"The Catch"

The following excerpt is taken from Chapter 21, "This Could Be The Last Game":

The score remains 2-0 heading into the bottom of the 3rd when with one out, Drew Martinez singles, bringing Alex Foltz to the plate for his second look at Baker.  Foltz lifts a deep fly ball to left field.  The Luray fans have a great look at the play, seated as they are along the first-base line and they rise, cheering, certain that Foltz has tied the game.  Owens runs back to the chain link fence and reaches, but this is surely a home run.  We reassure ourselves that the game is only tied, but Steve takes a step--maybe two-- toward the infield and pulls the ball from his glove, casually tossing it in to the infield.  Almost simultaneously, the Luray fans sit down as we stand up and cheer.  We never saw the ball disappear into Owen's outstretched glove, but the ball and Steve's huge smile tell us in an instant that our two-run lead had never disappeared, even if the ball had.

"If he'd been 6' 8 1/2", he wouldn't have caught it!" exclaims Bruce, who had left his seat behind us and happens to be standing down the left-field line when Owens reaches across his body and back over the fence to make the catch.

Comments

[Anna Kipps]

Really this might have been my favorite in-game moment of the entire season.