|
ST. LOUIS (AP) #8212;As hordes of other St. Louis Cardinals fans turned outSunday to swaddle themselves in their team #8217;s improbable World Series title, DaveHuyette was counting his blessings rather than the riches he might have receivedhad greed overtaken sportsmanship.Just three days earlier, Huyette briefly held history in his hands from aWorld Series game considered one for the ages, winn free football ing the dash to a walkoff,11th-inning home run ball David Freese(notes) plunked onto a grassy knoll behind BuschStadium #8217;s center-field fence, propelling the Cardinals into the decisive Game 7they won the next night.The Illinois radiologist with a 5-year-old son could have cashed in, giventhat iconic home run balls have fetched tens #8212;at times hundreds #8212;of thousandsof dollars on the free football memorabilia market. But Huyette would have none of that,knowing that giving the ball to Freese #8220;was the honorable thing to do. #8221; So hedid. On Sunday, there were no regrets. #8220;I #8217;m not financially needy, and I knew I didn #8217;t want any money, #8221; Huyette,39, told The Associated Press by telephone from his home in Maryville, Ill.,figuring hawking the ball stood to make free football him #8220;an enemy in my town. #8221;Freese #8212;named the MVP of the World Series and the NL championship seriesbefore it #8212;rewarded Huyette after Thursday night #8217;s game with an autographedbat, a baseball signed by the Cardinals and a picture with him. An auto-partscompany threw in tickets for Huyette to the series #8217; finale.Valuable spoils indeed, all of them partly because Huyet free football te #8212;an Iowa nativeattending his first-ever World Series game #8212;had positioned himself for thatrare moment when luck and history collide, even if initially he wasn #8217;t evenplanning to be there.Huyette had shelled out nearly $1,100 for tickets to Game 6, which heplanned to attend with Chicago Cubs-loving pal Jeremy Reiland only to see itpostponed for a day to Thursday because rain loome free football d in St. Louis. Huyette mulledselling the tickets, voicing to Reiland indifference about going. Reiland talkedhim out of it.From their right-centerfield seats on Thursday night, Huyette and Reiland #8212;two in a record crowd of 47,325 #8212;had an inkling a home run ball would cometheir way and for each of the last four innings they waited for it. They knewchasing down a home run ball could get t free football hem ejected, but they waved that off. #8220;At least half-jokingly, I was putting my foot up over the rope as if I wasgoing to be springing onto the grass, #8221; recalled Huyette, who even texted a halfdozen people to watch for them on television going after a home run ball. #8220;I just kinda had a feeling, #8221; he said. #8220;I #8217;m not sure why. #8221;With two outs and down to his last s free football trike as the Cardinals trailed by two inthe bottom of the ninth, Freese bounced a game-tying triple off the right-fieldwall. With the score again knotted at 9 in the bottom of the 11th, as Reilandwas returning from a restroom run, Freese turned heroic. #8220;I just heard the crack of a bat, #8221; then the wild cheering as thetrajectory of the ball headed his way. Huyette was on the grass before t free football he ballhopped to a stop there, then quickly gobbled up the souvenir.Huyette, fearing others would try to wrestle the keepsake away from him,stuffed it down his pants #8212; #8220;outside the underwear, #8221; he joked. #8220;I worried that if I held the ball up, someone would take it or rip my armoff, #8221; he said. #8220;Jeremy is a lot more of a (baseball history) aficionado thanme. He said, ` free football You have to get the ball back (to Freese). You #8217;ll be on TV #8212;that #8217;s enough. #8221; #8217; Follow Yahoo! Sports' MLB coverage on Twitter. Updated 7 hours, 35 minutes ago free football
|