One of the more rare souvenirs in baseball, a Joe Panik home run ball, almost eluded our brave fan last night at At&T Park. It did not actually elude him, though, because he had a will to win and a desire to by god get the job done. The Giants had long ago put the game against the Phillies out of reach, and Panik's homer—which pushed the score to 13-2 in the seventh inning—was really piling on at that point. So maybe this fan thought to himself: Well, it's time to leave. Might as well get a souvenir and a bath on my way home.
Panik's home run went to right field and landed on the walkway between the fence and the water and took a couple of rainbow bounces before heading for the water. Our fan tracked it to the ledge and just went tumbling overboard in pursuit. He had to swim a bit to safety, but he made it out OK with a much-needed life preserver tossed his way to ease the journey.[MLB]
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