Have you ever got a ball at a game before?

dstraate · #1 06-12-2011, 07:47 PM

I caught a Doug Mienkewietz dinger at AAA in Albuquerque. It was out in the lawn and made possible by my buddy diving out of the way like a wuss. Congrats on getting 3. That'll be tough to top!

almostdone · #2 06-12-2011, 08:11 PM

I've never personally caught a ball but have a great story of a guy I know in my town.
A number of years ago he went to a small minor leauge park to see some kid that had a bunch of hype surrounding him. He had never been to the city before and had trouble finding the park. When he finally did he parked and saw the game had already begun. As he was walking through the parking lot he heard the ping of a metal bat and saw a ball flying over the fence into the parking lot he was walking in. He grabbed the ball, bought a ticket and found his seat.
He inquired who hit the home run and found out it was the kid he was comming to see play!
After the game he found the young player and explained that he had his home run ball. The player autographed it for him with his name, the date, city and the words "1st professional home run".
The palyer was Alex Rodriguez!

#3 06-12-2011, 08:30 PM

In 1984, I took my mom to a Twins game at the old Metrodome. I had just accepted a work transfer and was leaving for Philadelphia in a few days, so we wanted to do something special before I left.

We sat on the 1st base side, upper deck, with most of the seats empty around us. We were turned towards each other, talking, when there was a swell of fan noise moving up towards us. I turned my head towards the field just in time to see a foul ball zeroing in on my mom, and I managed to catch it in my right hand just inches from her face. I got an ovation from the crowd, and we were briefly shown on the jumbo screen. It was only the 2nd game my mom had ever attended, and it ended up being very memorable. She still has the ball in a holder on her desk.

39special · #4 06-12-2011, 08:43 PM

The only one I ever caught was last year at a Reading Phillies(AA) game.It was a Dominic Brown foul ball.Been going to Reading Phillies games for 35 years.It will be another 35 years till I get another one!

Jcfowler6 · #5 06-13-2011, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by almostdone

I've never personally caught a ball but have a great story of a guy I know in my town.
A number of years ago he went to a small minor leauge park to see some kid that had a bunch of hype surrounding him. He had never been to the city before and had trouble finding the park. When he finally did he parked and saw the game had already begun. As he was walking through the parking lot he heard the ping of a metal bat and saw a ball flying over the fence into the parking lot he was walking in. He grabbed the ball, bought a ticket and found his seat.
He inquired who hit the home run and found out it was the kid he was comming to see play!
After the game he found the young player and explained that he had his home run ball. The player autographed it for him with his name, the date, city and the words "1st professional home run".
The palyer was Alex Rodriguez!

Now that is really cool!

Gary Dunaier · #6 06-13-2011, 10:39 PM

I caught the home run Damion Easley hit in the bottom of the 10th inning when the Mets were one strike away from losing to Colorado 4/24/07 at Shea Stadium. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this home run is that it was commemorated on a Topps card later that year.

Buythatcard · #7 06-16-2011, 07:16 AM

I must have attended well over 100 major league games in my lifetime but never caught a ball. Had a few almost take my scalp off and one brushed my fingertips. But the closest catch was back in 1961 at Yankee Stadium. I was sitting in the first row behind 3rd base with my friend, while my father sat about 10 rows back. My Dad decided to go to the bathroom and you guessed it, a ball landed in his seat. Some other lucky fan got the ball. I don't know who hit it but the 61 Yankees had some great ones playing.

D. Bergin · #8 06-16-2011, 08:54 AM

1981, I was 10 years old.

Glens Falls White Sox vs. Bristol Red Sox at Muzzy Field in Bristol.

The White Sox had this kid named Ron Kittle, who was absolutely tearing up the league that year. I was there with my Cub Scout Pack and he hit a deep home run into an area where there was no seating. I raced about 5 of my friends towards the ball and ended up the winner.

After the game, my mom, who has never had a moment of shyness in her life............busted into the White Sox clubhouse and got Kittle to sign the ball for me.

Wish I still had the ball, but I loved baseball back then and would spend hours smacking balls around in my big back yard. It eventually fell victim to "last ball in the house" syndrome, and was probably lost in the woods behind my house, at one time or another.

glenv · #9 06-16-2011, 02:55 PM

A couple of years ago, the AZ Diamondbacks had a mid-week day game. It was late in the season and they already had been eliminated from the playoffs, so the crowd was sparse. I had moved into better seats along the right field line when Drew hits one around the foul poll that bounced back towards me. Nobody was close - I picked the ball up off the ground before the janitor could sweep it up. Then the usher came down and asked me to leave the seats. Figured I was getting kicked out for being in the wrong seats, but they sent me to a PR person to get my address. Turned out every HR the DBacks hit, they get the ball, have it signed by the player that hit it, and mail it back to the fan that caught it. Cool program - wish more teams would do positive stuff like that!

Bilko G · #10 06-17-2011, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I caught the home run Damion Easley hit in the bottom of the 10th inning when the Mets were one strike away from losing to Colorado 4/24/07 at Shea Stadium. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this home run is that it was commemorated on a Topps card later that year.

that is way to cool

Jantz · #11 06-17-2011, 09:50 AM

I came close to getting one last year during an Cleveland Indians game. About two minutes before the foul, my best friend told his daughter & her friend to pay attention because we were sitting in a section that could see a few foul balls. A few minutes later Asdrubal Cabrera fouled a ball right to us. I could tell I had no chance of getting the ball, so I yelled to my best friend to grab it & he did.

Within minutes, a stadium staff member came down and got some information from my friend. He received a 1-day contract from the Cleveland Indians organization for catching the ball.

Next thing we know, my friend's phone starts ringing, it was his father wanting to know why he & I were on his TV screen. He was watching the game too.

Ironically, the reason we went to the game was because my friend asked his daughter what she wanted for her birthday. She said that she wanted to go to a game. The foul ball, which my friend gave to his daughter, was just an extra bonus gift I guess.

On a side note, has anyone else ever noticed that when a foul ball is coming towards you it looks like it is traveling in slow motion?

Jantz

MacDice · #12 06-17-2011, 04:29 PM

Never got anything at a MLB game but I grew up close to Bellingham, WA and we started going to Bellingham Mariners games in 1988 (the year after Griffey played there). We would get to the game as soon as the gates open and my dad would let me go get autographs while he stayed outside the park to collect BP balls. It was a small ballpark, with no stands in the outfield or netting. We would go to around 6 games a year and I don't think that we ever came away with less than 10 balls per game. It was those balls that we would use when my dad would throw me batting practice all through high school.

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