53. Pop Catches Pop
When my daughter was about 10, she joined a softball league and I taught her how to throw, hit, etc. I took her to a local Class AAA minor league game. I had never been to this stadium before —about 16,000 seats—and had ordered tickets online. The seats I got were down the 3rd baseline about as far away from home plate as you can get and still be in the stadium.
As the game progresses, she sees foul balls going into the stands and after a while asks if you can keep one if you catch it. I told her yes, and she said, “Catch me one, daddy. “I spent a few minutes explaining to her why that was very unlikely to happen where we were. As I’m finishing breaking her heart, I hear a bat crack.
I look up, and see a long, towering fly ball and knew immediately from my years playing baseball that this one was coming to me. All I had to do was stand up, raise my glove hand to my right ear—I’m a lefty—and that ball smacked perfectly in the webbing. The crowd cheered. Many years later, I still have the memory of my daughter’s face as I gave it to her.
When I think about all the factors that had to come together for that to happen—a lefty batter, the right pitch and swing, the badly selected seating, that I even found and brought my old glove—it affirmed my belief that there is a higher power who sometimes grants small miracles.