ballcatchers.com
A home run is perfect.
A home run is a gift.
A home run is history.
And sometimes history picks you.
A home run is a gift.
A home run is history.
And sometimes history picks you.
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3rd player in history to hit a grand slam in his 1st major league at-bat (this one on the first pitch)
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
The ball flew over the center field wall.
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715th career home run, passing Babe Ruth's career total
Who Caught the Ball?
Andrew Morbitzer
38, marketing director San Francisco, California
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What's the Story?
After hitting the hands of fans in the center field bleachers, the ball bounced onto an elevated platform in center field and appeared to be beyond anyone's reach. It trickled off and fell to the concession stands below, where Morbitzer was standing in line to buy beer and peanuts. He caught the ball with one hand. "I was just standing in line, and it fell in my hand," he said.Morbitzer was quickly ushered away by security for a postgame news conference. Morbitzer said he and his wife, Megan, mulled keeping the ball, but decided they couldn't turn down a possible payoff. "We decided if we were rich we'd keep the ball because it's fun to have a piece of sports lore to hold on to," Morbitzer said. "But we're not rich." He stored the ball in a safe deposit box at a bank, visiting it twice. "Sometimes you wake up at four in the morning, and you're like, 'God, I wonder if it's still there?'" he said, laughing. "You try to act nonchalant and walk into the safety deposit room. I actually asked the guard to turn around. And then I just peer into the box and look at it." Morbitzer put the ball up for auction on eBay in August 2006. It sold for $220,100 to Marc Chase, an exotic car merchant. "It was a fun day in the sun. We had a fun time with it, and now we're both going to go back to our day job," he said. Morbitzer said he plans to pay off debts from his wedding, make a down payment on a home, invest, and donate 10 percent of the proceeds to the charity Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. |
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714th career home run, tying Babe Ruth's career total
Who Caught the Ball?
Tyler Snyder
19, junior college student Pleasanton, California
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What's the Story?
The home run flew over the center-right field bleachers and found Snyder alone in a walkway near his seat above the right-field wall in Section 146. The people around the 19-year-old Athletics fan cheered wildly, with nobody assaulting or gouging him."You have to see the ball after it's hit, judge it and get to the spot," Snyder said. "Then you have to get your glove in front of everyone else's." Snyder estimates he has hauled in about 500 balls, including those he's caught during rounds of batting practice. A stadium policy helped Snyder. Fans in outfield seats got wristbands corresponding to their section, which stopped fans from other parts of the stadium from interloping during Bonds' at-bats. "I hate that guy," Snyder told reporters before he was whisked away. "I don't really care for the guy." When asked if he would consider giving the ball to Bonds, Snyder declined with a mild expletive. "I want to be on Jimmy Kimmel," announced Snyder. Snyder stowed his prize in a safe deposit box on the way home from the game. He originally intended to auction his souvenir but remains one of the few people with a Bonds record home run ball who has not sold it. |
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2005 World Series, Game 2:
won the game and gave the Chicago White Sox a 2-0 World Series lead
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
A group of four guys returned the ball to Podsednik, getting three autographed baseballs and a signed bat in return.
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2005 NLCS, Game 5:
led to a win for the St. Louis Cardinals
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
It says a lot that, even after the Astros went on to clinch the series two nights later, this is still probably the most notorious life-force-sucking homer in baseball history. It somehow became bigger than the game itself -- a testament to Pujols in all his Machine-like greatness, every closer's worst nightmare, a blow so mighty it took Brad Lidge literally years to recover from it. "Crowd-silencing" doesn't even do it justice, because everybody in Houston that night couldn't help but groan in admiration.
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2005 NLDS, Game 4:
won the longest postseason game in history
Who Caught the Ball?
Shaun Dean
25, comptroller Porter, Texas
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What's the Story?
Dean was in the second row of the left field stands for the Astros' 18-inning victory that ended the NL Division Series against Atlanta. He caught Lance Berkman's grand slam in the eighth inning, and then 10 innings later he snagged Burke's homer."As a baseball fan, you hope to catch a foul ball, get something once in your life," Dean said. "To be an Astros fan, be at the playoffs and catch both balls, it was an unreal experience." "After the game, an usher directed us to members of Astros staff, who took us down toward the clubhouse. While we didn't get to go in the clubhouse due to the celebration, the Astros staff took my information and promised that they would contact me. It was still pretty neat being down there near the clubhouse. We got to meet team broadcaster Jim Deshaies, who I had watched pitch for the 'Stros as a kid, and GM Tim Purpura." Dean never considered selling the balls. While Dean was being interviewed on 'Sports Edge' on Sirius radio, Wagerweb.com, an online gaming company, called in to offer $10,000 for the two historic baseballs, "Nope," Dean responded. "If the Astros want them, they can have them, but if not, both balls go in my son's room." Dean had planned to display them on a shelf in his 3-year-old son Tyler's room decorated with sports memorabilia. He and his son -- who initially appeared frightened -- got to meet Roger Clemens. They got their No. 22 jerseys signed by the star pitcher, who eventually got a high-five from the young boy, and spent a few minutes with Berkman and Burke. The Astros also gave Dean and his family tickets to Game 3 of the NL Championship Series against St. Louis. "It's a pretty cool story," Burke said. "What are the odds of Lance and I hitting the ball in the same spot. ... It's a cool thing he's giving the balls back." Dean ultimately gave both balls to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The balls, along with a picture of Dean and his family, are part of an exhibit commemorating the event. Brad Efron, the chairman of the department of statistics at Stanford University, told ESPN.com that the odds of catching two home runs balls in this particular case are in between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 5,000. "Of the 43,000 people there, there are actually only a couple thousand people in the ballpark who can catch a homerun ball," Efron said. "So the odds are not as astronomical." But what are the odds of one of them being the most important home run ball in such an important game? |
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2nd player in history to hit a grand slam in his 1st major league at-bat
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
Hermida hit the ball into the right field seats.
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2004 ALCS, Game 7:
extended Red Sox lead and led to win that advanced Boston to the World Series
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
Despite The Steal, despite the walk-offs, dropping three games in a row, the Yankees and their fans still entered Game 7 of the '04 ALCS supremely confident. They were the Yankees after all, and the Red Sox were the Red Sox -- no matter how close Boston came, no matter how promising things looked, the Curse always managed to win out. It wasn't until Damon lifted a grand slam to right that reality set in: Oh no, this is really going to happen.The ball barely cleared the right field fence and was retrieved by an unidentified fan. |
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2004 ALCS, Game 4:
home run led to a Red Sox win
Who Caught the Ball?
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What's the Story?
The ball just cleared the 380 marker on the right-center field fence and was retrieved by a stadium worker.
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700th career home run
Who Caught the Ball?
Steve Williams
25, mortgage broker assistant Pacifica, California
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What's the Story?
Williams snatched the ball from the bottom of a pile of fans in the left field bleachers at SBC Park. At least four fans say they had possession before Williams emerged from the puppy pile with his hands on it. One of those fans, Timothy Murphy, said the ball had hit him in the chin and rolled away, and he had tried to sit on it and succeeded in securing it below his right leg. His arms had been pinned back by other fans and that he had been struggling to get free when Williams reached under his leg and took the ball away."We all got in this pile. There were people everywhere," Williams said. He claims the ball had been rolling free when he grabbed it. Exhaustive video footage of the bleacher melee, in slow motion and stop-action, couldn't persuade a judge to give the baseball to Williams outright. Williams was prohibited selling the ball until legal matters were sorted out. In October 2004, an unidentified bidder paid $804,129 to Overstock.com for the ball. Williams plans to donate a portion of his auction proceeds to two charities: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco, a counseling and treatment center for at-risk children. He also wants to buy his mom a convertible and is considering going back to school for his college degree. In June 2005, the ball sold for $102,000 ($85,000 plus $17,000 in commission fees) at a Sotheby's/SportsCards Plus auction in New York, more than $700,000 less than what it brought a few months earlier. The buyer was the London-based online betting firm Sportsbook.com, which said it will take the ball on a tour of major U.S. cities, and then offer it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate New York. "This ball represents one of the greatest achievements in the history of the sport," Sportsbook.com marketing director Alex Czajkowski said, "and we want to make sure it has a worthy and permanent home. The ball belongs in Cooperstown." |