A Great Catch
Several years ago I saw one of the big late-night talk show hosts interview a fellow who was known for catching home run balls in the bleachers at baseball games. He had a whole video reel of him snagging balls right out of the air, or diving under seats and coming up with a souvenir. He had even retrieved some fairly significant hits. I was a little amazed that one guy could be in the right place at the right time so many times, but, to be completely honest, I also thought this fellow a bit obnoxious. After all, many of the fans you see scrambling for baseballs are impolite at best, and occasionally a threat to public safety. Remember the man who tumbled from the upper deck at a Major League game last season?
Today I was reading the UniWatch Blog, one of my favorite internet destinations (for reasons I will explain in the future), and I came upon a story that surprised me. It was about the same fellow I saw interviewed on television years back. At this point he’s caught thousands of balls, but, to his credit, he has parlayed his hobby into a fine charitable enterprise benefiting underprivileged youth. He recently caught a home run ball at Citi Field that had been hit by a young Mets player. It was that player’s first Major League home run. On this fellow’s blog, he tells a great story of how he gave the ball to the player, who gave him an unexpected reward for the gesture. The tale is long and somewhat boastful, but well worth reading.
Huzzah, sport!
Filed under: Sports, Television on April 28th, 2011 | No Comments »
