Woo! Yeah!!!
ahem
Look, I know it’s probably not a big deal to most anyone. But I’ve been attending Dodger games since I was at least 12, so nearly 20 years of games, year after year. I’ve seen bad games, I’ve seen great comebacks, fights, historic moments – you name it. But other than a World Series title for my Dodgers, the only thing I’ve ever hoped for each season is to have a foul ball come my way. Of course, my odds aren’t that great to begin with, and they’re made even worse given that I usually only attend between five and ten games each year, and I’m normally sitting in the Top Deck seats at Dodger Stadium when I’m there (if you’re familiar with Dodger Stadium, you know that it’s a rare game when a foul ball even reaches that level).
But today, the stars aligned for me.
You see, I had tickets to my usual Top Deck seats for today’s game. Since today was Mother’s Day, I invited my mom. She hadn’t been to a game in many years, and she had expressed some interest in going this season. She said yes, and we started planning our day. But a few days later, she commented that she didn’t want her only game for a decade or more to be viewed from the nosebleed section. Rather than protest and try to explain to her that my seats were actually good ones despite being high up (they’re right behind home plate), I decided that if it was going to be a Mother’s Day treat, I should splurge. I hopped on eBay and spent far more on tickets than I’d ever spent before. Loge Level seats, five rows back, right behind home plate.
The seats, as it turned out, were well worth the price. The view was fantastic, we managed to be in the shade, and the food lines on our level were short. And I had brought my glove, being the 31 year-old kid that I am. I teased my mom several times about how someone was going to be nice and hit a foul ball to me. But as the game began and I sized up the situation, I realized that the odds weren’t really in my favor because both starting pitchers were left-handed, making both lineups predominantly right-handed, and we were seated ever-so-slightly towards the 3rd base side of home plate. Oh well.
Nevertheless, I maintained hope. I stayed vigilant as I watched my Dodgers grab an early lead, then have the game tied up, then take the lead again, then have Ken Griffey, Jr. belt a three-run shot into the Right Field Pavillion to steal the lead from us. A see-saw battle, as Vin Scully would say. And then, in a situation that had seemed so improbable, the impossible happened.
Cincinnati catcher David Ross, a right-handed batter, stepped up to bat in the top of the 5th inning (I think – it’s hard to remember at this point) and hit a towering shot into foul territory, just slightly off to the first base side. I stood up instinctively – the same way I do anytime a foul ball is hit anywhere in the same zip code as I happen to be at the moment – and tracked the ball’s movement, wondering where it was going to land. I honestly can’t tell you if the spin imparted on the ball caused it to work its way in my direction, or if the steady breeze in the stadium’s confines pushed it towards me, but it became clear to me at some point that I had a shot at it. I stuck my glove up in the air, and I don’t remember thinking anything beyond an “Oh God, please don’t drop it.” And with a very slight lean over the (rather grateful) woman sitting in the row in front of me, I gloved it.
It was like every stupid fantasy a little kid might have. Everyone around (it sounded like the whole stadium, really, but I have no way of knowing) applauded and cheered. This perplexed me, because it wasn’t like I’d had to leap or do anything special to catch it. But people were high-fiving me left and right, and the next thing I know, people were poking me and pointing because I had been put on the Diamond Vision screen. Fortunately, my complexion is a little too dark for me to turn noticeably red, but I can tell you that all the blood had rushed to my cheeks. I sat down, but I continued to receive high-fives and congratulations for the rest of the game. Me!
That’s it. It may be silly, but I am so freakin’ happy, I can’t even tell you. I’ve had my moment in the sun. Oh, and we came back and won the game, too.
So thank you, Mom, for having me buy better seats. Thank you, David Ross (a former Dodger, I might add), for ending my years-long drought. And thank you, Dodger fans, for making my moment far more special than it probably deserved to be. A dream lived, and a life-goal fulfilled. It may take a while for this smile to come off my face.
I’ll let you all know when I finally bowl that 300 game.
