Mariners fan who caught Cal Raleigh's 61st home run ball shares his story

The Seattle Mariners fan who wound up with Cal Raleigh’s home run ball during the team’s ALDS game against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night was understandably “in shock” following the surreal experience.

Raleigh hit a home run during the ninth inning of the Mariners’ 8-4 win over the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS at Comerica Park in Detroit, Mich. The ball bounced into the bullpen and was then grabbed by a fan named Jameson Turner, who was wearing a custom shirt that said “DUMP 61 HERE.”

You can see the video here.

The home run was Raleigh’s 61st of the year between the regular season and playoffs combined. Of all the places where the ball could have ended up, it was almost eery that it bounced right to a man who was wearing the custom Raleigh shirt.

Following the game, Turner shared his story with reporters. He said he had worn the shirt to the Mariners’ final home game of the regular season in hopes that he would catch Raleigh’s 61st home run then. When that did not happen, he decided to try his luck again at Comerica Park.

“I made it last week because I went to the final regular-season game in Seattle. This is just overwhelming. I decided to fly out here and see if I could give it one more shot and it’s unbelievable,” Turner said. “I told the lady next to me, I said, ‘OK, this is my shot. He’s gonna hit me a home run right now.’ It landed in the bullpen and bounced right up to me and I caught it in my glove. I’m still in shock.”

Turner said he was seated in right field for the final game of the regular season, and he felt that would give him a decent shot to catch Raleigh’s home run as long as the switch-hitter was batting left-handed. He ended up with a seat behind the left field bullpen in Detroit, and he knew it was less likely that Raleigh would hit an opposite-field home run if the catcher was batting lefty.

It happened anyway.

“I found the first row there right behind the bullpen and I’m like, ‘OK, well maybe he’ll just knock a miracle one back there.’ I guess that’s what happened,” Turner added.