I’ve been to a lot of baseball games in my life and I’ve never caught a foul ball. I’ve certainly never caught a home run. Heck, I haven’t even caught a batting practice ball. One time, before a game at AT&T Park, I saw an older-than-middle-aged woman dive for a Carlos Lee batting practice home run and land with her jaw flush on the concrete steps. (She didn’t get the ball.) Being a fan and catching a home run ball instantly makes you the coolest baseball fan you know. But it appears there is a rarer feat: catching back-to-back home run balls.
Reds Fan Catches Back-To-Back Home Run Balls
Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.
A gentleman took in a Cincinnati Reds game on Monday and had the good fortune of catching the first career home run from starting pitcher Mike Leake. A few seconds later, he caught a homer from Zack Cozart on a bounce. This almost certainly counts as a glitch in the Matrix.
This guy is a 20-year-old college junior named Caleb Lloyd, and I hope he enjoyed having something this mind-boggling happen to him because I can only assume it’s all downhill from here.
Here’s the kicker: Lloyd gave the Cozart home run ball to his friend, who convinced him to go to the game and traded the other one to Leake for an autograph and a trip to the clubhouse. “Autograph” is usually code for some signed memorabilia and other goodies, so hopefully he was well rewarded for his largesse.
It takes a very special person to give away both halves of a feat that rare. I’d probably be getting a full-back tattoo right now depicting me holding both home run balls and laughing uproariously. Probably while wearing a crown.
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