I’m at Tahoe Celebrity golf, wondering why John O’Hurley isn’t using JFK’s clubs. “Elaine, I need a guest poster, and I’m assuming I need him right now!”.
By Rob Sylvester
I’ve been to a few baseball games in my life, and I’ve never caught a home run or a foul ball. In fact I don’t think one has ever come within three rows of me. However, for every Yin, there is a Yang — in comes Adam Koltun, who caught not one, but two foul balls on consecutive pitches at Friday night’s Marlins-Nationals game in Miami. This is the sports nerd equivalent of those old ladies you hear about in the news who have won the lottery multiple times.
The pitches both came off the meager bat of phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who apparently has the same pinpoint control while fighting off fastballs as he does when throwing them. However, the Marlins crowd was full of haters that night, and promptly let Koltun know about their displeasure with his back-to-back strokes of luck.
“The boos came,” Koltun said, “and I thought I better give it to the kid.”
The kid would be 13-year-old Jose Wilhelm, who the second ball hit in the chest before Koltun lassoed it in off the ricochet. Koltun’s compelled gesture of generosity aside, how exactly does one get hit in the chest at a baseball game? “Hey, look at that white thing careening in my direction really fast, what is tha…UUUHMPF.” Let’s show some awareness out there, kid.
I’m firmly of the belief that all caught balls should be given to children anyway — really, what are you going to do with a foul ball? Display it on a trophy case atop your mantle, so you can regale visitors about that time that a pitcher failed to put a ball in play? Sell it on e-Bay for $2.75? Score yourself some points with the ladies in your section and hand that ball to the first kid you see, fellas — it’ll be a much bigger deal to them than it is to you.
However this is a neat story for Koltun, a statistical anomaly worth pointing out in a “huh-what-are-the-chances-of-that?” sort of way, and at least all those in attendance can say they actually saw something noteworthy in a Marlins-Nationals game (in addition to Strasburg’s six stellar scoreless innings). Plus, under pressure or not, he did give one of the balls to a kid, so good work Adam.
Unless of course he brought a glove to the game, for which he should be tarred and feathered out of principle. You have two perfectly good hands to catch a baseball, and, failing that, your beer cup. Let’s save everyone the embarrassment and leave the gloves at home, people.
***
Two pitches, two foul balls for Marlins spectator [NBC Sports]
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- LewP - Jul 17, 2010 at 4:54 PM
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“The kid would be 13-year-old Jose Wilhelm”
I’ve heard of Hoyt Wilhelm…Interesting things in baseball surround the name.
“Although his accomplishments as a pitcher are well known, Wilhelm also holds an interesting record as a batter. On April 23, 1952, in his second game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm came to the plate for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm swung and sliced a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he played 21 seasons and went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.”
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- Bruce - Jul 17, 2010 at 6:27 PM
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What is the big deal? Based on the crowds the Marlins get, I am sure there are fans who have gotten 10-15 foul balls a game.
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- davidc45629 - Jul 17, 2010 at 6:51 PM
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Did you read the story Bruce? Who was pitching again? I believe they had a gate of 27K.
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- rgonzo - Jul 17, 2010 at 6:52 PM
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I am from California and two weeks ago my family and I visited Florida. We went to both a Marlins game and a Tampa Rays game. At the Marlin game which was on a sunday against the Padres, the temperature was so hot at the noon game time, there looked like only 50 people were at the game. So no wonder the kid got 2 foul balls. Hell, he probably could have gotten 10 more if there were less people.
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- Mike D - Jul 17, 2010 at 9:48 PM
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I caught 2 fouls balls in one game in Fenway in 1995, and have never been close to one since. 3rd inning off of Troy O’ Leary, and 5th inning off of Reggie Jefferson. Didn’t catch either one of them clean, but laid a sweet cross-body block on the other dude moving in one the first one. Fenway wasn’t always packed back then, and I snagged the 2nd one running down an open row of seats.
I guess this kid has one-upped me…
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- Bruce - Jul 19, 2010 at 9:52 PM
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Yeah, I did read the story, you moron. The fact is on an average night, the crowds are very low. What don’t you get about my statement?
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- J-Dog - Aug 15, 2010 at 11:17 AM
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In the early 1980′s, I was watching ESPN, and Bob Costas (or someone) was showing some “amazing clips” from baseball games.
On consecutive pitches, a right-handed batter pulled inside pitches foul, hit the concrete divider between the field box and the mezzanine, and the balls ricocheted toward the field somewhere between 3rd base and the foul pole.
On each foul ball, the SAME guy rotated to his right, reached up with a glove on his left hand, and caught the balls.
Unbelievable. Would love to see that clp again.
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- J-Dog - Aug 15, 2010 at 11:40 AM
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I got two foul balls at a game in 1985, and could have had 4 or 5 if I wanted them. But the beers took their toll, and I lost interest.
Had just moved to San Francisco to take a job. Game was on Tuesday, September 3, 1985. Giants lost 100 games (62-100) that year. They were terrible. and this was a mid-week, noon-start game. Attendance that day was 1632. Candlestick Park was a ghost town.
Matt Nokes (catcher) in his MLB debut, got a hit. but I don’t think it was his first AB.
I was sitting on 5th row by first base. Leisurely walked a few rows and got two balls by the end of the 4th inning.
There was no competition. Balls were left uncollected and ignored deeper along the right field line near the fair pole. no one cared.
