Gee, thanks, Raymond

Rather than try to add to his Tampa Bay Rays team ball, Colin wanted to hound the Baltimore Orioles before Thursday's game. As a result, I made a game-dated team sheet for him, trying out programs on our new computer and putting a new printer through its paces.

It was working well, too, as five members of the Orioles squad took the time to sign the team sheet: Jim Johnson, from left, third base coach Juan Samuel, Chris Tillman, Chad Mueller and bullpen coach Alan Dunn.

Then Raymond, the Tampa Bay Rays' mascot, stopped by. Needless to say, Raymond wasn't amused, as Colin, decked out in Rays gear, showed him the sheet. That's his big "X" crossing out the Orioles logo, as well as his autograph.

Signing bonus

As we walked toward Bright House Networks Field on Saturday, we could hear the sounds of a baseball game going on - the announcing of a batter, the crack of solid contact and a smattering of applause.

At first, we thought we had arrived late to the Jupiter Hammerheads-Clearwater Threshers game, part of our Shark Week activities during out Summer of Baseball. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Instead, we learned after arriving inside the park, it was a charity Legends game for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Among the former Major League Baseball players taking part in the game and nice enough to sign a foul ball Colin collected during the contest:

~ Pitcher Dick Drago, who played 13 years for the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners.

~ Catcher Mike Heath, a Tampa native, who played 14 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Oakland A's and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Old school

Rather than wake up early, wolf down some breakfast and stand out in the sweltering sun for a couple of hours, we took an old-fashioned approach to getting autographs this past weekend -- we stood near the dugouts.

With Colin and I working the Rays side, and Lisa using her Cal Ripken jersey to its full advantage along the Orioles side, not only did we add to the Rays team ball, but we also scored a pretty solid two-player ball.

Colin was able to get Rays pitchers Gary Glover and Jason Hammel to sign his baseball, raising the total to six. It was Lisa, though, who snagged Baltimore's Miguel Tejada, top, and Kevin Millar on the baseball shown above.

We learned, too, to stick around, right up until game time. By heading back to our seats early, we missed out on others from both teams.

With the Rays heading to Detroit after the game, we didn't bother working the team's parking lot. Cleveland and Boston are coming back in a couple weeks.