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Glove+baby+foul ball=poor judgment

BY JOSHUA WOOD

The Wichita Eagle

When I attend a baseball game, I don't bring my glove.

There a few reasons for this, first among them is that I'm 32 and already have plenty of dorky qualities. I don't need an extra accessory to advertise that fact.

Secondly, I lack much in the way of hand-eye coordination, which is partly why I read and write for a living rather than perform for Cirque de Soleil.

I'm impressed, though, when regular people are able make spectacular catches of home runs and foul balls.

One has to wonder, however, what a souvenir ball from the game is really worth.

A fan at Dodger Stadium this week gained national attention for catching a home run in the bleachers.

The man jumped up to catch the ball in his left hand, while holding on to a baby with his right.

Baby seemed to be no worse for wear, as the man's buddies congratulated him on his catch.

California Child Protective Services didn't come to take the man away, and his catch was subsequently featured on SportsCenter and on the Internet.

I don't want to tell a complete stranger how to be a parent, but I think my reaction might have been different as a projectile hurled toward my child.

I can understand a mad scramble for the home run ball that breaks Barry Bonds' career record. Or a postseason homer for your favorite team.

This was a regular season game in early May. I guess I might have erred on the side of protecting my kid rather than having to explain why a Ryan Church solo home run ball in a 12-1 game was suddenly that valuable.

But we get caught up in the heat of the moment.

Except for one thing: This guy made the catch with a glove.

He left his home that day thinking, "Hey, there might be a chance I'll have to catch a ball."

Yet he still brought the baby.

One of those may have been a bad decision.

Heads up! --Unlike the pursuit of the home run, which can find the seats on a slow, high trajectory, getting a foul ball is sometimes just a matter of self preservation.

Of the four foul balls I've had my hands on from games over the years, two were relatively easy grabs of a ball bouncing off an empty seat.

One whizzed through the open window of the press box at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, nearly hitting my head before putting a half-inch dent into the wall behind me.

My first foul ball was easily the most memorable.

At the same game where former Kansas City Royal great Greg Gagne hit the 10,000th home run in Tiger Stadium history, the shortstop hit the ball to my section.

One man jumped for the ball, knocking it down, while managing to hit the gentleman in the row in front of him.

Beer was spilled, words were exchanged and tempers flared in a warm June night in Detroit.

As security guards came to the scene to break up the melee between the two slightly inebriated men, the ball bounced near me, where I scooped it up.

I'll always associate that ball with the image of the crying children of one of the men, as he was being taken away by security.

I hope the guy later realized a souvenir that might have cost $5 wasn't really worth endangering his family.

Or perhaps he resurfaced 15 years later in the Dodger Stadium bleachers.

Eagle online sports producer Joshua Wood once had a Cecil Fielder home run ball snatched from his fingers by a bigger kid. Reach him at 316-268-6413 or jwood@wichitaeagle.com.