Comments on: Souvenirs are tough to come by http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/ All you need to know about the best sport in existence. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:20:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 by: The Numbers Guy : A Pair of Lucky Baseball Fans http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-21335 Tue, 13 May 2008 15:31:39 +0000 http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-21335 [...] To address these caveats, I convened an electronic panel of baseball experts, all, coincidentally, named David. Last May, David Appelman wrote a blog post on Fangraphs.com calculating one fan’s chances of catching a foul ball at a baseball game. That sparked a reaction from David Just, a former sports editor for the Daily Illini who graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign, on Sunday. Their estimates were the apparent source for this line in the L.A. Times story: “Baseball aficionados have estimated the odds of a fan catching a foul ball at a typical major league game as ranging from one in 884 to one in 1,189.” I also consulted Dave Studeman, co-creator of Baseball Graphs and a writer for Hardball Times. [...] […] To address these caveats, I convened an electronic panel of baseball experts, all, coincidentally, named David. Last May, David Appelman wrote a blog post on Fangraphs.com calculating one fan’s chances of catching a foul ball at a baseball game. That sparked a reaction from David Just, a former sports editor for the Daily Illini who graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign, on Sunday. Their estimates were the apparent source for this line in the L.A. Times story: “Baseball aficionados have estimated the odds of a fan catching a foul ball at a typical major league game as ranging from one in 884 to one in 1,189.” I also consulted Dave Studeman, co-creator of Baseball Graphs and a writer for Hardball Times. […]

]]> by: Dave Johnson http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-3425 Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:45:59 +0000 http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-3425 I just saw your article from a few months back and thought you might be interested in this guy. There is a guy in Anaheim CA that has caught 2800 baseballs at Major League Baseball games over the past 30 years. In fact 99 of those were game home run balls. I know that the East Coast has that Zack Hample guy in NY but he BEGS for the balls that he gets catching only 10-15% of what he gets. This guy in Anaheim claims to have caught or chased down 75-80% of the baseballs that he has retrieved over the years! He has a website at http://www.majorleagueballhawk.com and an MLBlog at http://majorleagueballhawk.mlblogs.com Dave Johnson Boston MA I just saw your article from a few months back and thought you might be interested in this guy.

There is a guy in Anaheim CA that has caught 2800 baseballs at Major League Baseball games over the past 30 years. In fact 99 of those were game home run balls. I know that the East Coast has that Zack Hample guy in NY but he BEGS for the balls that he gets catching only 10-15% of what he gets. This guy in Anaheim claims to have caught or chased down 75-80% of the baseballs that he has retrieved over the years!

He has a website at http://www.majorleagueballhawk.com and an MLBlog at http://majorleagueballhawk.mlblogs.com

Dave Johnson
Boston MA

]]> by: David Just http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-942 Sat, 12 May 2007 16:15:44 +0000 http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-942 I have been in the seat next to a foul ball twice in my life. Once my brother snagged in the stairwell next to me. The other time my friend elbowed me in the face to get the ball. I would have done the same to him so I hold no grudges. I have been in the seat next to a foul ball twice in my life. Once my brother snagged in the stairwell next to me. The other time my friend elbowed me in the face to get the ball. I would have done the same to him so I hold no grudges.

]]> by: Jim Sokoloski http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-940 Sat, 12 May 2007 16:02:34 +0000 http://blogs.dailyillini.com/justbaseball/2007/05/11/souvenirs-are-tough-to-come-by/#comment-940 Out of all the games I have been to, easily over 200, I have only had 1 ball hit near me, a game tying home run by joe crede against the blue jays about 3-4 years ago. Unfortunately, it was a bit out of my reach and this was when the outfield used to have the cover over the space between the fence and the fans, so I was also afraid if i missed it that it would bounce and hit me in the face. Obviously, I didnt catch the ball! Out of all the games I have been to, easily over 200, I have only had 1 ball hit near me, a game tying home run by joe crede against the blue jays about 3-4 years ago. Unfortunately, it was a bit out of my reach and this was when the outfield used to have the cover over the space between the fence and the fans, so I was also afraid if i missed it that it would bounce and hit me in the face. Obviously, I didnt catch the ball!

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