Catch The Damn Ball!

You know you are pretty bad when, as a fan, your ineptitude is so great that even the AP mentions it in their game recap: "Rob Marchese, a 41-year-old businessman from Queens sitting in a folding chair in the first row in the right-field stands, fumbled away both Rodriguez's and Giambi's homers."

I was watching the Yankee game last night on the tele with my friend Dave. In the first inning, A-Rod hit one that just cleared the right field fence, the kind of homer Donnie Baseball made famous. The ball went right through the hands of a middle aged guy wearing a gray tee shirt, hit him in his shoulder, then hit his chest, then went through his hands again and bounced onto the field. The second he dropped it he made the biggest commotion, slapping the wall and flailing about because he knew he blew it - he had an A-Rod homer in his hands and lost it. I have never been close enough to even try and catch a ball but I'm always aware of the ball when its hit. Catching a major league baseball is just one of many little things on my life's to-do list that I hope to accomplish. You just don't get a second chance on something like that.

Or maybe you do. Like the very next inning. Sure enough, in the bottom of the second Giambi hit one in the exact same place. Sure enough, the same gray tee-shirted guy was there, in the exact same spot. And yes, sure enough, it went through his hands, hit him in his chest, then his arm, and then bounced back onto the field. Again, he made a commotion except this time it was more rueful, as if he knew the Fates were conspiring against him so what are you gonna do, right?

If you'd like to see photo evidence, click here.

Rob: you have the privilage of being awarded 15 minutes of fame due to incredibly poor fielding skills. To that I say, "mazel tov."

After the jump, you can read what the NY Times had to say about it. It seems that everyone is talking about Rob...

From the July 8th Edition of the NY Times:

It was Rodriguez's 22nd of the season, and it seemed to delight all but one fan, who might have had the most exciting night of anyone at the game.

The ball hit the 41-year-old Robby Marchese in the chest and the hands, but it fell back to the field. Marchese was crestfallen, slumping his body on top of the wall, his head down, for several seconds.

"I didn't get all of it, but I got enough," Rodriguez said. "I think I hit it to the fan in the gray shirt who almost got two balls."

Marchese's next chance was just an inning away. Jason Giambi led off the second inning with a liner to right. Casey Blake chased after it, and the ball deflected off his glove - and onto Marchese's chest. Again, he dropped the ball.

"It didn't hit me where it was supposed to," said Marchese, who had never sat in that seat before. "I'm going to be on SportsCenter for the rest of the week."