Continued from:
–8 Years Ago Was The Biggest Night Of My Life, Tonight Will Try To Come Close As I Toss A Ceremonial First Pitch At Game 7 Of The World Series
–On The “Value Proposition” Of Spending A Million Starpoints For The Experience Of A Lifetime
–Video And The Experience Of Throwing Out The First Pitch In Game 7 Of The World Series
1. I still grin from ear to ear thinking about throwing out the first pitch before Game 7 of the World Series. A true childhood dream come true. Being able to walk onto the field with my wife (on our anniversary no less) and my grandfather made it that much more special.
Points come and points go, but there are only so many moments in life like that. How do you place a value on them?
2. I’ve always been of the opinion that miles are at their best when they’re used for dreams. I’ve redeemed my miles for countless aspirational redemptions and there’s no doubt that’s what makes mileage game so much fun. There wouldn’t be thousands of DDF obsessives if it was just about a free ticket to Miami.
Things I could never have imagined as a child are coming true.
I would never pay the asking price for a first class ticket, so the exact value obtained is fairly meaningless. My point is that the bottom line value goes out the door when you’re fulfilling your dreams.
When I write about flying in a Singapore couples suite for dinner in Paris or about taking the field before game 7 the message to my readers is the same: Dream big!
3. I’ve built up a stash of tens of millions of miles over the past 15 years. Opening hundreds of credit cards, taking advantage of stackable Hyatt faster free nights promos, mileage running stacked with promos like free system wide award tickets of 10K bonus miles per segment, the JetBlue 300K mileage run, Wendy’s cups, transferring eBay anything points into miles, manufacturing points with Google Checkout, US Mint, Amazon Payments, gift cards, etc, etc.
I’ve been able to use over 10 million points to fly in first class on more flights than most people do in several lifetimes. Given that I don’t sell the points or use them for others due to the risks involved, the opportunity to use them for this was a dream come true.
If you’re not a die-hard Baseball fan then this will probably never make sense to you. Then again there are few people who understood why the United Island Hopper was on my bucket list.
Cloud 9:
4. Apparently some people are shocked that I focus on earning and burning miles and points on this miles, points, and deals blog. They feel the need to point out that my priorities are clearly mixed up.
To be clear, learning Torah, davening with a minyan, and spending time with your family are all important things in the life of an Orthodox Jew. I started this blog while I was studying for Smicha, but that’s just not what this blog happens to be about. There are blogs that are about learning and I’m happy to learn something in person with anyone that drops by my local shul. It’s just not the focus of this blog.
5. Experiences will always trump things in my book.
Your car and your toys won’t last. The memories made will. So I drive a 6 year old Altima and look to make memories.
While on vacation we look for a photographer to take a photo shoot of our family in front of local scenery rather than buy souvenirs. Capturing the memories is better than bringing back clutter.
I take a look back at the day of our wedding and the days that our kids were born. Those are clearly in another class of memories.
But the manufactured memories are still awesome. How can I help but grin as I think about:
The day I flew to San Francisco (on a mileage ticket I had booked months earlier) to see the Cavs finally win a trophy for Cleveland.
The time Mimi and I went on a grueling 14 mile hike but got to experience the stunning Na Pali coast in Kauai in a breathtaking way.
The time spent underwater in Palau’s other-worldly Jellyfish Lake.
The trip I took with my grandfather to the MLB, NBA, and NFL Hall of Fames, capped off by an Indians win that we saw from the Green Monster.
The look in Rafi’s eyes when I took him on a father-son trip upstairs on a 747 and he got to sit in the cockpit.
The 7th inning when I walked onto the field and made off with 2nd base to the amazement of everyone in the stadium, including the Indians players.
Or the time I walked up to the mound before one of the greatest sports games in history to toss out the very first pitch. There’s not more than a small handful of fans in the world that can say they did that in their home stadium before a Game 7 of the World Series.
You can take away my things, but you can’t take away those memories.
6. Several commenters were aghast that I didn’t just donate the points to charity. I use my miles for myself and my family in order to avoid mileage auditors from looking into my account, which can happen if you book awards for too many people.
7. I wish the Tribe would have won, but being able to bring 4 people onto the field and into the game and then sit just 1 row away from the field for what may have been the best World Series game of all time is nothing to sneeze at either.
8. Did I think of not wearing my Tzitzes out or not wearing a Yarmulkah under my hat?
Not even for a second.
9. Yes, DansDeals traffic was up last week. Way up. No, I never thought I’d see my face on TMZ’s home page.
10. I never played in little league or owned a baseball glove. I was a studious little kid and my parents were not into sports. Though I loved the math aspect of baseball and knew the stats of hundreds of baseball players by heart.
My lack of playing ability only made the dream of walking onto the field of a World Series game that much more far-fetched. With just a couple hours to learn how to throw a baseball 60 feet I was thrilled to watch my sinker take a one-hopper to the catcher instead of watching the ball dribble to the plate or go wide right or left as so many YouTube videos show.
Bottom line folks, miles allow you to dream big. And I’ll never regret dreaming big.
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66 Comments On "10 Final Thoughts On Throwing Out The First Pitch"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Dan, how many people also threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Game 7? How many of them bought that honor? Was your pitch, or any of the ceremonial pitches, on live TV?
Well written! Yasher Kochacha!
@mg:
It was just me and then Jim Thome.
It was on the Jumbotron, first pitches are not carried on TV where those 60 seconds can generate millions in ad revenue.
@Sam:
Thanks.
Hi Dan,
I was wondering if you would consider, only posting messages of this nature online, and not via text message. (trip thoughs, election thoughts ect..).
I believe that people that are signing up for the texts only have it so they don’t miss a deal.
Respectfully!
Eli.
Dan ur awesome!! That’s all that comes to mind reading this post! The way you explain and put the whole episode into perspective. Keep it up!
Dan you have it all right! Why not do something you dream of! Life is allowed to be enjoyed! #1 FAN
Great post. Congrats. As a season ticket holder I got to take batter practice in citi field and shag balls in the outfield, but nothing can top throwing out first pitch in game 7 on your home field.
How dare you not use your points to kill baby Hitler?
Great post!
Don’t answer the haters out there. Haters gonna hate no matter what!
@Simcha:
I originally wrote this post answering the haters point by point and threw the post away to rewrite it from a more positive perspective without going down to that level.
Felt better this way.
I absolutely love reading your thoughts. Regardless if they are about baseball or anything else. I don’t get to take advantage of your deals much, but it is for these write ups that I keep coming back. Every now and again I get to take advantage of something you’ve posted. Don’t listen to anyone that says otherwise. I’m a huge Mets fan and would’ve done anything to have had half of the experience that you had. Kol hakavod!!
@Eli:
To be clear I think it is a very nice post!
I have never commented before on your site and I’ve been following for a few years. You freaking rock! This is just amazing and you should just keep going!
Dan, you are a true inspiration! Dream come true!
To my dear cousin Daniel,
Very well written very well said. Thank you for all your help
With all the mistakes and sales that you post you have helped thousands
Of people to go to Israel and all over the world explaining the points system
And which credit cards to use. Your point of thinking big
Was on point folks you only live once so if you have a chance
To do something that 99.9% of the population will never do
You do it ASAP these opportunities only come once in a life time.
Kol Hakovod to you wishing you and your family only the best.
Again thanks for all your help.
M & S S———
DAN! one can argue your the greatest supporter of torah and biggest donor of all time, if you would count how many miles where earned that helped, and how many people earned a living thru exposure to your blog etc etc etc, lets not even talk about the achdus and kiddush hashem created from this blog
Dan! You are truly an inspiration!!! An angel from heaven!!
Dan, good for you that you can live a dream – you earned it!
For every hater out there, you have a hundred supporters. This is my first post in 3+ yrs and I just wanted to express my support for you. If anyone doesn’t like what you have to say, go elsewhere.
Dan – just keep dealing!
YOU ROCK! you do what you do, it helps thousands and you get to reach your dreams ( doesn’t matter what they are!).
I personally don’t care for sports, but this isn’t about sports. Haters are gonna hate no matter what you do, you can donate 10 million points to charity – and you will still receive lots of negative comments (sad world).
Good for you and keep on keep’in on!
I think your point about dreaming big is important. Yes, I’ve gone on a bunch of free trips bc of stuff I learned from this blog, but the two things I think of most are about dreams:
1) I always wanted to stay with my wife at a hotel we used to date at frequently, but when I called on our first anniversary, it was waaaay out of our price range. Points made it happen 2 years ago.
2) Sitting in a luxury box suite behind home plate at Wrigley Field with my Dad to watch a Mets game, something no money I have could ever buy.
Thanks for making these things happen!
Dan- this is my 1st time posting after reading your articles/ blogs and deals for years. I can’t help but comment after seeing all the jealous, narrow mindedness negative comments regarding this post.
Dan- you earned those points! Do as you see fit with them! (In my personal opinion, love your “using points to make memories” motto! Kol hakavod!
Thanks for all your wonderful posts!
Great post.
Great food for thought… thank you for sharing!
It’s interesting that you need to explain yourself at length because of the “haters”. In previous posts I thought it was something like a 95/5 ratio of “lovers” to “haters”. Everyone seems to be rooting for you, maybe you just need to be more comfortable rooting for yourself.
Maybe you feel the need to justify dropping a million points because it hurts despite the awesomeness..but regardless if it is THAT important to you, do your thing.
I’m not a hater – no. But I still can’t wrap my head around dropping 20 thousand bucks on a pitch, even for a mad fan. In my brain I would say 20k should be used on a car or on real estate or a good cause. But that’s me.
Memories are amazing. But to my mind they are a fantastic by product of some awesome experience. So for example, I would not go to the Siyum Hashas for memories. I would go there for the experience. The memory would be a natural by-product.
But each to his own…and hatzlacha and thank you for all you do.
I really appreciate how you expressed your thoughts and feelings. They can be a real inspiration to many especially how you express your care and love for your wife and children and your kiuid av to parents and grandparents.
Perhaps others can share their dreams of what they would use a million milles for.
I would dream of buying a Dira in Yerushalayim to live in the Kedusha of Eretz Yisroel.
You can see you have a very special heart and wonderful Middot
Chazak v’ematz!
@Eli:
I’m not trying to defend myself in this post. Just providing final insight into my outlook.
After 4 posts though you should know this isn’t spending $20K.
I didn’t pay for the points, I don’t risk liquidating my points against the program’s terms, and I earn more points than I use for travel.
Dan! I wish you could just ignore the trolls! Your fans are ecstatic that you were able to have this amazing opportunity! Anyone who says otherwise is nuts! It’s the equivalent of walking up to someone’s table at a resturant and complaint about how much they are spending and what they could do with that instead. Nuts!!! We love you Dan
Dan, you threw out the first pitch. Now please go vote so that we can throw out the first bit#h.
There bottom line is if you don’t like the heat get out of the kitchen is the free blog and does not charge a subscription just because this is the open platform doesn’t mean that everybody who has a stomachache should resolve the issues here thanks Dan for your wonderful wonderful work and if we total up the amount of money equivalent them points that you have helped thousands and pond thousands of people earn and A calculator would break thanks then things that congratulations are you World Series pitch
Dan,
Thanks for this post. You are an inspiration. This is what the game is all about. I visit your site almost daily and have had so many great deals and experiences because of it. Thanks for doing what you do!
real cool to see someone with yarmuka and tzitzis proudly displayed, on the feild!!!!
I’m business man who’s meets with non Jewish ppl al the time and some time feel that I look so difrent then them many I should cover my tzitzus or hide my payis,but the first thy that went trough my mind when I saw your video,if Dan can do it then why can’t I, thanks dan for the inspiration
I’m 100% in agreement w/you on all your points.
My miles are used exclusively for me & my family to make memories.
They are Memory Making Miles. Great post.
I love what you said, Dan. Life is about experiences. What you are describing is the transcendental, spiritual aspect of life. Go for it. You’ve helped many people and what you’re doing is not hurting anyone. You show the world that a Torah Jew can be honest, do business, and adhere to our precepts. Way to go. Enjoy Antarctica, circle the globe another 99 times. Cherish your wife, children, and family, and hold onto all of your experiences.
Dan your content is grt! Deals are fun and exciting. Your trip reports and experiences are a grt read. The engery on your blog is electric! Thanks!
Dan. What you are doing is great. You should not feel the need to answer haters. Answers will not help them unless the answers are provided by people licensed to answer to their particular emotional disorder.
@Eli: Respectfully, have some respect for Dan yourself, unfollow him if you don’t like the way he runs his business
“Not even for a second.”
Best line in the post!
I’m not a sports fan at all, have zero understanding on the topic, but DAN I think you should ban every SNAG from Lakewood from commenting on your blog, they can’t handle that someone else is enjoying life differently then they are, and must bash even after you spend all those miles…..and then they talk about shimras halshion(שמירת הלשון-לשון הרע)
hey dan- good for you.
you deserve it.
Glad you got to enjoy a special moment.
you certainly have created many for all of us!
We appreciate what you do and enjoy your fun!
thanks.
Very good article.
Ideally we should all sit and learn all day but reality is that we (most) have to work in other pursuits to earn our livelihood. That said, it’s worthwhile to choose something you have a passion for – like Dan does. If you’re a doctor then you better love helping and healing. An accountant better love sitting over numbers and their related laws etc.
So Dan, keep doing what you love (and of course learn Torah every day too which I’m sure you anyway do.)
PS-You do a fabulous job with this site.
Dan, we DDFers are extremely proud of you for omitting that three letter method when writing the manufacture list. Enough said.
Dan, you are filled with toichen,not just great deals. Keep it up!
Great post and a great outlook on life! Thanks for the inspiration, Dan!
Thanks to all for their feedback. And join the DansDeals Forums or DansDeals Facebook groups to share your own dream experiences with miles!
Dan, thank you for the story! I was also present, albeit in left field on the home run deck. Awesome blog and glad you got to do the first pitch!
Dovid, highly inappropriate comment as well as unintelligent. To explain that “snags” are not all from Lakewood and that not all from Lakewood are snags is beside the point. Dans Deals is a wonderful site that generally doesn’t have all the terrible machlokes that is perpetuated by other sites. Please keep it clean and fun. Thank you.
Dan,
Great story. I am cubs fan and was able to attend, with my kids, one of the world series games in Cleveland thanks in part to Ultimate rewards points obtained from opening the Sapphire reserve card on your advice. So you helped me get to World Series too
Thanks
So glad to read great thoughts by someone who “Gets it” on why we are all miles and points obsessed. I was able to use mine to travel with my Mom to places we could have never afforded including OZ, NZ Hawaii, and London. Now that she is too frail to travel and I am her caregiver, I look back on those trips as treasured memories, as you do about your grandfather. Of course how many times have we had people say that we should just give them tickets since the miles are “Free”, like we have no future plans. I have used mine to send a friend to Europe to be with her now fiance who she later married and I sent her again 1 way, brought a relative of a friend to FL so said friend could get a break from also caregiving her mom. Those are memories too that I treasure and happy to do it.
I am so happy that you have been able to make such great memories with your efforts, it makes it all worth it. Who knew Game 7 would be so historic? I have to ask since it was not known that there would be a game 7, how much lead time did you have to put this all together? Was it use the points and hope there was a game? You rock!!
Don’t quite understand this need to justify yourself to people. Do what you want with what you’ve earned, nobody can or should tell you differently. I think the stuff you do is pretty awesome.
And how much Oilam Habah will be generated from all these points and miles? None whatsosver. There is more to life than racking up miles. Just saying…..
Great read. We were out in the plaza outside cheering. It truly is experiences not things that matter. What an experience!
keep on bringing moshiach dan!!
I hope Dan finds something to bid 2 million on. I love to see all the jealous haters explode.
happy you lived you dream but think it’s wrong when you disparage frum establishments. If you think your negative critiques don’t hurt others, think again. You can see by your press and fans that your opinion MATTERS. And when you give a negative review, plenty won’t go there.
My insight: Even without the excitement and experience the 20k dollars might been well paid for the traffic brought to the site by this… good deal #danIsTheDealFinder
I loved reading your thoughts and experiences, Dan! You verbalized it so well, and can do with your points, money, life, etc., as you want and as all of us can. Being a points collector is not easy work and requires skill and foresight, just as any hobby or career might. It just so happens your work gathered 1 million points to attain a goal, dream, and fantasy and put it into fruition…gives me even more to shoot for:) Thanks, again!
Dan I can’t believe people are complaining that you should give more to charity. You already are giving away access to your website for free every day. How much more do they need?
Even without this justification blog post, I totally understand why you would have spent all the points for the unique experience. People claim to not understand how you could spend so much on one night, but I think anyone with similar point balances would do the same. I recall that a lot of your stash goes back to the mint days, so you’ve had this million points sitting around for 3+ years. Meanwhile, you’ve done all the traveling you have desired with other points and don’t really have a desire to spend a month at the St. Regis, NYC (as it was compared to). And you still have plenty of other points and expected opportunities to earn more, despite it getting harder lately. So why not burn them?
The harder question: If those were your only million points that you’d been working to accumulate for 3 years, and had not yet had all the travel opportunities, then do you go for the pitch experience?
dan … good on you! enjoy your miles and enjoy your dreams .. anyone who tells you anything else cant be happy for others good fortune. keep up the good work and keep bringing us the best deals. thx
I dont usually respond, and nor do i own any miles, buti am subscribed for a few years now and whenever you write a personal post i usually go in to read it. i was so excited for you when last week you got to do something you love. you deserve it!
greetings from Karmiel
Great post, Dan – I am one of those driven to your blog because of the first pitch.
Do you think you may begin to play baseball with Rafi more now, or maybe other sports? It’s interesting that you love sports so much but have never participated in them.
@Judy Jones:
Thanks for commenting and sharing!
The auction was held the morning of the game. It ended just 8 hours before I threw out the pitch!
@Eli:
Read #4.
@flyernick:
Great question.
If I only had 1MM and didn’t have the chance to travel the world then I would not have used them for this.
@Justin:
I definitely plan to enroll him to play little league next year.
Next step is to go out and buy a glove for both of us so that we can play catch!
@Dovid: I take umbrage to your extremely stereotypical comment about Lakewood folks. I, as well as many other very nice Lakewood residents are huge sports fans and thought that Dan throwing out the first pitch was completely EPIC! Please check your nasty comments at the door. Your small mindedness has no place on a blog like this which is meant to bring people of all types together in their quest of awesome stuff!
Good for you Dan! It did turn out to be a great game and a great series too, congrats to Cleveland fans and teams for quite a year. If anyone questions your doing this, just ask what they think is appropriate advertising budget for a small business such as your own. You had a great experience with your family and advertised and publicized your website in a unique way, true to your principles and passions, and pursuits of your website. Well done Dansdeals #3! And thanks.
(this is from a cubs fan, great game by the way)
Dan. i am in the exact same boat. i beat you by 100% on total miles owned. but i give away flights, free, to charity causes. NEVER sell. is that risky?