A Piece of the Game
I am a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Baseball is my favorite sport. I enjoy collecting autographed memorabilia and I have been collecting baseball cards since I was nine. I always go to several Pirate games every year. What makes an experience at the ballpark all the more special is getting a game ball. I am fortunate enough to say that I have two game balls. In 2007, I was at the August 16 game against the New York Mets. It was a Skyblast night with Styx as the performing act. I was at the game with my family and one of my friends. Then-Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez hit a foul ball off of Mets pitcher Brian Lawrence down the third base line. It was fielded by the ball boy. My youngest sister asked the boy for the ball and he gladly gave it to her. To my luck, she gave me the ball after the game. That night was very exciting because I got to see one of my favorite bands play, the Pirates won, I got Manny Sanguillen's autograph on my scorecard, and I got a game ball.
The second ball is more interesting. I was at the game on June 6 of this year against the Milwaukee Brewers. My grandfather went to the game with me. While I was driving down, my grandfather asked me what our chances were of catching a ball in our seats, given the fact that we were sitting in the last row of section 210. I told him that our chances were slim to none. That night, the Pirates really used a lot of firepower, as they defeated the Brewers by a final score of 15-5. In the top of the ninth inning, many people had left, so there were plenty of empty seats in the ballpark. Since the Pirates had an insurmountable lead, they brought rookie Casey Sadler in to pitch. One of the Brewers hitters that inning was All Star shortstop Jean Segura. On one of Sadler's pitches, Segura hit the ball foul. To my surprise, I saw the ball coming in my direction. It landed in the row in front of me. Fortunately, no one was seated in that row. I simply jumped down and grabbed the ball. I then proceeded to raise the ball in celebration. I can consider myself lucky, as both my dad and my grandfather have never gotten a game ball. I hope that I can catch more game balls in the future. Have you ever caught a game ball? If so, please let me know about your experience in the comments below.
I have never caught a foul ball in at a major league game; however, I use to work as a batboy for the Altoona Curve, Pirates' Double-A Affiliate. My story involves a ball thrown by Andy Petite. he was rehabibng for the Trenton Thunder, affiliate of the Yankees. Unlike minor league pitchers who throw minor league balls, when a major league pitcher pitches in the minors, he uses a major league ball. The one ball he threw got away from the catcher and was scuffed, so the umpire threw it back to me so it wouldn't be used again. I kept the balls and refer to it as my Andy Petite ball. Additionally, I had my picture taken with him before the game. Not quite like your story, but very interesting to me.
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