Catching foul balls

[whitesoxin']

So tonight I caught my first foul ball. I was in section 146 and bare handed a foul liner off the bat of Mark Teahan. It was fun high fiving everyone and letting people feel the ball. The ball was right on path to hitting my girlfriend as she assumed a fetal position and closed her eyes, so luckily I was able to reach around her and catch it. I had previously gotten a ball in Tuscon, but that was from the Rockies bullpen catcher after I told him I'd give him my smoothy if he gave me a ball.

 

Does anyone else have a story about catching a foulball/homerun? Did you give it to a little kid or did you keep it for yourself? Was it off a ricochet or in the air?

[SoxAce]

So tonight I caught my first foul ball. I was in section 146 and bare handed a foul liner off the bat of Mark Teahan. It was fun high fiving everyone and letting people feel the ball. The ball was right on path to hitting my girlfriend as she assumed a fetal position and closed her eyes, so luckily I was able to reach around her and catch it. I had previously gotten a ball in Tuscon, but that was from the Rockies bullpen catcher after I told him I'd give him my smoothy if he gave me a ball.

 

Does anyone else have a story about catching a foulball/homerun? Did you give it to a little kid or did you keep it for yourself? Was it off a ricochet or in the air?

 

I'm sorry, but for some reason I kinda laughed when I read that..

 

But that's awesome bro.

 

Only ball I've ever "caught" being a fan of was when my little brother's team was playing. Some kid hit a pop foul, and I was walking to the bleachers with a soda and "bang" took one off the dome. Very embaressing.

[My Dixie Normus]

At old Comiskey, I was sitting with a guy who caught two in the same game. We were down the third base line and the first hit off the upper deck and back on top of us. The second was after a long rain delay. It hit a few hands infront of us and landed in his lap. We goated the guy into giving both balls to little kids around us. He did. We still will not admit that it ever happened. Something that still pisses him off.

 

I have a Carlton Fisk HR ball from '82. I was inches from a Crede ball this year.

Edited August 15, 2006 by My Dixie Normus

[wsox08]

Of course I've gotten a lot of batting practice balls. I remember catching a Torii Hunter ball in the outfield bare handed and it left a mark of the laces. Besides that I have gotten about five other batting practice balls.

[whitesoxin']

Of course I've gotten a lot of batting practice balls. I remember catching a Torii Hunter ball in the outfield bare handed and it left a mark of the laces. Besides that I have gotten about five other batting practice balls.

BP always has a lot of screamers into the bleachers. A few years back when Jermaine was on the Royals he ripped one right by me and as I was scrambling to get it, he nailed another one and we all lost it in the sun and the ball ended up hitting an elderly man in the face and broke his glasses. Somehow he was okay and stayed for the game. It was a scary moment. Before 7 o'clock games the sun is brutal in left-field.

[GoRowand33]

I was inches away from the ball that konerko hit in game one of the alds that some guy on this site caught (it was his avatar I think)

 

I tried to reach for it with my hat but I wasn't close enough to the aisle to catch it, and it rolled to him

[Reddy]

i barely missed an Aaron Rowand homer this year in St. Louis, i was the only one in the crowd that actually WANTED the ball, but the douche RIGHT in front of me who got it f***ing threw it back...

 

i was SO pissed.

[greg775]

Hey congratulations on getting the ball and protecting your gf.

She probably thinks you are the great protector!

 

One time I was in h.s. our principal called me to the office and said

he had four tickets and wanted to give them to me for that day's game.

I got to pick 3 friends, we drove to game and got a foul ball plopping

off the old upper deck facade at old comiskey into our laps in the lower

deck.

We brought ball back to school and gave it to him the next day

and he was pretty happy.

it's funny how the ball hit upper deck and plopped rite back down.

[Al Lopez's Ghost]

I caught two foul balls in old Comiskey, both on rebounds. One was off the bricks of the souvenir stand behind box 235 that rebounded to me in the fourth row upstairs, and one was off the seats to my left that came right too me.

 

I went to Yankee stadium to see Tom Seaver's 300th win on a Sunday. The day before we went too, of course, and during bp I was in left center to go see the monuments. I heard a rumbling from the crowd like something big was going on, and I looked up to see a little dot in the sky, which grew into a long fly ball off the bat of either Winfield or Baylor, I couldn't tell which. The thing hit me in the right arm, somebody else got it, and my arm was various shades of blue, red, purple, green for about a week. Seaver's win made up for it.

[EvilMonkey]

In old Comisky, I got a Greg Luzinski homerun ball in the upper tank, left field. It was also a rebound, but off of someone's head! This guy in the row in front of us jumped up to get it, and went backwards, taking out 3 or 4 people in the row next to me. The ball hit the guy in head, and bounced about 2 feet into the air, where it became mine! We taunted the guy with it all night, especially since he was wearing a Yankees jersey.

[Finkelstein]

A couple of years ago I was sitting down the first base line 2 rows from the field. Robbie Alomar caught a short pop fly to shallow rightfield and as he was about to turn and run towards the Sox dugout I yelled his name. He threw me the ball.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Finkelstein

[KevHead0881]

Caught (kinda) 2 batting practice balls. One was in the bleachers at Wrigley, when the immortal Chuck Carr of the Marlins simply tossed one up there for us.

 

The other was my one and only game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. We were driving to the game from my sisters place by Philly, and during the car ride, my brother-in-law asked what the ruling is if a player catches a flyball in his hat...and if anybody has ever tried. Of course, none of us knew, but that was besides the point.

 

So we get to the game, and we are watching the DRays take batting practice while standing behind that big scoreboard/wall in right field, and sure enough, Ben Grieve drives one our way. And as I was standing directly underneath it, my dumbass brother-in-law sticks his hat out and snatches the ball. Fortunately for me, the ball knocked his hat out of his hand but miraculously stayed in the hat. I picked the ball out of the hat and the rest is history. Kind of a cheap way to score a baseball, but whatever.

 

The question still remains...is there a rule regarding catching a fly ball in your hat? My friend tried to convince us that it would be a ground-rule triple, which I'm pretty sure is bulls***.

[ottawa_sox]

Something like 23 years ago I caught a ball in Toronto. Roy Lee Jackson threw it and Tom Paciorek fouled it off into the crowd. I was sitting with a friend about 6 rows into the outfield down the first base line and about 20 rows up. As soon as the ball left Tom's bat I said 'Holly s*** Mike, this is it'. I had to put my right hand on the shoulder of some guy to my right and I reached over his head, snaring it with a stretched out backhand. Luckily I brought my glove. A few minutes later I heard the same guy lament to his friend '44,000 people came to this game and we have to sit next to some a**hole with a glove'. The crowd gave me a nice ovation. About 3 innings later, my friend looked at me and said 'OK you can wipe that smile off your face now'. I still have the ball on a shelf in my bedroom. It and a seat from old Comisky are my prized baseball possessions.

[Milkman delivers]

Caught (kinda) 2 batting practice balls. One was in the bleachers at Wrigley, when the immortal Chuck Carr of the Marlins simply tossed one up there for us.

 

The other was my one and only game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. We were driving to the game from my sisters place by Philly, and during the car ride, my brother-in-law asked what the ruling is if a player catches a flyball in his hat...and if anybody has ever tried. Of course, none of us knew, but that was besides the point.

 

So we get to the game, and we are watching the DRays take batting practice while standing behind that big scoreboard/wall in right field, and sure enough, Ben Grieve drives one our way. And as I was standing directly underneath it, my dumbass brother-in-law sticks his hat out and snatches the ball. Fortunately for me, the ball knocked his hat out of his hand but miraculously stayed in the hat. I picked the ball out of the hat and the rest is history. Kind of a cheap way to score a baseball, but whatever.

 

The question still remains...is there a rule regarding catching a fly ball in your hat? My friend tried to convince us that it would be a ground-rule triple, which I'm pretty sure is bulls***.

 

I'm sure it would be an out. You can catch a ball bare-handed, and it's still an out. So, I don't see why using your hat would be anything but that.

[southsider2k5]

I got a BP HR from Bo Jackson back in the Baseball Palace of the World back in the 80's. I also have gotten BP balls from Joe Crede and Ron Kittle over the years, but have never gotten something actually during a game.

[suffering-nomore-sox fan]

I caught Paulie's near homerun in game one of the ALDS, first inning, last year. But that's not all of the story. I failed to tell my wife that I was going--I figured it was a day game, I would be home at the normal time. Well, lo and behold, I catch the ball and what happens next? Espn puts me on for about 6 seconds holding the ball. The CEO of her company calls her into the office, and she sees my Ferris Bueller moment. Also, in a matter of 1 minute, I got 20 phone calls-- very cool.

 

The pic of me on my profile is the moment frozen from TIVO.

 

I kept the ball and gave it to my 5 year old. He has it on display in his room.

[RockRaines]

So tonight I caught my first foul ball. I was in section 146 and bare handed a foul liner off the bat of Mark Teahan. It was fun high fiving everyone and letting people feel the ball. The ball was right on path to hitting my girlfriend as she assumed a fetal position and closed her eyes, so luckily I was able to reach around her and catch it. I had previously gotten a ball in Tuscon, but that was from the Rockies bullpen catcher after I told him I'd give him my smoothy if he gave me a ball.

 

Does anyone else have a story about catching a foulball/homerun? Did you give it to a little kid or did you keep it for yourself? Was it off a ricochet or in the air?

I got 3 last year, only kept one. I usually like to give it to a kid around me if possible, it will make their year.

[drowninginflame]

Ive never caught one, but if I did I'd just give it to a kid.

[mreye]

You CANNOT catch the ball in your hat. I don't know the ruling, but I do know it's illegal.

 

Oh yeah, and I've never caught a ball - fair or foul. Never even been close. I've had some damned good seats for it over the years, but haven't even been within 20 feet.

[jasonxctf]

great thread. I caught my one and only foul ball a few years ago at US Cellular. My friend was close friends with Dave Wills (UIC stuff) and Dave got us 4 tickets. So my friend and I went with 2 female friends of his. Well Konerko hit a foul ball off the upper deck and it bounced in the seats right behind us. I was the first to grab it and held onto it. So I was getting crap from everyone around us to give it to one of the girls. I said... screw that... I don't know these girls and I have a girlfriend (who now is my wife) at home. So I held onto it and gave it to my girlfriend that night. She later had Konerko sign it at Soxfest the following year.

[mreye]

A CATCH is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it; providing he does not use his cap, protector, pocket or any other part of his uniform in getting possession. It is not a catch, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his contact with the ball, he collides with a player, or with a wall, or if he falls down, and as a result of such collision or falling, drops the ball. It is not a catch if a fielder touches a fly ball which then hits a member of the offensive team or an umpire and then is caught by another defensive player. If the fielder has made the catch and drops the ball while in the act of making a throw following the catch, the ball shall be adjudged to have been caught. In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball and that his release of the ball is voluntary and intentional.

Rule 2.00 (Catch) Comment: A catch is legal if the ball is finally held by any fielder, even though juggled, or held by another fielder before it touches the ground. Runners may leave their bases the instant the first fielder touches the ball. A fielder may reach over a fence, railing, rope or other line of demarcation to make a catch. He may jump on top of a railing, or canvas that may be in foul ground. No interference should be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk.

If a fielder, attempting a catch at the edge of the dugout, is “held up” and kept from an apparent fall by a player or players of either team and the catch is made, it shall be allowed.

[Milkman delivers]

I don't know why it wouldn't count. I understand that it would be showboating and all, but catching it in your hat or pocket or whatever should still be a catch.

[whitesoxin']

One thing I forgot to mention about last night...right after I caught the foul ball I looked down and found a dollar bill sitting underneath my seat. I had a pretty lucky night at the ballpark.

[Balta1701]

Sitting down the right field line in the mid-90's, bout half way up. Lined drive shot into the seats off of the bat of Craig Grabeck. I'm ready to catch the thing, then the ball nails the beer in the hand of a guy like 5 rows in front of me. The beer goes all over me, blinds me, and somehow my dad winds up catching the ball before it knocks me unconscious.

[The Ginger Kid]

I caught a screaming Frank Thomas home run during the all star home run derby in Baltimore, '93. I'm still waitng for the feeling to come back.