Foul Ball

In my lifetime, I have been to a great number of baseball games. The one thing that I have never, ever done is catch a foul ball. Every time I go to a game, I have the hopes that maybe that will be the game that I catch one. Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck. I have been close, but have never walked away with a foul ball.

When I was younger, I went to several games with my mom. There is one game, in particular, that seems to stand out. I still remember it, like it was yesterday. It was a really cold, rainy day and there were very few fans in the stadium. We had received tickets from my mom's work and were in a great location to catch a foul ball, a few rows up on the first base side. I figured that my odds to get a foul ball were much greater on this day then days past. As the game went on, my hopes of getting a foul ball dwindled. Nothing had came my way all night. In the 7th inning, that changed. Within a matter of 3 pitches, two foul balls were hit in my direction. However, both were hit directly to a guy about 4 rows up from me. I can still picture him ripping the blanket off of his wife and catching both balls in the blanket. Unfortunately, we left yet another game empty handed.

This year, I believe my luck is going to change. I plan on taking my two good luck charms, Selleck and Slade, with me to a couple games. I have high hopes that this year will be my year. I know that, as a dad, I will give the ball to my boys, but that won't take away my moment of glory when I catch my very first foul ball!