CLEVELAND, Ohio --Greg Van Niel beat the odds Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field. The Indians season-ticket holder caught four -- that's no typo -- foul balls by the fifth inning of the Tribe's 6-4 win over Kansas City, according to a story on tribevibe on mlblogs.com.
The odds of that happening? One in a trillion, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.
Sitting in section 160 (row FF, seat 3), Van Niel's fourth foul ball of the afternoon came off the bat of Michael Brantley in the fifth inning. While he kept the first three balls, he flipped the fourth ball to other fans nearby. Sunday's attendance: 15,432.
"Three of them were catches and one was a ball I picked up off the ground," said Van Niel in a story on the site. "The third one I think was the hardest one -- I think I ended up sprawled across a few rows, and I got some cheese on myself. But the other ones were just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
Coming to the game, Van Niel had never caught a foul ball at Progressive Field. He exchanged tickets to book seats in section 160.
"Michael Bourn hit one that was off the facade [of the suites overhead], and that's where I was in the cheese fries. . . . [That] one was crazy acrobatics. I was strewn across three rows, and I needed some assistance getting back. The others were just being in the right place at the right time," said Van Niel on the tribevibe site.
His advice to fans hoping to get just one foul ball? "We had the exchange tickets, so yeah, I'm going to try to get these seats for next year. Row FF, Section 160, Seat 3 if you're looking for tickets – it's the magic seat," he said.
And, in case you were wondering, yes, he did bring a glove to the game.
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