Thanks, guys

It may have taken a few days, from the time that Dunedin's Eric Thames gave this bat to Colin until the Dunedin Blue Jays outfielder/designated hitter signed it, but it was well worth the wait. Especially, too, after this exchange:

Colin: Eric, can you sign this bat?
Thames: You mean you didn't throw that away?
Colin: Why would I do that? It's sweet. So, you gonna sign it?

As you can see, Thames did, indeed, sign the bat. That wasn't the only thing Colin got signed by D-Jays players during two visits to Dunedin Stadium to see his favorite Florida State League team, the Charlotte Stone Crabs:

Though we don't have too many cards to get signed, we were psyched that Dunedin's Kevin Ahrens, Andrew Liebel and John Tolisano knocked out what little we had;

Signing the Dunedin Blue Jays team ball during the Charlotte series were, from top, Sean Shoffit, John Tolisano and Kenny Rodriguez (yes, it's upside down); and

Ahrens, whose folks were in town for the series, also signed the D-Jays team ball.

A fan favorite

Justin Jackson, a 2007 first-round pick by Toronto, gets our vote for the friendliest player on the Dunedin Blue Jays. He always stops to say hello and signs a ton of autographs before and after every home game. I suppose it helps, too, that Jackson's grandfather, a welcome fixture at Dunedin Stadium, is one of Colin's "buddies."

That's not to say, though, that Jackson was the only D-Jay to sign before a recent home game against the Fort Myers Miracle. Nope, these players added to Colin's work-in-progress Dunedin Blue Jays team ball:

Tim Collins, Marcus Walden and Andrew Liebel; and

Leon Boyd, top, and a smudged autograph from Ryan Page.

Our first forays

Given our proximity to three Florida State League (High-A) teams, it makes perfect sense -- to us, at least -- to keep our hounding skills current with trips to minor league stadiums in Clearwater, Dunedin and Tampa.

Instead of cards, though, we'll focus on team logo baseballs. They're affordable, portable and, when completed, will look pretty neat lined up in Colin's curio bookcase.

So far, we've started on two teams -- the Clearwater Threshers and Dunedin Blue Jays. Tomorrow, with Colin's Nana and Babop in attendance, we'll start a Tampa Yankees ball.

Over the summer, we'll try to hound every team in the league. I'm not sure we'll do team balls for every club, these will come into play over the course of the season: Charlotte Stone Crabs, the Tampa Bay Rays' FSL club, and the Jupiter Hammerheads, a Florida Marlins farm team.

While we'll try to get the league's best prospects on the team balls, this project is more about having fun than anything else. That's the best part about collecting as a hobby -- there's no pressure involved.

Here's what we've collected so far:

We kicked off our FSL hounding campaign Saturday, April 18 with this Clearwater Threshers team ball.

Manager Ernie Whitt was the first to sign the Threshers team ball. Others following suit were Javis Diaz, Derrick Mitchell, Matt Rizzotti and mascot, Phinley.

The Dunedin Blue Jays team ball was started Saturday, April 25.

Dunedin's Moises Sierra, top, and Justin Jackson were among the first Baby Jays to sign the team ball. Others signing were manager Omar Malave and Chris Emanuele.