The Phenom

This is a time for a throwback memory from the 2005 season. If you've read my 'About Me' page you already know a little bit about that special Summer, but even if you don't... anytime you can make it to 11 baseball games between April and July is bound to be a good one.

In any case, one day my friend Kevin, who's even more obsessed with Baseball than I am, (and would probably have an MLBlog if he wasn't poorer than me as well,) brought up the idea of a 'high-expense' day at the ballpark. Being poor college students, we usually have to get by with what we can. This means a lot of upper deck vouchers, basically. However, knowing the ushers at your park comes in handy, especially when you want to move from say, Upper Deck nosebleeds to some prime seats behind the bullpen in Left Field at Comerica. In any case, we decided it was time for a change. We were gonna splurge on the $25 tickets on the Right Field line, right where the stands jut out a little bit so those fouls roll right into your glove. So we bought the tickets about a week in advance and waited in anticipation for our special day at the ballpark.

When the day finally arrived, I showed up at Kevin's house around 10am. We went to Olga's for breakfast, found it to be closed, went to a Wendy's or some other joint, found it to be closed as well, and just threw in the towel and headed down to Detroit. We ran into a BK along the way, stopped and had some delicious chow, and continued on our way. We got to the park, got the usual pre-game autographs, and settled into our seats - 2nd row, Right Field foul line. Comerica being the home of the Tigers, the seats in front of us were empty... so we took them. (Actually, from hanging around the ballpark so much, we knew that some season ticket holders - about 6 old guys - held those seats, and it didn't look like they were showing up, so we took 'em.) In any case, we were both excited about the possibility of getting a foul ball.

I have about 6 inches on Kevin and so, in the event that I foul ball come our way, I told him he would have to fight me for it if he wanted it. Around the 6th inning, time slowed down as Tony Giarratano, or 'The Phenom' as we referred to him, stepped up to bat. We had been yelling, "Phenom!!!" for the past few games, and had seen no results... of course, it's not likely he could hear us when we were about 11,000 feet behind him. This game was different though, he had to hear us, because just then he pokes a quick roller right at me. It's foul by a few feet, and it's steaming right towards me. I went into action mode, grabbed my mitt, (which is actually on my hand from the time I enter the gates to the time I get back in my car,) leaned over the fence, and scooped her up. It was beautiful.

The Phenom was sent down to the Minors after that game. It was a sad day in my life. I was pissed. Mostly, I wanted to get Giaratano to sign that ball, which would make it that much more special. The best I got was a Carlos Guillen autograph on there. I think there are a few more on there as well, but I can't remember for sure. In any case, after no less than 25 games in 10 years, I finally caught a game used ball. Note that this is not to be confused with the times Francisco Cordero and Chris Young flipped me practice balls, on the same day, on separate occasions.

Which reminds me of the Andres Torres Fan Club Story, which is possibly the greatest baseball Fan-Player story of all time. If anyone reading this frequented Comerica last year and saw me and Kevin in our A.T. Fan Club T-Shirts... drop me an email, please. And I know some of you have pictures, feel free to send those as well. That story will be appearing in the next day or two.

You've been great listeners. Thanks for being here as the season approaches, and my mental health returns to a normal state. Email me with suggestions or leave a comment with your personal opinions.