mess on the face in the photo. They had 6 keys. The 8 remaining participants were now needing to compete to get one of the 6 keys. They pulled out a kiddie pool, dumped about 20 cans (industrial-sized cans) of baked beans in it, and placed 6 baby teething key rings in it. The six who pulled the keys out, got an actual key (for the sixth and final event). The catch to finding a keey - no hands, only your mouth. So, when they said "go", I tried to stick my head in and bumped the person next to me, moved to the other side, bumped the other person. So, they're in, and I still haven't stuck my head in because it had been bumped out twice. These people were fierce at this point! So as they're pushing their way into the pool, they are now leaning heavily on the side. What happens when the sides get pushed down? The bottom gets pushed up and the beans flow away from the popped up area. Right in front of me, at the peak of the popped up area, appears a teething ring. I snapped my head down, and I was the second person to come up with a teething ring in my mouth. Person number 1 chose key #3 (which would have been my first choice). I chose key #6 (thinnking, if they have us use them in order, wouldn't they want the drama to mount till the end?). The other 4 came up with the baby keys, and the remaining 2 people were simply covered head to toe in beans. I was the cleanest of the 8 of us. (They wouldn't allow us time to to go to the bathroom to clean up - a nice woman sitting near where they had herded us betwwen the kiddie pool and Event #6 had some extra napkins and I was able to remove a good amount, but still had plenty on me when we went back on the field. The picture was taken right after I won the key.
Event #6 involved unlocking a padlock that was securing chains around one of those large cardboard "checks". One key would unlock the prize. Key #4 is the one that opened it. As mentioned earlier, I had #6. I didn't even get to try it. :(
At that point, I went off to the bathroom, and washed my face (and neck) as much as you can in a baseball stadium bathroom. (I took a shower upon returning home.)
This picture was posted to Facebook either later that night, or the next day, and when Chuck saw the picture, he asked if he could use it. Knowing there would be much discussion about it, even some ribbing, I agreed to it. It was a fun night, one of the things in the scavenger hunt was to show a baseball card of a minor league player, and so I had to buy a pack of cards that night, and it seemed like the fun from that should flow through to the fun of this set. I am looking forward to seeing who all winds up with the autographed cards. I see Darrell, Kevin, and Chris pulled 3 of them already.
Hope you all enjoyed the story of the photo as much as I enjoyed the reason the photo even happened.
-- Dan --
Note: Please see my profile for more info regarding trading (section updated 3/4/2024). I have added a large portion of my inventory to the site, and currently have trading turned on (details are in my profile).
