Catches

I just watched the Yankees make back-to-back incredible catches in the field, and Mark Texiera's in particular has reminded me of when I made the greatest catch of all time. We were at Atlee and I was in left field and had just witnessed our right fielder and center fielder make back-to-back amazing catches, after which Celester shouted to me from center field "your turn, Greg!" I have no idea why we had a 5'7" 260-lb kid in center but hey, it was the 80's, things were just sexier back then.

Lo and behold the next batter lofts a ball into the air that I immediately think is gonna drop in front of me behind third base, so I break into a semi-trot. After a few seconds I think hey, this is hanging a bit, you MIGHT have a shot at catching this. A second later I thought holy shit, if you get on your horse you definitely have a shot at it. Then I thought boy, that Gary Hart is going to be an impressive candidate next year, isn't he? Finally I'm nearing the ball and I know I'm gonna hafta dive for a shot at it, and at the last possible moment I lay my lithe, sinewed, testacled young body out and make what if it had ended there would've been considered the best catch any of us had ever made.

But as my one-day-to-be-addicted-to-German-shit-midget-porn body landed back on Earth my elbow hit the ground and the ball popped up out of my glove. As I watched the ball falling in front of me in slow motion I thought to myself  "you are one sexy motherfucker, you gorgeous bastard" and stuck my non-glove hand out, snatching the ball out of thin air.

I don't wanna say I'm a hero, but that catch meant we only lost 32-1, and a few years later when my blocked extra point at Lancaster stopped the bleeding at 48-6 I thought about that catch again, and I couldn't help but think "what is it about me that's so magical?"