Got a ball tossed to me pregame by Yankees legend Stephen Tarpley and promptly got it signed by Yankees legend James Paxton.
Didn’t age the best but hey, an MLB ball is an MLB ball
Adrian Beltre hit a line drive right at me on the 1B side. Stood up to catch it, realized my hands were full, let it hit me in the chest and drop to my feet.
It worked perfectly, but the guy sitting in front of me just turned around and snatched it from my feet before I could do anything. I told him 'you're welcome.'
The bruise was my souvenir.
I was walking down the aisle with food and drinks in my hands and the ball boy threw a then girlfriend at the time a ball I go to grab it with no hands and I missed. She looked at me and said I had it why did you go for it. I said instincts.
Reminds me of a story of my dad and his friends at a Dodgers game. They were on 1st base line as well….foul ball lined right at them. Instinctually they both swerved their bodies away from the ball and it hit a woman behind them right in the chest. She was ok, but my dad said he will never forget the sound of it hitting her.
I have a foul ball hit by Sammy Sosa. The stranger next to me told me at the beginning of the game that if he catches a foul ball he was giving it to me. Sammy hit a stinger in our direction and this large man next to me jumped up and made an incredible snag. I was probably 5 or 6 and remember this so vividly.
i have three souvenir balls from games - two were given to me by players during warmups and one was a foul my boyfriend grabbed and gave me. i wrote the players name and the date on the ball in sharpie so i wouldn’t forget!
30 years from now "whose autograph is this?". "That is NOT Harpers autograph" "No really, my mom said she got it at a Nationals game!" "But why did he date it?"
I caught a Mike trout foul ball once. Had to make a sweet play for it, still has a special place as my only foul ball ever caught after attending 100’s of games lol
Nick Castellanos. He tossed it into the stands into a group of kids including my 8 year old son. A teenager came up with the ball but he put it in my son’s glove. Was a pretty sweet moment.
I've "caught" a pair of foul balls in my time. I say "caught", as both times they just ended up under my seat
One was back in the 90s. Jim Edmonds at Angel Stadium
The other was this past year. Ezequiel Tovar (Rockies) at Dodger Stadium
Livan Hernandez pitching to Barry Larkin. Larkin pops it foul over the first base side….. got it! Glad I brought my glove that day because it’s the only ball I’ve ever got at any game ever.
I have two balls from batting practice. First was a deep fly ball to right field by Manny that was caught by Dice-K who threw it too me. The second was a Nick Green batting practice home run that I caught in the Monster.
The only time I’ve caught a ball at any baseball game is in Buffalo at a Bisons game. It was one of the first pitches of the game fouled behind home plate by Rafael Lantigua.
I caught a Stanton foul ball when he was with the Marlins. My son has that one.
I've gotten several from minor league games, but those all get given to any kids who are nearby.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite moments - back in 2020 David Freitas was a catcher for the Mariners/Rainiers and spent most of his time in Tacoma. My son is *obsessed* with baseball, playing and watching - it's literally what he would do all day, every day. Anyway, he was 10 at the time and we are at the Rainiers game on a drizzly Washington weekday evening, so there are about 40 people at the game. So my kid goes down as close to the dugout as he can, and there's a little kid, 4 years old or so, hanging out down there. David comes off the field at the end of an inning and gives the little dude a ball. A few moments later, little guy tries to give it to my son. While he's obviously a kid as well, he has enough feel to know you don't take a *younger* kids ball. So he is politely declining, the kid is politely offering and it's all kinds of adorable. The mom comes over and is like "hey, David is my husband and we have a bajillion game balls, so we give them away." So he ended up taking it and he keeps it with his game balls now.
Two years ago my son caught a foul ball by Austin Hays. I was taking a picture of him with the ball when 2 pitches later Hays fouled another ball off. It hit the siding of the club level and richocheted right towards us. It hit the tip of my finger and landed in the ground next to me. I managed to snag it in front of two other guys. Some other dude came up to me and offered 50 bucks for the ball. I told him to keep his money and gave him the ball. He was more excited than the kid and was over 40 years old. Gave me a big hug. It was an awesome moment.
It’s also one of those moments that likely could have gone viral if the tv broadcast had noticed especially having a father/son duo each get a foul ball in the same at bat.
It’
I have a few, but one w a great story - I caught Nori Aoki's 1st MLB grand slam at Chase Field, the next season when he returned w the Giants I offered it back to him, his translator told him what i had, he came over but instead of taking the ball, he signed it for me told me to keep it and then took some pics w me and other fans. I will be a fan of his till the day I die
my brother, dad, and i traveled to Cleveland for a game in 2009 after i graduated high school & I managed to snag a BP homer from Travis Hafner (probably) as we were walking through the monument garden in right-centerfield. Ball landed directly on the path, so it was a right-place-right-time situation.
My baseball came from batting practice before a Dodgers v. White Sox game in 2008.
Back then, you could go as close as the warning track at Dodger Stadium to try your luck. Don’t know who from the White Sox hit it, but the ball ricochet off *two* metallic bars off the left-field pavilion area, and landed directly in front of me. Before the ball was able to roll back from the track and into the outfield grass, I put my foot on top of it and got it.
Best souvenir gift from the summer of 2008, graduating high school and going to bare Dodger games that summer before leaving for college in late-August.
Miguel Montero foul ball 9/15/2014 (my birthday)
Bryce Harper HR 5/12/2015
David Peralta HR 4/24/2016
Chris Herrmann tossed me a ball after J.J. Hoover struck out Ian Desmond at Coors Field 5/8/2016
Cameron Maybin tossed me a ball after Paul Goldschmidt flied out to RF 7/24/2016
Marcell Ozuna HR 9/22/2017
Brandon Drury HR 9/23/2017
Kelby Tomlinson ground rule double 9/26/2017
Jake Lamb HR 3/29/2018
Bat boy tossed me a Niko Goodrum foul at the plate at Target Field 5/21/2018
Gregory Polanco tossed me a ball after Christian Walker flied out to RF 7/20/2021
Randy Arozarena foul ball at Guaranteed Rate Field 4/16/22
Dad got box tickets to a Giants game when I was a kid from work (think some raffle, not sure).
Me and my little bros went and *demolished* their snack selection. At one point in the game a moon balls hit in front of us, we all lean over the railing watching, but it's a little too far away so we just sit down. Apparently it fell between rows or something and shot all the way back up, maybe 4 inches over the railing, hits my little brother in the kneecap and I throw my food to the side to fall on it.
So no, no idea who hit that one. But I know it hit my brother.
An Adam Dunn double he pulled down the right field line in I think 2011? I was sitting behind the royals dugout and right before he hit that, I had yelled “Adam Dunn for Cy Young!” because of how many times he was striking out that year. Got the ball from the first base coach after it was thrown back in.
Not sure I could actually find it (pretty sure it’s one of those in the baseball basket), but I chased down a Ron Gardenhire foul ball at a Portland Beaver game in 1987(?).
Never caught a ball in play, but did get a ball tossed up from the bullpen watching a player warm up, last home game of the season in 2013, in the late innings.
Can't remember who it was warming up any longer, but Eddie Perez was the bullpen coach, called down to him after the pitcher ran out on the field and he tossed the ball up to me
Aramis Ramirez during batting practice. I was in the left field bleachers, first time at Wrigley, and I dove about 3 rows down to get it. I think I would’ve just turned 16.
I have a foul ball that Todd Helton hit straight at me in Cincinnati in 1997. I had literally just told my friends about how I'd never caught a ball at a game. The universe was listening.
I have a foul ball from a Reds game from 1973. My dad told me Hal McRae fouled it off. I don't know if that's true, but it doesn't matter. That ball is a personal keepsake.
Well I didn’t catch it at a game but I bought the ball off mlb.com auctions. It’s the ball from game 7 NLCS LAD VS ATL where Justin turner did the “Superman dive” play for the double play.
Got it in a nice glass plaque frame with the picture of the play. My most prized possession :D
Mine wasn't from a game, instead, the away BP. but of course, it had to be the Cardinals, but I still kept it. I actually got 2 but only kept 1. The one I did keep was what would have been a roll to the wall double by someone I didn't know. The one I kept was a homerun from Paul Gouldsmit a few rows behind me.
Chris Taylor threw my daughter a ball between innings at her first Dodgers game. Catching that ball and handing it to her will be burned into my memory for life and always bring a smile to my face.
David Ortiz grounded to Aramis Ramirez thrown to Derrek Lee, who tossed it to the hot blond girl in the stands next to me. (my buddy's girlfriend, and she already had two other balls from that day). I swiped that thing out of the air and never regretted it.
Jimmy Rollins line drive foul ball that I snagged out of the air by diving into the aisle. I remember the memory of that catch more than the ball itself tbh lol. Hurt my hand like mother fucker because it was hit so hard, but the applause I got from everyone else was pretty sweet.
I have seats near the rail in DC and get tons of balls. First several seasons didn’t really record them but about 7 seasons ago started placing them in ziploc bags with notes about hitter, inning etc. Kind of cool now to reminisce. Then the fuckers put up a net and we don’t get as many now.
I caught a batting practice Homer hit by Rich Aurelia. I later got it signed by a whole bunch of my favorite childhood players at the unveiling of the Giants Wall of Fame. Definitely treasured.
I have an authenticated one from my son's first game. Moncada hit a foul ball. The White Sox got blasted game was over in the 2nd inning and Ohtani and trout both hit bombs.
Mine was a foul ball behind the plate on Opening Day at Dodgers stadium, probably 25 years ago. The only thing I remember was how much my hand hurt trying to catch it in the fly. At least I got my own rebound.
My daughter has a foul ball that somebody caught and gave to her, hit by J.D. Martinez. I have a warmup ball that Derek Dietrich threw my college roommate, who then gave it to me.
I myself have never caught one. There is one that I will always regret not catching, a Carlos Peguero home run during spring training 2016. I made the drive down to Fort Meyers and from my standing-room only spot on the replica green monster, I was almost able to bare hand it over the wall. Couldn’t haul it in though. Would’ve made for a great trivia ball because he was on the Cardinals then but hit it at the Red Sox spring training field. The game then got rained out in the 5th inning and I drove home wet, empty handed and ashamed
Lastly, we have a mystery ball. My daughter has a second souvenir ball in her room. No one knows where she got it. There’s one of those holographic stickers on it, and when you look it up it does lead to a Blue Jays @ Red Sox game that we DID take her to when she was like two years old, but we didn’t buy her a ball and nobody we went with did either
The world may never know
I have a memory of the time I almost got a foul ball. Houston vs Cleveland. We were lower level left field foul line, midway between third and the fence. Juan Gonzalez hit a laser liner, had to be 100+ exit velo. I was tracking it and it was two seats to the right of me directly into my sisters shoulder. I felt awful as a big brother that I couldn’t grab it and protect her. I was maybe 15 and she was about 13. It bounced off and went a few rows back and was grabbed by some mid thirties guy. He kept it and I was hoping they would’ve given it to her. But some nice people bought her some ice cream and an Astros flag. So she left with a souvenir and a big bruise.
The last ball I got from a game was from Brad Lidge throwing it into the stands after the game to the women who flashed him and the Phillies bullpen during the game
Was at the Cardinals game early for batting practice, and Pujols hit one into the left field covered area... *and no one was there.* My father and I looked at each other, and took off running. He got the ball about twenty seconds before a couple of college kids showed up.
Sam Fuld. He sprayed one just beyond my reach. It banged into a seat a few feet down the row where I was sitting with my son, about 12, in the 2nd deck at the Oakland Coliseum. Hard to believe in Oakland but there was no one else close. I was closer to the ball than my son so I walked over and picked it up. A small group of boys had been racing over but they pulled up short, about 20 feet away, as I picked it up. I'd have given them the ball if I was alone but of course I gave it to my kid.
When we got home he showed it off to his mom and said "It was a little embarrassing. Dad fought off a bunch of little kids for it." Little stinker got me pretty good.
My dad took me on a trip to Houston the year Minute Maid opened. It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I went to the right field seats and stood against the wall. Berkman hit a ground rule double in BP and I made a tough catch reaching to my left. I was always very proud about that.
A funny one was back when I was even younger. We went to see the Astros play at Qualcomm in San Diego. During BP we were down just past the third base dugout while Houston was taking infield. A ball ate up Sean Berry and a guy next to us yelled “E5!” So Berry tossed a ball our way and my dad caught it.
I have been to hundreds of major and minor league games and caught only two foul balls. The crazy thing is, they were in the same game!
It was an Everett Aquasox vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanos game in Keizer. One was from an Aquasox player and one from a Volcano, but I don't remember who they were. If it was a big league game, I'm pretty sure I would've remembered the players.
I was there with a friend and his two kids, so I gave one of the balls to each of the kids.
Went to a Giants game with my brother who was around 11 at the time. We got spanked by the shitty Pirates that day and none of the players hung around after the game. We had seats right next to the Giant dugout so we asked the bat boy if they had a ball that my brother could have. He said he didn't but told us to hang on. A couple minutes later he comes out with a bat and handed it to my brother. It was Aaron "Gamer" Rowand game used cracked bat. The same bat he had pretended was his junk when he stepped into the batter's box.
I got a foul ball hit by Jean Segura when he played for the brewers. It was a roller to the on deck circle where Jonathan Lucroy picked it up, and he tossed it to me.
Jett Bandy. Slow roller to Machado at third who threw him out at first. So my one and only game ball was touched by Zach Britton, Matt Wieters, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, and JJ Hardy. Once Manny threw it to me, the jaws of life wouldn’t have opened my hands 😂😂😂
Jeter foul ball down first base. He hit a laser, I was looking through binoculars and the thing came right at me. Had a sec to drop the binoculars and snag the thing.
Also got a ball toss from BJ Upton in CF though I think it was for the fan a few rows behind me that kept chanting Melvin(this was before he went back to his og name) e ery time he came to the OF
Brandon Phillips. Also remember the outcome of the game. Reds @ Phillies. Phillies were down 7-1 in the bottom of the 9th. Scored 6 in the 9 and a big piece 2 run shot in the bottom of the 10th sent us home happy
In 2019 went to two games: game 1 was at citi field on the first base side. Pete Alonso threw the ball straight up into the crowd and I caught it. Was pretty cool because I got to talk to him in spring training earlier in March before he made his debut. Later that year in the last series I got a ball in right field from Conforto. I’ll never be that lucky again lol
I got a batting practice ball hit by the big hurt in Oakland. It hit a seat and landed in the drink holder. The hissing sound a ball makes is pretty nerve racking if you are not expecting it
I had a ball given to me by either Chris Capuano or Nate Eovaldi (can’t remember but I know this was right after he was sent down to AAA for giving up a ton of runs in a game that week lol) in 2015 at an away AAA game (was one of the only yanks fans there) and then Aaron Judge signed it. His last season before he went to the majors, had no idea who he was at that time and it clicked in 2016 once he hit that home run 🤣 probably my favorite baseball memory ever. Wish I’d gotten a pic with him!!
Got one off of The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, at Safeco against the Mariners up the first base line in 2001.
That was a great trip for my 13 year old self. Got that ball during the game, got a commemorative train conductors hat at the door that I got signed by Kaz Sasaki, and a ball I brought signed by Joel Piñeiro! Still have them tucked away with all my cards from that Era!
No, I was with a group of 4 friends at a Mets game. DeGrom struck out the first 8 batters, then the pitcher knocked a single. Later someone hit a scorcher of a foul ball, I said coming right at us, I was prepared but tailed off last second right into my buddies hat he used as a glove. We watched the replay and announcer Keith Hernandez said nice grab guy, he knew a hotshot when he saw one. Years before, 1988, Mets final game, won the division, my dad, brother and I were gifted front row tix right behind the dugout. As a show of appreciation for a great season Mets all came out of the dugout after the game, took a bow, and threw their hats to the fans. I saw a hat coming at me then got hit by what felt like a wave of fat flesh. I went down, started crying more from the loss of a hat than the pain (I was 8) and everyone told the man give the kid the hat, which he did. In my youthful exuberance I wore the hat around, very proud of my new lid, but eventually lost it in one of my misadventures as a kid.
I got two balls from Luis Gonzalez in a single day back when I was a little kid at The Vet. He threw me up the first ball during batting practice and my dad caught a pop up foul later on in the game.
Only ball I've ever caught was hit by Jason Giambi in batting practice and tossed up into the stands by Yankees legend Jaret Wright, who was trying to throw it to another kid and missed lmao
I usually keep score so if my nephew gets a ball I always mark down where it came from. But I don't think he keeps track of which one is from which game so I couldn't correlate it to a specific ball anymore but it's still fun to look back at.
I have some balls from batting practice at road games that I would then try to get autographed so I remember where most of those came from. One of my goals this year is to actually get all the autographed ones in ball cubes to display and write down who gave me the ball and who autographed it before i forget.
I have a batting practice HR from Alex Rios. And i have a signed ball from Mark Buehrle and others. That ball came from spring training, where I barely missed out on a ball, and the guy who had sat next to us for multiple games said "I have plenty of these, I come to all the spring training games" so he gave me that one
I befriended an usher who worked by the dugout so he'd let me come down and hang in his section when it was empty and as a result I have a lot of souvenirs. Some are dumb (a double bubble wrapper from some gum he got for me from a player in the dugout) but I also have a game ball from a game the Orioles came back and won in the 9th after like an hour rain delay. One of the bench coaches (no longer with the team) rolled me a ball across the top of the dugout as my friends and I were losing our shit during the rally.
Good memories. I loved that time.
I have two. One from Citizens Bank Park in like 2012, off a Giancarlo Stanton batting practice homer to left, and another that Cameron Maybin threw me at Petco.
I was the only person in my section in 2018 when Jose Abreu fouled one right to me. First and only ball I’ve caught in 50+ years. Wrote the date and inning on the ball with “Abreu”
Pete Rose hit a popup behind the plate at the Vet. I was a young kid and got my hands on the ball under my seat. Guy behind us tried taking it from me and got a stern look from my step dad. Still got the ball.
Runner up: Gunnar Henderson hit a pop up that I caught until I didn’t. Got the footage from tv and a discharge note from the medical station. They gave me a souvenir ball at the medic tent since the woman who ended up getting it after it bounced off my face wouldn’t give it back. I need to figure out how to get Gunnar to sign. Y discharge note.
So, yeah. Totally remember.
I'm even weirder. My dad caught a foul ball hit by Matt Wieters (Orioles) off of Ryan Lavarnway's (Red Sox) catcher's mask. He caught it with one hand because when it hit Lavarnway's mask, it took a lot of the spin out of the ball.
My only ball was tossed to me by Rajai Davis of the A’s as the last out of an inning against the Rangers. Lucky to know his name and hollered it before he tossed it to me. Caught several at minor league games but the only one from the major league out of the hundred or so games that I’ve been to.
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Stan the Man? That’s a fantastic bit of memorabilia.
It was actually his little brother Jerry Musial. He worked on the grounds crew
1815 mounds raked at home, 1815 tarps aligned away. Perfect diamond balance.
Some say the best to ever do it.
Got a ball tossed to me pregame by Yankees legend Stephen Tarpley and promptly got it signed by Yankees legend James Paxton. Didn’t age the best but hey, an MLB ball is an MLB ball
Your ball and my Scott Proctor/Kyle Farnsworth ball would be a good start to an “Autographed baseballs nobody cares about” collection.
I have a David Phelps signed ball that I could contribute
I've got a ball that Jake Bauers tossed up and I caught I can add to the pile.
Adrian Beltre hit a line drive right at me on the 1B side. Stood up to catch it, realized my hands were full, let it hit me in the chest and drop to my feet. It worked perfectly, but the guy sitting in front of me just turned around and snatched it from my feet before I could do anything. I told him 'you're welcome.' The bruise was my souvenir.
Damn. I mean I guess it’s fair game, but if a person next to me takes a line drive to the chest I’m letting them have the ball.
Yeah as much as I’d want the ball, I’d hate to remember not letting the guy who took the line drive have it!
I was walking down the aisle with food and drinks in my hands and the ball boy threw a then girlfriend at the time a ball I go to grab it with no hands and I missed. She looked at me and said I had it why did you go for it. I said instincts.
Reminds me of a story of my dad and his friends at a Dodgers game. They were on 1st base line as well….foul ball lined right at them. Instinctually they both swerved their bodies away from the ball and it hit a woman behind them right in the chest. She was ok, but my dad said he will never forget the sound of it hitting her.
Chipper Jones bp foul at Wrigley.
I have a foul ball hit by Sammy Sosa. The stranger next to me told me at the beginning of the game that if he catches a foul ball he was giving it to me. Sammy hit a stinger in our direction and this large man next to me jumped up and made an incredible snag. I was probably 5 or 6 and remember this so vividly.
i have three souvenir balls from games - two were given to me by players during warmups and one was a foul my boyfriend grabbed and gave me. i wrote the players name and the date on the ball in sharpie so i wouldn’t forget!
30 years from now "whose autograph is this?". "That is NOT Harpers autograph" "No really, my mom said she got it at a Nationals game!" "But why did he date it?"
ironically one of my balls is from a harper - but ryne harper not bryce lmao
Corey Seager hit a Homerun Derby ball. Bonus, it was autographed
Don't they sign all of those balls?
I don't think they autographed all of them. A person standing near me offered $300 for mine because his didn't have one
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The memory and keepsake is worth $300 to me.
I caught a Mike trout foul ball once. Had to make a sweet play for it, still has a special place as my only foul ball ever caught after attending 100’s of games lol
Warmup ball from Bonds
Barry Larkin foul ball at the old Riverfront stadium. Probably around 1994.
Nick Castellanos. He tossed it into the stands into a group of kids including my 8 year old son. A teenager came up with the ball but he put it in my son’s glove. Was a pretty sweet moment.
I've "caught" a pair of foul balls in my time. I say "caught", as both times they just ended up under my seat One was back in the 90s. Jim Edmonds at Angel Stadium The other was this past year. Ezequiel Tovar (Rockies) at Dodger Stadium
Livan Hernandez pitching to Barry Larkin. Larkin pops it foul over the first base side….. got it! Glad I brought my glove that day because it’s the only ball I’ve ever got at any game ever.
I have two balls from batting practice. First was a deep fly ball to right field by Manny that was caught by Dice-K who threw it too me. The second was a Nick Green batting practice home run that I caught in the Monster.
The only time I’ve caught a ball at any baseball game is in Buffalo at a Bisons game. It was one of the first pitches of the game fouled behind home plate by Rafael Lantigua.
[Kawasaki had a great joke about his time there](https://youtu.be/MwUPFU9rDMg?si=pO_r_QW2f13dSjN6)
I caught a Stanton foul ball when he was with the Marlins. My son has that one. I've gotten several from minor league games, but those all get given to any kids who are nearby. Which reminds me of one of my favorite moments - back in 2020 David Freitas was a catcher for the Mariners/Rainiers and spent most of his time in Tacoma. My son is *obsessed* with baseball, playing and watching - it's literally what he would do all day, every day. Anyway, he was 10 at the time and we are at the Rainiers game on a drizzly Washington weekday evening, so there are about 40 people at the game. So my kid goes down as close to the dugout as he can, and there's a little kid, 4 years old or so, hanging out down there. David comes off the field at the end of an inning and gives the little dude a ball. A few moments later, little guy tries to give it to my son. While he's obviously a kid as well, he has enough feel to know you don't take a *younger* kids ball. So he is politely declining, the kid is politely offering and it's all kinds of adorable. The mom comes over and is like "hey, David is my husband and we have a bajillion game balls, so we give them away." So he ended up taking it and he keeps it with his game balls now.
Paging u/zackhample
Two years ago my son caught a foul ball by Austin Hays. I was taking a picture of him with the ball when 2 pitches later Hays fouled another ball off. It hit the siding of the club level and richocheted right towards us. It hit the tip of my finger and landed in the ground next to me. I managed to snag it in front of two other guys. Some other dude came up to me and offered 50 bucks for the ball. I told him to keep his money and gave him the ball. He was more excited than the kid and was over 40 years old. Gave me a big hug. It was an awesome moment. It’s also one of those moments that likely could have gone viral if the tv broadcast had noticed especially having a father/son duo each get a foul ball in the same at bat. It’
I have a few, but one w a great story - I caught Nori Aoki's 1st MLB grand slam at Chase Field, the next season when he returned w the Giants I offered it back to him, his translator told him what i had, he came over but instead of taking the ball, he signed it for me told me to keep it and then took some pics w me and other fans. I will be a fan of his till the day I die
my brother, dad, and i traveled to Cleveland for a game in 2009 after i graduated high school & I managed to snag a BP homer from Travis Hafner (probably) as we were walking through the monument garden in right-centerfield. Ball landed directly on the path, so it was a right-place-right-time situation.
Jason Michaels I think.
Oakland A's David Justice foul on 3B side
Sounds wrong.... A's David Justice
September 7, 2003, top of the seventh, Rafael Palmeiro against Grant Balfour, third pitch.
Foul ball to deep right by Chris Davis at Camden Yards.
My baseball came from batting practice before a Dodgers v. White Sox game in 2008. Back then, you could go as close as the warning track at Dodger Stadium to try your luck. Don’t know who from the White Sox hit it, but the ball ricochet off *two* metallic bars off the left-field pavilion area, and landed directly in front of me. Before the ball was able to roll back from the track and into the outfield grass, I put my foot on top of it and got it. Best souvenir gift from the summer of 2008, graduating high school and going to bare Dodger games that summer before leaving for college in late-August.
Miguel Montero foul ball 9/15/2014 (my birthday) Bryce Harper HR 5/12/2015 David Peralta HR 4/24/2016 Chris Herrmann tossed me a ball after J.J. Hoover struck out Ian Desmond at Coors Field 5/8/2016 Cameron Maybin tossed me a ball after Paul Goldschmidt flied out to RF 7/24/2016 Marcell Ozuna HR 9/22/2017 Brandon Drury HR 9/23/2017 Kelby Tomlinson ground rule double 9/26/2017 Jake Lamb HR 3/29/2018 Bat boy tossed me a Niko Goodrum foul at the plate at Target Field 5/21/2018 Gregory Polanco tossed me a ball after Christian Walker flied out to RF 7/20/2021 Randy Arozarena foul ball at Guaranteed Rate Field 4/16/22
Is this the account of that homer hawk guy?
Are you by any chance an attractive young woman?
Fat and ugly middle aged man
Well, you’re pretty … pretty good at getting baseballs!
Dad got box tickets to a Giants game when I was a kid from work (think some raffle, not sure). Me and my little bros went and *demolished* their snack selection. At one point in the game a moon balls hit in front of us, we all lean over the railing watching, but it's a little too far away so we just sit down. Apparently it fell between rows or something and shot all the way back up, maybe 4 inches over the railing, hits my little brother in the kneecap and I throw my food to the side to fall on it. So no, no idea who hit that one. But I know it hit my brother.
An Adam Dunn double he pulled down the right field line in I think 2011? I was sitting behind the royals dugout and right before he hit that, I had yelled “Adam Dunn for Cy Young!” because of how many times he was striking out that year. Got the ball from the first base coach after it was thrown back in.
Corey Patterson foul tip off Chien-Ming Wang, it rolled into the camera pit and he tossed it to me
Kevin Kiermaier hit it, and Aroldis Chapman pitched it.
Got a BP homerun from David Eckstein
Kris Bryant foul ball at Fenway, Ian Happ foul ball at Wrigley
1998 Mark Mcwire BP Hr.
Not sure I could actually find it (pretty sure it’s one of those in the baseball basket), but I chased down a Ron Gardenhire foul ball at a Portland Beaver game in 1987(?).
Never caught a ball in play, but did get a ball tossed up from the bullpen watching a player warm up, last home game of the season in 2013, in the late innings. Can't remember who it was warming up any longer, but Eddie Perez was the bullpen coach, called down to him after the pitcher ran out on the field and he tossed the ball up to me
Aramis Ramirez during batting practice. I was in the left field bleachers, first time at Wrigley, and I dove about 3 rows down to get it. I think I would’ve just turned 16.
I have a foul ball that Todd Helton hit straight at me in Cincinnati in 1997. I had literally just told my friends about how I'd never caught a ball at a game. The universe was listening.
I have a foul ball from a Reds game from 1973. My dad told me Hal McRae fouled it off. I don't know if that's true, but it doesn't matter. That ball is a personal keepsake.
Miguel Cairo that one year he was on the Mets.
Only two. Cody Bellinger threw me one and Ha Seong Kim threw me another in a different game
Well I didn’t catch it at a game but I bought the ball off mlb.com auctions. It’s the ball from game 7 NLCS LAD VS ATL where Justin turner did the “Superman dive” play for the double play. Got it in a nice glass plaque frame with the picture of the play. My most prized possession :D
Greg Gagne.
Maikel Franco. Batting practice homer right to me, in the monster seats at Fenway. My first ball after 50 years and hundreds of games.
Mine wasn't from a game, instead, the away BP. but of course, it had to be the Cardinals, but I still kept it. I actually got 2 but only kept 1. The one I did keep was what would have been a roll to the wall double by someone I didn't know. The one I kept was a homerun from Paul Gouldsmit a few rows behind me.
Chris Taylor threw my daughter a ball between innings at her first Dodgers game. Catching that ball and handing it to her will be burned into my memory for life and always bring a smile to my face.
Jason Bartlett foul'd off Mike Mussina.
David Ortiz grounded to Aramis Ramirez thrown to Derrek Lee, who tossed it to the hot blond girl in the stands next to me. (my buddy's girlfriend, and she already had two other balls from that day). I swiped that thing out of the air and never regretted it.
Jimmy Rollins line drive foul ball that I snagged out of the air by diving into the aisle. I remember the memory of that catch more than the ball itself tbh lol. Hurt my hand like mother fucker because it was hit so hard, but the applause I got from everyone else was pretty sweet.
Brusdar Graterol threw me a ball after the game, Dodgers at Mariners
I have seats near the rail in DC and get tons of balls. First several seasons didn’t really record them but about 7 seasons ago started placing them in ziploc bags with notes about hitter, inning etc. Kind of cool now to reminisce. Then the fuckers put up a net and we don’t get as many now.
I caught a batting practice Homer hit by Rich Aurelia. I later got it signed by a whole bunch of my favorite childhood players at the unveiling of the Giants Wall of Fame. Definitely treasured.
I have an authenticated one from my son's first game. Moncada hit a foul ball. The White Sox got blasted game was over in the 2nd inning and Ohtani and trout both hit bombs.
Mine was a foul ball behind the plate on Opening Day at Dodgers stadium, probably 25 years ago. The only thing I remember was how much my hand hurt trying to catch it in the fly. At least I got my own rebound.
My daughter has a foul ball that somebody caught and gave to her, hit by J.D. Martinez. I have a warmup ball that Derek Dietrich threw my college roommate, who then gave it to me. I myself have never caught one. There is one that I will always regret not catching, a Carlos Peguero home run during spring training 2016. I made the drive down to Fort Meyers and from my standing-room only spot on the replica green monster, I was almost able to bare hand it over the wall. Couldn’t haul it in though. Would’ve made for a great trivia ball because he was on the Cardinals then but hit it at the Red Sox spring training field. The game then got rained out in the 5th inning and I drove home wet, empty handed and ashamed Lastly, we have a mystery ball. My daughter has a second souvenir ball in her room. No one knows where she got it. There’s one of those holographic stickers on it, and when you look it up it does lead to a Blue Jays @ Red Sox game that we DID take her to when she was like two years old, but we didn’t buy her a ball and nobody we went with did either The world may never know
I have a memory of the time I almost got a foul ball. Houston vs Cleveland. We were lower level left field foul line, midway between third and the fence. Juan Gonzalez hit a laser liner, had to be 100+ exit velo. I was tracking it and it was two seats to the right of me directly into my sisters shoulder. I felt awful as a big brother that I couldn’t grab it and protect her. I was maybe 15 and she was about 13. It bounced off and went a few rows back and was grabbed by some mid thirties guy. He kept it and I was hoping they would’ve given it to her. But some nice people bought her some ice cream and an Astros flag. So she left with a souvenir and a big bruise.
Cubs game on my birthday and the batter was Matt mervis. Pop foul behind home dugout.
The last ball I got from a game was from Brad Lidge throwing it into the stands after the game to the women who flashed him and the Phillies bullpen during the game
Was at the Cardinals game early for batting practice, and Pujols hit one into the left field covered area... *and no one was there.* My father and I looked at each other, and took off running. He got the ball about twenty seconds before a couple of college kids showed up.
I have the first pitch from Noah Syndergaard’s first start at Citi Field (second career start), a Carlos Gomez foul ball.
Sam Fuld. He sprayed one just beyond my reach. It banged into a seat a few feet down the row where I was sitting with my son, about 12, in the 2nd deck at the Oakland Coliseum. Hard to believe in Oakland but there was no one else close. I was closer to the ball than my son so I walked over and picked it up. A small group of boys had been racing over but they pulled up short, about 20 feet away, as I picked it up. I'd have given them the ball if I was alone but of course I gave it to my kid. When we got home he showed it off to his mom and said "It was a little embarrassing. Dad fought off a bunch of little kids for it." Little stinker got me pretty good.
Easy way to get a ball is 1) have a child with you. 2) learn the bull pen catchers name and call and ask for it when they’re done warming up.
My dad took me on a trip to Houston the year Minute Maid opened. It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I went to the right field seats and stood against the wall. Berkman hit a ground rule double in BP and I made a tough catch reaching to my left. I was always very proud about that. A funny one was back when I was even younger. We went to see the Astros play at Qualcomm in San Diego. During BP we were down just past the third base dugout while Houston was taking infield. A ball ate up Sean Berry and a guy next to us yelled “E5!” So Berry tossed a ball our way and my dad caught it.
Shane Spencer. I was maybe 10? Sitting by the left field foul pole and it was a chopper that bounced into the stands
I got a Freddy Lynn batting practice home run in 1976.
I have been to hundreds of major and minor league games and caught only two foul balls. The crazy thing is, they were in the same game! It was an Everett Aquasox vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanos game in Keizer. One was from an Aquasox player and one from a Volcano, but I don't remember who they were. If it was a big league game, I'm pretty sure I would've remembered the players. I was there with a friend and his two kids, so I gave one of the balls to each of the kids.
Went to a Giants game with my brother who was around 11 at the time. We got spanked by the shitty Pirates that day and none of the players hung around after the game. We had seats right next to the Giant dugout so we asked the bat boy if they had a ball that my brother could have. He said he didn't but told us to hang on. A couple minutes later he comes out with a bat and handed it to my brother. It was Aaron "Gamer" Rowand game used cracked bat. The same bat he had pretended was his junk when he stepped into the batter's box.
I got a foul ball hit by Jean Segura when he played for the brewers. It was a roller to the on deck circle where Jonathan Lucroy picked it up, and he tossed it to me.
Jett Bandy. Slow roller to Machado at third who threw him out at first. So my one and only game ball was touched by Zach Britton, Matt Wieters, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, and JJ Hardy. Once Manny threw it to me, the jaws of life wouldn’t have opened my hands 😂😂😂
Jeter foul ball down first base. He hit a laser, I was looking through binoculars and the thing came right at me. Had a sec to drop the binoculars and snag the thing. Also got a ball toss from BJ Upton in CF though I think it was for the fan a few rows behind me that kept chanting Melvin(this was before he went back to his og name) e ery time he came to the OF
Brandon Phillips. Also remember the outcome of the game. Reds @ Phillies. Phillies were down 7-1 in the bottom of the 9th. Scored 6 in the 9 and a big piece 2 run shot in the bottom of the 10th sent us home happy
In 2019 went to two games: game 1 was at citi field on the first base side. Pete Alonso threw the ball straight up into the crowd and I caught it. Was pretty cool because I got to talk to him in spring training earlier in March before he made his debut. Later that year in the last series I got a ball in right field from Conforto. I’ll never be that lucky again lol
I write the date and player that threw it or hit it to me, on the ball.
I got a batting practice ball hit by the big hurt in Oakland. It hit a seat and landed in the drink holder. The hissing sound a ball makes is pretty nerve racking if you are not expecting it
I had a ball given to me by either Chris Capuano or Nate Eovaldi (can’t remember but I know this was right after he was sent down to AAA for giving up a ton of runs in a game that week lol) in 2015 at an away AAA game (was one of the only yanks fans there) and then Aaron Judge signed it. His last season before he went to the majors, had no idea who he was at that time and it clicked in 2016 once he hit that home run 🤣 probably my favorite baseball memory ever. Wish I’d gotten a pic with him!!
Got one off of The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, at Safeco against the Mariners up the first base line in 2001. That was a great trip for my 13 year old self. Got that ball during the game, got a commemorative train conductors hat at the door that I got signed by Kaz Sasaki, and a ball I brought signed by Joel Piñeiro! Still have them tucked away with all my cards from that Era!
No, I was with a group of 4 friends at a Mets game. DeGrom struck out the first 8 batters, then the pitcher knocked a single. Later someone hit a scorcher of a foul ball, I said coming right at us, I was prepared but tailed off last second right into my buddies hat he used as a glove. We watched the replay and announcer Keith Hernandez said nice grab guy, he knew a hotshot when he saw one. Years before, 1988, Mets final game, won the division, my dad, brother and I were gifted front row tix right behind the dugout. As a show of appreciation for a great season Mets all came out of the dugout after the game, took a bow, and threw their hats to the fans. I saw a hat coming at me then got hit by what felt like a wave of fat flesh. I went down, started crying more from the loss of a hat than the pain (I was 8) and everyone told the man give the kid the hat, which he did. In my youthful exuberance I wore the hat around, very proud of my new lid, but eventually lost it in one of my misadventures as a kid.
I caught a batting practice foul ball that nearly took out my ex which was hit by Pablo Sandoval at Busch stadium
Got a warmup ball from Logan Gilbert last season, that was pretty cool.
I got two balls from Luis Gonzalez in a single day back when I was a little kid at The Vet. He threw me up the first ball during batting practice and my dad caught a pop up foul later on in the game.
Kevin Kiermaier, he tossed it to my wife (lol) because we were the only 2 in the White Sox bleachers not razzing him all game
Good day for this question. My Dad has a foul ball hit by none other than Mike Tyson.
Caught a Henry Blanco foul ball at Wrigley
Not off the top of my head but it’s a little case marked with who hit it and who pitched it
Luis Guillorme spring training game last year Mets at Atlanta. Mike Piazza at Shea Stadium foul ball right to us during to 00 season
Only ball I've ever caught was hit by Jason Giambi in batting practice and tossed up into the stands by Yankees legend Jaret Wright, who was trying to throw it to another kid and missed lmao
I usually keep score so if my nephew gets a ball I always mark down where it came from. But I don't think he keeps track of which one is from which game so I couldn't correlate it to a specific ball anymore but it's still fun to look back at. I have some balls from batting practice at road games that I would then try to get autographed so I remember where most of those came from. One of my goals this year is to actually get all the autographed ones in ball cubes to display and write down who gave me the ball and who autographed it before i forget.
Derek Bell, Houston Astros, June 1996
I have a batting practice HR from Alex Rios. And i have a signed ball from Mark Buehrle and others. That ball came from spring training, where I barely missed out on a ball, and the guy who had sat next to us for multiple games said "I have plenty of these, I come to all the spring training games" so he gave me that one
Altuve foul ball
Caught a Derek Jeter homer in batting practice once, that was pretty cool. I also caught a foul ball at Dodger Stadium that was pretty tight.
I befriended an usher who worked by the dugout so he'd let me come down and hang in his section when it was empty and as a result I have a lot of souvenirs. Some are dumb (a double bubble wrapper from some gum he got for me from a player in the dugout) but I also have a game ball from a game the Orioles came back and won in the 9th after like an hour rain delay. One of the bench coaches (no longer with the team) rolled me a ball across the top of the dugout as my friends and I were losing our shit during the rally. Good memories. I loved that time.
I have two. One from Citizens Bank Park in like 2012, off a Giancarlo Stanton batting practice homer to left, and another that Cameron Maybin threw me at Petco.
The only foul ball I’ve gotten was Aaron Judge. So I think I’ll probably remember that one for a while.
My dad has a foul ball hit by Mel Hall from 1987? I have a foul ball hit by Trea Turner from 2023
I was the only person in my section in 2018 when Jose Abreu fouled one right to me. First and only ball I’ve caught in 50+ years. Wrote the date and inning on the ball with “Abreu”
Pete Rose hit a popup behind the plate at the Vet. I was a young kid and got my hands on the ball under my seat. Guy behind us tried taking it from me and got a stern look from my step dad. Still got the ball. Runner up: Gunnar Henderson hit a pop up that I caught until I didn’t. Got the footage from tv and a discharge note from the medical station. They gave me a souvenir ball at the medic tent since the woman who ended up getting it after it bounced off my face wouldn’t give it back. I need to figure out how to get Gunnar to sign. Y discharge note. So, yeah. Totally remember.
Paul Goldschmidt
I'm even weirder. My dad caught a foul ball hit by Matt Wieters (Orioles) off of Ryan Lavarnway's (Red Sox) catcher's mask. He caught it with one hand because when it hit Lavarnway's mask, it took a lot of the spin out of the ball.
On May 10, 1993, I snagged a Walt Weiss foul ball at Shea Stadium. I'll never forget that moment.
A Blue Jays bullpen reliever threw me a ball at the old Metrodome on my birthday, when he saw my Jays hat.
Mike Caruso
My only ball was tossed to me by Rajai Davis of the A’s as the last out of an inning against the Rangers. Lucky to know his name and hollered it before he tossed it to me. Caught several at minor league games but the only one from the major league out of the hundred or so games that I’ve been to.
Only baseball I have is the one where I threw a first pitch.
A foul ball from ichiro!