Fair spots for foul balls at Cashman Field

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 | 2 a.m.

In the top of the second inning Saturday, one of the Reno Aces lined a fastball toward right field.

The drive took a violent bounce and landed in the bare left hand of Steve Greathouse. He was not wearing a glove. Greathouse was not even on the field. From his spot in the stands, the 33-year-old Las Vegan snagged one of the first foul balls of the night at Cashman Field.

“I was joking about it coming over here,” Greathouse said. “I didn’t think it was going to come this high, and then I saw it bounce and it was mine.”

Greathouse is one of the lucky ones. Thousands of fans show up at every Las Vegas 51s Triple-A baseball game with hopes of leaving with a foul ball.

The few who are successful have more than a souvenir — they also have the tale of how they got it.

T.J. Beam, the 51s’ starting pitcher Saturday night, has a foul ball story of his own.

“When I was little, I went to a Diamondbacks game. It was probably 1998 when they first got there. Me and my dad were sitting there and someone hit a foul ball,” Beam recalled. “They were playing the Cubs. It rolled down the aisle and I grabbed it real quick.”

Officials said they don’t keep track of how many baseballs they go through in each game at Cashman. On Saturday night, 28 balls were fouled out of play. With an announced attendance of 8,670, the odds of landing a ball were minuscule.

Of course, there are ways to increase the probability. Greathouse happened to be seated in an ideal location — Section 21, Row S.

Over three games last week, the Sun tracked the location of every foul ball hit into the stands at Cashman. The highest traffic area turned out to be down the first-base line, sections 18 to 21, where 40 percent of balls out of play wound up.

Being in that area of the stands worked for Jimmy Sparks.

Sparks, 40, fell at the top of Section 18 to catch a ball that ricocheted off a wall just left of the snow cone stand.

“I drank a lot of beer and hurt my ankle in dedication of it,” Sparks said.

In the fourth inning Reno’s Eric Byrnes fouled a pitch straight back and it landed on top of the press box.

Heads of the people seated below turned as they waited for it to drop toward them.

The ball never did — the seats directly behind home plate come in as the least likely location for a foul ball to land at Cashman Field.

Many players hit baseballs straight back, but they are either stopped by the protective screen or get stuck on the roof. Media Relations Director Jim Gemma said the balls on the roof are eventually recovered and used for batting practice.

But trying to catch a foul may not be the most effective method of taking a Cashman baseball home anyway, at least for some. Beam recommends hanging out around the bullpen or dugout.

“We usually try to give (a ball) to kids,” Beam said. “And if not, we see if there is a good-looking girl around there.”

On Saturday, by the top of the eighth inning, Reno led 14-4 and many of the dwindling number of spectators were more interested in fiddling with their cell phones than watching the game.

But when the inning ended, 51s shortstop Angel Sanchez jogged off the field with a baseball. Fans perked up and tried to get Sanchez’s attention, but he ignored them and stepped into the dugout with the ball in hand — to the sound of a collective groan.

Seven-year-old Eric Thompson wasn’t one of the groaners. He already had his souvenir and was in the concourse tossing it with his grandfather. John Thompson caught the ball earlier in the night and gave it to his grandson.

“It’s only my second game,” the grandfather said. “I’m not into baseball — it’s a little drawn-out for me. But I’ll remember this.”