For fun: How many batted balls (fouls and HRs) have you caught?

[ashbury]

I thought this was going to turn into a kids/fantasy team kind of thread, as in, everybody wants to talk about theirs but nobody else really cares to listen.

 

Plot twist: Hell no! Great stories everyone and great thread.

 

You should go to a SABR convention. You get conversations just like this, because of the evident passion about the game.

 

/ sorry for the threadjack - I'll go sit in the corner now with Winston

[iTwins]

Zero. I ALMOST broke that streak last year. September 10th, versus the A's, Oswaldo Arcia launched a home run in the 6th inning to right center. I was sitting in the first row of the Power Ball Pavilion and the ball was coming right at me.

 

Right. At. Me.

 

Unfortunately(?), Arcia CRUSHED that ball and it simply kept carrying. It landed (fairly high if I remember correctly) in the second deck.

 

If only Arcia had used a little less power...

[zenser]

I have caught two during the course of a game and countless thrown to me in either bp or when they are coming into the dugout. We were in KC a few years back and my wife and I had seats in the first row right on top of the Twins dugout. I don't know how many third outs were made at first base while the Twins were on the field, but I think my wife got all of them. She happened to be wearing a Morneau jersey at the time and there were really no kids by us and a lot of Royal fans. Good thing Morneau was throwing them to her because I would have been embarassed dropping one with my butterfingers.

[acrozelle]

Zero.. I came soooo close to catching one, though. For my 8th birthday, I went to a Twins game with a bunch of my friends. We were sitting in left field, probably doing something obnoxious, not really paying much attention when Torii Hunter hit a bomb right to us. Oh lord. I can still remember freaking out, scrambling to put on my glove that I stupidly stashed underneath my seat, and thinking to myself: 'OH SWEET JESUS. THIS IS THE ONE. I'M GOING TO CATCH IT AND IT'S GOING TO BE MIIIIIIIIIIIINE.'

 

But, I didn't catch it... I missed the ball and it landed two feet to my left, on my friends foot, and he got it. Oh how I wanted that baseball.

[steve]

Zack Hample is a notorious ball hawk. His blog has several visits to Target Field.

 

http://zackhample.mlblogs.com/2010/05/08/5410-at-target-field/

 

http://zackhample.mlblogs.com/2011/09/22/91611-at-target-field/

 

http://zackhample.mlblogs.com/2013/06/13/61113-at-target-field/

[gil4]

Three

- Caught a line drive HR to deep center in the dome off Chili Davis' bat (still hurts) in 1991 (American League Ball)

- Got a pop foul in 1995 at New Britain, their first year of their Twins' affiliation when they were Hardware City at the old Beehive Field (Eastern League Ball)

- Was tossed one (by Drew Butera of all people) while at the OF tables during Twins' BP at the Tampa ballpark last Spring Training (MLB Ball)

 

My experience has been similar, except the HR ball I caught was in BP (Yankee Stadium, hit by Mark Salas. BP HRs sting pretty good too.) I caught a foul pop at Norwich, CT - I think they were still the Norwich Navigators (AA-Yankees), but they might have been the Connecticut Defenders (AA-Giants) by then.

 

I had several that I caught that were tossed into the stands in San Antonio, and we had one game a couple of years ago in Arlington when we got in early and got 6 BP balls between 5 of us.

 

My youngest son took his to get it signed by one of the Twins players. I asked him who signed it, and he said he didn't know, but he had catcher's gear on. I looked at the ball, hoping to see Joe Mauer's name. Nope - Drew Butera. Sorry Drew, but that didn't keep me from bashing you in the forum.

[gil4]

Now that Hughes and Nolasco are Twins' date=' hopefully that's the end of home run stories involving those two pitchers...[/quote']

 

 

That's what I was thinking when I read it. You need to sit the kids in foul territory so they can catch the ball and remember the next pitch being strike three. (Maybe the catcher will give them 1/3 of a putout on the play.)

[cmathewson]

The closest I got was Game 6 in 91. I was in Row 2 of section 210, right behind home plate. Gladden leads off the bottom of the first, takes a hack at the first pitch and fouls it straight back. It was coming right to me. I had my glove up (I was the only one in the second deck with a glove). And the drunk guy in front of me jumped up and swatted the ball back into the netting behind home plate. Bitter dregs to this day.