the "catch"...

i've estimated that i've been to between 150-200 mlb games in my life, which puts me at approximately 5 games a year for the past 35 years. there's a margin of error there but if that formula holds true, that puts me at 175. i've been to fenway park, the old busch in st. louis, miller park, yankee stadium, wrigley field, us cellular (new cominsky), and of course the metrodome and target field. in that time i have had occasion to sniff a few foul balls but i've never been close enough to actually nab one. that ended for me on sunday night. i have learned from sitting in sec 123 of the dome all of those years, my previous digs, that you never give up on a ball fouled behind you hit into the upper deck. many times the ball comes bounding back down to the lower section, and a ball that was hit nowhere near you, suddenly ends up in your neighborhood. that is precisely what happened on sunday night. a texas ranger batter (either david murphy or justin smoak - things got hazy in the immediate aftermath) hit a looping foul ball, way over our heads in section 118, into the upper deck. i stood up and traced the path of the ball until i saw it disappear over the railing in the upper deck, paused for a moment, and then sat down, essentially giving up on it. no sooner had i sat down, i sensed a commotion in my row, and suddenly the ball was bouncing around at my feet. i immediately hit the ground and tried to smother it like a live grenade, sacrificing my self for the other soldier's in my foxhole. in reality, i was in a perfect spot to snatch up this souvenir and had only to contend with one extra-large man, sitting just to my left and in front of me, who didn't have a particularly good angle nor was he agile enough to join me on the floor. it was all a blur after that as the pop vendor in front of my gave me a "high-five" and i passed the ball over to my family to admire. one for the ages.