Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2009

Fans looking for lucky catch at Home Run Derby

With so many lefties, right field was place to be

ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Strieker wasn't getting his hopes up, but his son was.

Sitting in Section 595, Row 23 with his son, Jack, Jeff Strieker was two rows from the top of the bleachers in left centerfield at Busch Stadium. It would take a moon shot Monday during the 2009 Home Run Derby to reach these depths.

"I'm hoping Albert Pujols hits one up here," said Jack Strieker, a fifth-grader at Breese School District 12, who brought his glove -- just in case.

While 450-foot bombs are part of Pujols' repertoire, Jeff Strieker took a more pragmatic look at the Derby. With five of the eight participants being left-handed, Strieker figured the right-field bleachers would have more opportunities for souvenirs.

That's why the 39-year-old Breese resident thought he and his son had two chances at a home-run ball.

"Slim and none," he said with a smile. "Unfortunately, we got the year where most of them are lefties. Manny (Ramirez) is not here. A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) is not here. (Evan) Longoria is not here. There's a lot of good right-handed batters who are not here."

Right field was indeed a home-run haven with the likes of Milwaukee's Prince Fielder, Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, Minnesota's Joe Mauer, San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez and Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena teeing off in Major League Baseball's annual power trip.

It wasn't a place for the weak of heart, however. Fans went over the top, underneath -- and in some cases, through -- other fans to catch a ball. Red-clad fans clogged the concourses, jockeying to be in the best position,

Jud Jones, 31, of Jackson, Tenn., reached into a throng of bodies above the right-field bullpen and snatched a first-round blast by Fielder.

"We got lucky with all of these left-handed batters," said Jones, who was sitting in Section 509. "When he hit it and it was coming toward me, there were people everywhere. I was lucky enough to be the tallest guy here. There were people fighting me for it."

A few seats down from Jones in the same row, Douglas Turner plucked a Gonzalez homer from a throng of limbs.

"I was going after it no matter what," said Turner, who lives in Mountain Grove, Mo. "Anything for a ball, right?"

Turner remembered to bring his glove, but Matt Hall left his in the car. It didn't matter. The 28-year-old Mount Olive native sitting in Section 505, Row 5, caught one of Mauer's first-round bombs.

"A bunch of people went up for it, and I happened to get the first rebound," Hall said. "I couldn't catch it on the fly. It was a group of hands going up in the air."

Hall, who lives in Chicago and plays in an amateur baseball league there, had a feeling something good might transpire once he saw his tickets.

"Once I knew I was sitting in the bleachers, I knew I would have a chance," Hall said.