San Francisco – Andrew Morbitzer did not even know Barry Bonds was coming up to bat when he left his seat in the bleachers to get his wife a beer and peanuts and himself a sandwich.
But when Bonds’ 715th home run ball came down from the sky, he knew what it was.
“I heard the roar and looked up and saw everybody reaching in the air. I looked up and snagged it,” Morbitzer, 38, a marketing director for the software company Intuit in Mountain View, Calif., said during a news conference after the game.
A twist of fate led him to be in that lucky spot in front of Big Guy’s Custom Barbecue under the bleachers behind center field when the ball slipped away from fans above. The first concession stand he tried didn’t have barbecue sandwiches and sent him next door.
He never got his food and beer. As soon as he caught the ball, police officers surrounded him and ushered him away.
There was no fight for this ball, unlike the 73rd and final home run of Bonds’ record- breaking 2001 season, which incited a near melee.
“It came down, I snagged it out of the air and SFPD snagged me,” Morbitzer said.
Back in the stands, his wife, Megan, was puzzled. The couple married last Labor Day in Vail.
“He was in line for peanuts,” she said. “I was kind of wondering what was taking so long.”
In the bleachers above Morbitzer, Jeff Lee, 17, a junior at Hercules High School who plays first base on the school’s varsity team, was sitting on the aisle in Section 143. He had brought his infield glove, shorter than his first-base mitt, a crucial mistake he may never forget.
When he saw the ball coming, he ran down three or four rows when someone bumped him at the last second. He felt the ball touch his glove but didn’t catch it and ended up on his knees.
“If it had hit the web, I would have caught it,” Lee said. “I’m not mad, just a little disappointed. Not because I lost money but because I won’t be meeting Barry.”
Norman Simpson, 51, of San Francisco, owner of Stormin’ Norman’s Whoopie Pies, closed down his stand, which is about 10 feet from where Morbitzer caught the ball, while Bonds was up to bat.
“He heard the commotion, looked up and got the ball. Simple as that,” Simpson said. “I can’t believe it. I close my shop to watch, and he’s nonchalant.”
