Braves vendor takes a break to barehand a grand slam
New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes is having a spectacular season for the wild-card chasing Mets. He’s hitting .293/.363/.568 with 30 home runs, and he’s starting to be mentioned in the MVP conversation (at least according to one guy). And on Sunday, Cespedes continued to make his case for MVP while also making the day of a ballpark vendor.
The Mets were facing the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, and the bases were loaded with one out in the third inning. In other words, it was the perfect time for Cespedes to come to the plate. Braves pitcher Williams Perez hadn’t been having a good day on the mound, and it was about to get worse. Perez threw a grand total of two pitches to Cespedes in the third inning, and Cespedes yanked the second one into the stands for a grand slam.
But the journey of that grand slam baseball wasn’t over. After it hit the bat and sailed past all the fielders, it made its way to the stands in left field. The ball would have fallen into one of Turner Field’s many empty seats, alone forever, had it not been for a 50/50 vendor making his rounds.
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Without hesitation, the vendor, dressed in a yellow smock and holding a sign in his left hand, reached up and made a gorgeous bare-handed catch. He saved the baseball from falling, unloved, into the void of Turner Field. Hopefully he’ll give it a new life as a fixture on his desk or coffee table.
And who knows? Maybe in a few months that vendor can say “This baseball was hit by a future MVP winner.” But if he’s a Braves fan, he probably won’t bring that up.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
