Gifting big league foul balls sweet way to connect with fans

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — It began when lifelong baseball fan Kimberlee MacVicar intimated that in her 52 years, she had never corralled a foul ball.

“I've waited half a century, so I'm not in a rush,” she texted me on July 24 — opening night in Oakland.

With nobody else to scavenge for baseballs during this strange COVID-19 season devoid of fans, I had a clear advantage as a regular covering Bay Area baseball and one of the few people allowed inside the stadium. So I saw to it that the next day, MacVicar received a ball hit foul by slugger Mark Canha as her Athletics defeated the Angels.

This sparked an idea: Why not share the souvenirs, spreading some joy to those who can't go to the ballpark?

A's management signed off on the project. The Coliseum grounds crew took to tipping me off as to where to find the prizes.

Across San Francisco Bay, the Giants' clubhouse staff was encouraging. The public relations department provided permission to retrieve a ball or two mid-game at Oracle Park.

There were days baseballs would mysteriously turn up at my Oakland workstation. Other times, they were delivered during a game.

I’d regularly holler for an assist: “Where'd it land?” With no fans to stop them, balls roll fast and far.

Once retrieved, they went into my trunk for gifting — more than 100 so far. Some went to people I knew well, others to strangers, like the road maintenance workers and construction crews offered the usual choice: “clean, or dirty and scuffed?"

“Hmm ... dirty,” requested beloved Alameda kindergarten teacher (and A's fan) Terry Eichel. It was her first foul ball.

The farthest any ball traveled was some 5,500 miles, to longtime Giants fan Manner Pohl in tiny Schwentinental, Germany — a request from daughter Astrid Keene for his 85th...

source https://www.chron.com/news/article/Gifting-big-league-foul-balls-sweet-way-to-15612187.php