Caught the first foul ball in my life at a Rangers/A's game on June 25th, 2003. Oh, I've gotten batting practice balls before but never a game ball. AND, I caught it on the fly, with my bare hands. Here's how it happened. In the second inning, Ranger Kevin Mench fouled off an Aaron Harang pitch down the first base line, a little pop-up that headed right towards me in my field level, corporate box seat, given to me by my boss for good behavior. The ball in flight, I had a flashback of my big brother having a Garret Anderson home run ball bounce out of his hands and back onto the field at Anaheim, my home field, so I braced myself for the pain and ensuing scramble for the loose ball. I wanted to avoid the abuse he's taken ever since. I followed the ball's course as it sailed through the air, my eyes squinting from the bright sun shining high above me, I watched the ball arcing towards me (“always keep your eye on the ball” sounding in my head) then landing cleanly in my outstretched cupped hands. No opposition from surrounding spectators, no thug wrestling the prize from me, the gem never touching the filthy ground but flowing from pitchers hand, to wooden bat, to me. It was a beautiful catch. Now, since the flight of foul balls and the receivers of such are almost always shown live on TV, the icing on the cake was that here, at the Ballpark in Arlington, deep in the heart of Texas, when the camera undoubtedly zoomed in on me, there I was, wearing my World Champion Anaheim Angels cap. Priceless.

» Tom Tessier is a relocated Angels fan temporarily living in Texas so he can feed his family.

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