LITTLE ROCK — Second HR ball just as nice for fan
What’s more unusual than a team hitting back-to-back home runs? How about one fan catching both of them.
That’s what Caleb Lloyd did Monday night at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
The 20-year-old junior from Thomas More College was in left field when Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake hit his first career home run in the fourth inning of a 4-1 victory over Atlanta. The ball went directly to Lloyd, who had never caught a ball at a game.
“It hit my hand,” he said. “I didn’t expect to actually catch it. I never actually caught a home run ball. It hurt really bad.”
Three pitches later, Reds shortstop Zack Cozart hit another one to the same area. The ball bounced right to Lloyd, who had one free hand.
“The second one bounced behind me and bounced right into my lap,” he said. “I was like,‘Oh my gosh, that’s just crazy!’ I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
On Tuesday, the Reds made Lloyd an honorary captain for the second game of their series against the Braves. He and assistant coach Billy Hatcher took out the lineup card, giving Lloyd a chance to tell his story to the umpiring crew.
The videoboard identified him as a “Professional Home Run Ball Catcher.” Got their goat
“Six Chicago Cubs fansare walking cross-country accompanied by a goat named Wrigley to break a 104-year-old curse,” writes Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald.
“They say they don’t want attention, which is difficult when you’re walking down a highway six abreast with a goat.” Sponge absorbed
Lee Westwood found a replacement caddie in a sandwich shop on the Gold Coast of Australia.
There’s a little more to the story in the Sydney Morning Herald about Mike Waite, who will be filling in for the injured Billy Foster during a critical run of majors for Westwood. Waite is a longtime caddie known as “Sponge” among his peers. He was on the bag for Michael Campbell’s U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst No.
2 in 2005.
But when Robert Allenby fired him in 2010, Waite decided to quit and spend time with his three young children. He bought a Subway franchise, and business is going so well that he has a full staff to run the place. That made Waite think about caddying again, as long as the right opportunity presented itself.
Westwood is about as good an opportunity as there is.
Waite called Foster and asked him to put in a good word. A few weeks later, he called Westwood’s manager and was told he was among five finalists. A few hours later, Chubby Chandler rang him and asked, “Have you got visas for UK, Sweden and the U.S.?”
Sponge made his last sandwich Thursday and headed for Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship. Then, it’s off to Sweden and then San Francisco for the U.S. Open.
Quote of the day “Obviously, the ninth
inning just unraveled real quick.” Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn
on the Razorbacks giving up six runs in the ninth inning in a 9-1 loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday at the SEC Tournament
Sports, Pages 26 on 05/23/2012