DENVER (AP) — Colorado Rockies catcher Brian Serven fouled off the first pitch in his very first major league at-bat Wednesday, right in the direction of his family sitting behind home plate at Coors Field.
And his mother ended up with the ball.
”It’s pretty funny that she got the first ball that I fouled off in the big leagues,” Serven said. ”But the story out there, I don’t know if I’m believing it.”
No, in fact, his mom didn’t catch the ball. It landed in the area they were sitting in and a fan nearby scooped up the ball instead of the Servens family.
The fan then handed the ball to Serven’s parents, Laura and Jim. A Rockies communications employee gave the fan a ball autographed by infielder Brendan Rodgers to complete the deal.
”It’s pretty cool,” Serven said.
The Rockies rookie ended up grounding to second and went 0 for 2 in his debut before being pinch-hit for in the eighth as the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 The 27-year-old California native was a fifth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2016.
”Today when I was catching (Rockies starter Kyle) Freeland in the bullpen, I was like, `This is real. I’m going to play in a big league game.”’
And now his parents have a nifty souvenir.
”Congratulations on his debut. He did a great job,” Freeland said. ”Very happy to have him behind the dish. I threw to him in spring training. I threw to him in Triple-A when I was rehabbing last year. He’s one of those guys that wants to learn. So I’m very happy to have him back there today.”