Over the offseason, I spent some time looking at every home run hit at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 2012, formulating a fan fielding percentage. I found that of the 225 home runs hit at Oriole Park, 189 of them were “catchable,” or within arm’s length of a fan regardless of attendance, and only 27 of those balls were caught, a 14.29% rate.
Before we begin to analyze the fan fielding for the first home series of 2013, take a moment to look at my initial fan fielding post so you fully understand the definitions I have created.
Home Run #1 – April 5 – Chris Davis
Inning: 8th
Field: Left-Center Field
Attendance: 46,653
Catch: No
Video (Click on the pictures):
We at Eutaw Street Report know that 23-year old, lifelong O’s fan Seth Weaver ended-up with the ball, and that now, after a negotiation that displayed a rude side of Adam Jones, the ball is Chris Davis property. But even though the ball was Weaver’s prize, the video shows that the ball was not a catch per my fan fielding definition. Because of the sellout, it appears that the ball is bobbled between fans before it falls into the stairwell (the stairwell I normally patrol when the crowds are scarce) and is eventually grabbed by Weaver.
Weaver was kind enough to describe the homer from his point of view:
When he hit it the ball seemed to be coming at us in slow motion. It was almost like a pop fly that just kept going due to Davis’s sheer strength. I knew it would come close but it looked like it was going to my right. Someone tried to barehand it and tipped it. When that happened me and another guy lunged for it. He knocked it toward me and I snagged it and stood up quickly. Unfortunately, I pushed my mother into her seat leaving her with a bruise on her leg and I am not proud of that. The guy who knocked it toward me and I both ended up with scraped up hands.My dad and brother were in the restroom at the time and we have been talking about what would have happened if all three of us were going for the ball. Our conclusion is we would have hit each other and none of us would have come up with the ball.
And he also talked about how he felt after coming-up with the ball:
To be honest I was more excited about the fact that a grand slam had been hit. I was nervous my first game of the season was going to be a loss before that point. Had I really thought about what I had in my hand I would not have been holding it up and pumping my fist like I was in the video, I would have tucked it away like a lineman falling on a fumble. I looked backward to see if my dad and brother had made it back into the stands and held the ball up to them as they came down the stairs. Our section was absolutely electric with everyone high fiving and hugging each other. Except for the twins fans sitting in front of me. They were not happy, but the one had been putting his hand in my brother’s cupholder all game so that he had no place to put his Natty Boh, so I didn’t feel too bad for them.
Home Run #2 – April 6th – Chris Parmelee (Twins)
Inning: 3rd
Field: Right Field
Attendance: 40,704
Catch: No
Video:
We do not know who took this ball home, but what we can say for certain is that it was not a catch. Beyond the video evidence, I had a perfect view of the landing spot from my seat in Section 2. With all the fans (who were paying attention) near the railing, the ball fell to the ground in the back corner of the Flag Court before bouncing onto Eutaw Street. A fan that happened to be standing on Eutaw Street picked up the ball.
Home Run #3 – April 7th – J.J. Hardy
Inning: 2nd Inning
Field: Left-Center Field
Attendance: 34,431
Catch?: No
Video:
Thanks to the terrible camera work by MASN, it took me a little to determine if this ball was a catch or not. Ultimately, I decided that it was not a catch since the fans around the landing spot can be seen (for a split-second) reaching onto the ground.
Season Stats:
0/3 home runs caught (0.00%)
0/3 home runs uncatchable (0.00%)
2/3 home runs hit to left-center field (66.66%)
1/3 home runs hit to right field (33.33%)
