Your "15 minutes (seconds!) of GU fame...

[allstarsplus]

Andrew,

Very cool picture and memory. I was at that Nationals / Giants game sitting about 15 rows behind you. It remains the longest homerun I have ever seen in person. If I recall, Bonds, in the middle of the steroids controversy, was being jeered loudly prior to each at bat. Once the ball left his bat, RFK Stadium became eerily quiet as the ball rose into the upper deck.

JP

That may have been the longest HR ever to right field by the way. I have some amazing pictures from that day including pre-game I got into the stadium before it opened and Barry was sitting in the stands. RFK was known for horrible stench in the drainage in the lower levels so most players didn't want to spend time in the clubhouse. Barry did what many veterans would do and sit in the stands until the stadium opened.

Another Forum member, Jason Halliburton wrote a great piece on here about approaching Bonds sitting in the stands. I also got some great photos of Barry sitting in the seats.

A historic day and that HR baseball ended up a couple of seats away from the Upper Deck seats I purchased for that game. I think it was Section 457 was where it eventually landed a few seats away from one of my sons was sitting and the ball landed directly behind where one of his friends was sitting.

[bigtruck260]

April 29, 2006

Albert Pujols homers to set the April HR record. As he rounds third, my very pregnant wife and I can be seen in the background hi-fiving each other. It's clear enough that friends of mine pointed it out to me during the DVD party for the Cards/Tigers WS video (it's a special feature).

It's an interesting conversation starter. I have the tickets and a USPS envelope commemorating the feat in my living room - so a pretty easy 'lead in'.

Also, during a game at the stadium in the 90's - one of my best friends decided to storm the field with his shirt off. Just before he jumps out (and the cameras cut away) - you can see me putting my hand on my head saying 'NO WAY' as I am dangling his house/car keys. I had this on tape, but somewhere lost it after I got married. I think it was Bob Carpenter who narrated it..."Look at his buddy imploring him not to do it..."

[sox83cubs84]

I've had several of them over the years, but the best was my catch on the fly of a Bret Boone home run during a Reds 9-0 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 2, 1994. The catch and some playful ribbing was the bulk of the coomentatry for the rest of the half-inning on the Reds TV telecast (Brenneman and Nuxhall....autograph guru Terry Hartman sent me a video), and game-used collector Marc Bernstein sent me a video...after calling me and telling me about it...from that evening's Sportscenter, where, in the highlights, Keith Olbermann actually mentioned my name during the description of the homer. That last part caused a bit of friction out on Waveland Avenue...in that era, the Ballhawks took themselves, individually and as a group, way more seriously than they have in the 2000s, and several younger guys out there were steaming because a newbie like me (it as my third season of serious hawking) got such a publicity blessing instead of one of them. The guys out there today would have high fived me, but back then, the younger guys were very into deciding upon their own what constitutes a real Ballhawk, and to them, it should have been someone more experienced and talented than I was. Too bad, A.H., Yimmy, and company! The older guys (Rich, Moe and Ken) were all cool about it.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[suicide_squeeze]

GREAT stories.....all of you guys.

I was hoping that somehow you guys could share a link to show off the video of you "doing your thing" in each case. If possible, dig em out and load for for everyone to see.

In my one moment on the tube, I was caught by srprise and the ball bounced off the track and right into my face.....it was crazy! So, what do I do?

I DROP the dang thing!

But in all honesty, it was spinning like a cyclone top and the second it hit my hand it JUMPED off my palm.....would have been an awesome stab if I had caught it clean.

The ball is really cool....you can see the warning tract dirk still imbedded in it...I'll try to post a pic or two when I get home tonight.

Andrew.....great pics, thanks. It's crazy....you seem to have known what was about to occur and you reacted before it even did.....

So.....like.......How long am I going to live for, Andrew?

[suicide_squeeze]

April 29, 2006

Albert Pujols homers to set the April HR record. As he rounds third, my very pregnant wife and I can be seen in the background hi-fiving each other. It's clear enough that friends of mine pointed it out to me during the DVD party for the Cards/Tigers WS video (it's a special feature).

It's an interesting conversation starter. I have the tickets and a USPS envelope commemorating the feat in my living room - so a pretty easy 'lead in'.

Also, during a game at the stadium in the 90's - one of my best friends decided to storm the field with his shirt off. Just before he jumps out (and the cameras cut away) - you can see me putting my hand on my head saying 'NO WAY' as I am dangling his house/car keys. I had this on tape, but somewhere lost it after I got married. I think it was Bob Carpenter who narrated it..."Look at his buddy imploring him not to do it..."

DAVE!! Great story....get a pic for us to see it!


By the way, did the wife ever figure out who the father was?

[cjw]

Not exactly a famous moment...but as close as I have - on the field, pre-game at AT&T this past May 2nd, for the Giants photo day. I took my "huge" glove and had it on my noggin to keep the drizzle off. My ugly mug on the "jumbo tron" (far left...over the gals).

The second pic is of Giant's Edgar Rentaria (signing my glove)

[kylehess10]

I've been seen on TV several times this season. You can see me in the first row on these screenshots:













and here is video from when I caught Mark Teixiera's foul ball back in 2007 (click to watch):

[yanks12025]

cjw,
Where do you buys those big gloves.

[allstarsplus]

Andrew.....great pics, thanks. It's crazy....you seem to have known what was about to occur and you reacted before it even did.....

So.....like.......How long am I going to live for, Andrew?

Steve - For me anyway, it may sound crazy, but there seems to be a Karma and ability to absolutely pick without a question what would happen on an upcoming pitch and where the ball would land and its only happened 5 times and twice with the Nationals and for those 2 Home Runs I have photos of the batter. One time we had no cameras so I asked one of my sons to get out his camera phone and take the photo as I told him this would be a HR pitch which my son took the photo just as the swing started and the result was a dramatic Walk Off HR.



In the picture below is where the Bonds ball was hit in Section 458 and then it knocked off of some hands and landed behind my son's best friend seat which is the section to the left of Section 458. My son and his friends were 12 year olds at the time and not aggressive enough to pick it up but in this case I bought the seats behind homeplate and an entire row there in the outfield where the ball would eventually end up.



Steve, no life predictions for you lol.

[5kRunner]

April 29, 2006

Albert Pujols homers to set the April HR record. As he rounds third, my very pregnant wife and I can be seen in the background hi-fiving each other. It's clear enough that friends of mine pointed it out to me during the DVD party for the Cards/Tigers WS video (it's a special feature).

It's an interesting conversation starter. I have the tickets and a USPS envelope commemorating the feat in my living room - so a pretty easy 'lead in'.

I was at that game too. It was my nephew's first game. My wife and I framed the tickets and the USPS envelope for him. LOL. Small world.