Blue Jays fan who caught George Springer's iconic home run ball recounts it in hilarious interview
Photo credit: https://www.cbc.ca
By now we've all watched the clip of George Springer's go-ahead three-run home run, which led to the Toronto Blue Jays winning Game 7 of the ALCS.
While Rogers Centre erupted after Springer's home run on Monday night, one fan was even more excited than the rest.
Blue Jays fan says he knew he would catch George Springer's home run ball before it actually happened
Toronto native Michael Angeletti was sitting in the front row out in left field at Rogers Centre wearing a Springer jersey when the iconic home run was hit.
What made matters all the more impressive was that he was able to grab the ball despite not seeing Springer's swing.
«I was actually, in that moment, fending off messages from my cousins who are nervous Blue Jays fans. I had to exit the cousin group chat,» Angeletti said in an interview with CBC. «As I was doing that, I only heard the ball come off the bat. Once everybody stood beside me, I knew it was coming to us, and I knew it was showtime.
«I put the glove on, put it right in the center of the action. It actually bounced out of my glove, I dropped the phone, and I caught it with the off hand, unfortunately spilling some beer in the way. Nevertheless.»
Mere seconds before the swing, Angeletti said he had just told the person sitting next to him that seventh innings are historically big for the Jays.
"All the magic happened in the seventh inning with Bautista and the Rangers way back when," Angeletti recalled saying, referring to the 2015 American League Division Series game that saw Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip.
Angeletti said he'd hoped to experience some of that seventh-inning magic, and with one swing of Springer's bat, he and more than 44,000 other fans in Rogers Centre erupted into roaring cheers.
Angeletti said he's travelled to 72 countries and five continents, but the feeling of being in the crowd during that moment was unmatched.
As the owner of tour company Niagara Toronto Tours, he said he knows what it takes to make an experience memorable.
"Stay unpredictable," he said, and you might just end up with a piece of baseball history.
"I was tired of being on the couch and scrolling and just passively watching," Angeletti said. "I needed to feel something real, and that's why I spent this money tonight."
"I felt the most real I've ever felt in my life."
What will Blue Jays fan Michael Angeletti do with Springer's home run ball?
After catching the iconic home run ball, Angeletti kept it in a black baseball glove he'd brought to the park, hoping to have it authenticated at the suggestion of fellow fans.
Post-game, he was momentarily escorted down to the field by staff, he said, but later had to leave to get home.
He's open to doing "what's best for the ball" if it means trading it back to the Blue Jays as a piece of historic memorabilia, he said, but for now he's content with savouring the moment.
"I feel blessed to be a part of Canadian sports history," Angeletti said. "I'm a Toronto sports fanatic. I love all our teams, especially the Blue Jays."
Source: Canadian Press, CBC.ca
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