What are the odds? Fan grabs 4 foul balls at Indians game
CLEVELAND — Some guys have all the luck, and a little skill, too.
One fan at Sunday’s game between the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field grabbed four foul balls, a once-in-several-lifetimes achievement.
Greg Van Niel, a season-ticket holder who wasn’t sitting in his usual seat, got the four souvenirs during the Indians’ 6-4 win.
“Three of them were catches and one was a ball I picked up off the ground,” Van Niel told the team. “The third one I think was the hardest one — I think I ended up sprawled across a few rows, and I got some cheese on myself. But the other ones were just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.”
Yeah, four times.
Van Niel described one of his grabs, on a ball hit by Indians leadoff man Michael Bourn, as being highlight-reel worthy.
“Michael Bourn hit one that was off the façade, and that’s where I was in the cheese fries,” he said. “(That) one was crazy acrobatics. I was strewn across three rows, and I needed some assistance getting back.”
Van Niel posed for a picture for the Indians clutching three of the souvenirs in his right hand. He said he had never caught a foul ball before his amazing one-day haul.
There were 15,431 other fans at the Indians’ final game before the All-Star break, but it’s safe to bet none had a day quite like Van Niel.
