Parker/Becky Bridwell Autograph Winner!

Thanks to all who commented on my interview with Becky Bridwell, mom of Oriole prospect Parker Bridwell.

It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad to see a good reponse for the contest.   After putting the names in the randomizer, the winner is:

irondequoit36!

Congrats, iron-man!  Please send me your address and I'll send your card.

Thanks again everyone!

The Napkin Doon Interview: Becky Bridwell (Mom of Oriole prospect Parker Bridwell) + A CONTEST!

Several weeks ago, I showed off some cards of Parker Bridwell, a pitching prospect in the Orioles organization.  I am familiar with Parker's hometown of Hereford, Texas and mentioned that I knew a cousin of his from High School.  I received a comment on that post from a lady named Becky Bridwell, asking which cousin of his I knew.

Turns out Becky is Parker's Mom!  We corresponded privately a few times (also, turns the person I know is his aunt, not his cousin) and Becky was gracious enough to answer a few questions for the blog.  I have tons of questions about what it's like being a professional baseball player, and I also thought it would be interesting to get a parent's perspective on it.   I think you'll agree that Becky's responses are fantastic!:

When did you know that Parker was a special athlete?  Probably not until  I had to move my lawn chair away from the other moms at little league and start keeping a score book of my own just to occupy myself and keep from listening to them criticize him for “throwing the ball too hard”, or saying that “someone is going to get hurt if he doesn’t stop pitching it so fast”.  That’s when it probably hit me that he was a little different.    To the point where he could make a career in sports?  I didn’t realize that until his senior year of high school when we played a baseball game in Lubbock in freezing drizzle and snow and about 15 professional scouts showed up with radar guns and stood in the stands in the horrible weather watching him pitch.  That made it real for me.  I’ll never forget that.    

 Are you able to go to many of his games during the season?  How do you keep up with him?  We try to make at least 4 or 5 of his games every season and to spring training.  The ones we don’t get to make in person, we listen to online.  If we’re lucky, he’ll play in a minor league ballpark that broadcasts online video and we can watch it on milb.com.
 

Do you get nervous before games he pitches?  I get very nervous before he pitches—stomach upset, butterflies, the whole bit…and I stay nervous until he comes out of the game.

Parker now has several baseball cards available.  Are you into that stuff at all, or do you own any of his cards?  Does he care anything about it?  Parker’s dad and I are both into it—it’s cool to see our kid on a baseball card.  We watch ebay and purchase any new ones that we can.  Parker couldn’t care less about them!

Of all the scouting reports I’ve read about Parker, his mental toughness and tenacity seem to be common traits scouts love about him.   Does he get that from you?  Absolutely not.  If scouts report that he’s stubborn and hard-headed, that part is all me.

Troy’s Sweet Shop in Hereford was my all time favorite donut shop.  That’s not a question, just letting you know.  Good to know—wish it was still here.

As a mother, how do you handle the inevitable hecklers that come to games?  Or has that been an issue yet?  It has been an issue since Jr. High and I have a great solution.  I have a playlist on my iPhone that I turn way up loud and I listen to it the entire time he’s in  the game.  It may look like I’m listening to a play-by-play announcer (sorry Tom Simons), but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  It works great!

If and when Parker makes it to Baltimore, should I plan on joining you all in a luxury suite at Camden Yards for a game?  Not trying to put you on the spot, just want to get this answer in writing if it’s a “yes.”  Well…

Can Parker request a trade to the Rangers or Royals?  That would be much more convenient for me.  That way I could see him when he reaches AA ball (the Royals AA team is here in NW Arkansas- and the Rangers AA team comes through).  Or is that sort of request frowned upon?  I don’t really know how that works.  If he got traded, how would I see more of the country?

Do you still make Parker do chores around the house when he’s home for the Holidays?  Does he use the excuse that he can't risk his pitching arm doing chores?  Because I would if I were him. Yes, I make him do chores when he’s home…I’m attaching a pic of him doing the dishes a couple of days ago.  He was real happy with me.  I don’t listen to his excuses.  :)

Thank you so much for doing this Becky!   And to top it off, Becky was gracious enough to have Parker autograph a couple of cards I sent her AND agreed, after much cajoling from me, to autograph them herself as well!

SO.... I'm keeping one of these dual autographed cards with my growing Parker Bridwell collection, but I'm also giving one away to my followers!  Yep, a card autographed by Parker AND Becky!  She didn't think anyone would want that, but as a collector, I know this is exactly the kind of unique thing we'd all love to have in our collections. 

To win the card, simply be a follower and leave a comment on this post.  I'll draw names this Friday and announce the winner.  Best of luck this year Parker! And many, many, many thanks to Becky for being such a great sport, and obviously a great Mom!

A Parker Bridwell Rainbow!

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Orioles prospect Parker Bridwell.  I'm ecstatic to say that his Mom came across my post and we have corresponded a few times, and now I think it's safe to say we are besties for life.  So now Parker is my new favorite player in all of baseball.  Sorry Adrian Beltre.

Of course I'm grabbing up awesome cards of his where I can and had a few come in last week:

I already have one of these Bowman Chrome red wave refractors, but this one is super awesome, beingst that it's #1 of 25. 

I love the look of this card, what with the black frame around the orange Orioles uni.  The black is numbered to #15 so if my math is correct, I have about a good % of these in the whole wide world.

 
This is the pink version, numbered to 35.  Yes, it's pink so what?  I'm a total man, don't you worry about that.   I have a wife and we have two children, and you KNOW how babies are made don't you?

I just need gold, green, purple, blue and xfractor parallels (and maybe a printing plate!) and I'll have a really awesome page of Parkers!  I just hope his Mom doesn't see this and ask if she could have one. 

Parker Bridwell Can't Lose

How about that for a pop culture reference?  For those of you who get it anyway.

Parker Bridwell as a player for the Orioles doesn't have much significance to me.  I'm mostly interested in him because he is from Hereford, Texas, a town I am very familiar with.  Plus one of his cousins is an old friend of mine.  So of course I hope he has great success, and of course I wanted to pick up a few of his cards.  He had one of those Donruss Elite cards a few years ago that shows him in his Hereford High School uni.  But I think this year is the first year with cards depicting him in Orioles and Minor League uniforms.

 These wave refractor cards are really cool looking in hand.  The red is numbered to #25.

I'm thrilled to see a Hereford boy with a baseball card.  From what I understand, Bridwell is a decent prospect in the O's organization, and has shown flashes of big league talent.  So hopefully there will be more opportunities to add new cards of him soon!