Kreativecke » seconds apart to push the lead to 5-2.

When youre sitting in Section 416 at Wrigley Field, you had better pay special attention to the game when a left-handed batter is up.Thats not just because National League MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo is the sort of player whose every plate appearance is worth watching. No, its a matter of personal safety -- and souvenirs.Left-handed batters send foul balls screaming into Section 416, as well as the seats to either side and behind it. Balls carom off concrete, ricochet off girders and bounce off the hands of inept fans or the heads of people not watching the game.The joy of the foul ball, obviously, is in the adrenaline rush and the physical connection to the game. Not as great as a home run ball, but way better than a batting practice ball or a ball tossed into the stands at the end of an inning. A foul ball almost -- almost -- makes the fan who fields it part of the game itself.Fans recognize this, and so we cheer when someone makes a clean catch in the stands, or boo when someone muffs one -- especially if they are in the front row and the ball falls down to the lower deck.But since left-handed batters are a minority of players, most of my season-ticket partners have never even gotten close to a foul ball. That doesnt stop us from having some serious opinions about foul-ball etiquette, though.Azz has one rule: If youre old enough to have a drivers license, youre too old to bring a glove to the game.But if you do get a ball bare-handed, what next? Are you morally obligated to give it to a kid?Thats the Country Doctors position: Its a freaking ball, give it to a kid!The Big Bun brings a bit more nuance, but ends up in the same place:If its your first foul ball, you get to keep it. If its not your first foul ball, its your responsibility to find the nearest kid and give that kid the ball, but only if the kid isnt wearing a hat or jersey from the opposing team and their parents havent been jerks during the game. You shouldnt expect to get anything in return. This isnt about getting a free beer. Its about being a decent human being and making some 6-year-old kids year.Me, Im suspicious of this whole kid idea. Teach has a slightly sinister take on that. He writes, One of the primary reasons I had kids was so that if I finally got blessed by the baseball gods with a foul ball, I would be able to dodge the ire of the crowd by giving it to a kid -- but then immediately take it back on the car ride home. Looking back, it might have been easier to take a page from the bleacher bums: bring a dummy ball with you to the game, and if you catch a foul, keep it, and give a kid the dummy ball.Im not going to ask what Mrs. Teach thinks about this.My own history with foul balls is pretty sparse. Back in 2003 -- early in the Sunday night Yankees game that Joe Borowski saved by picking a pinch runner off first base for the final out -- a foul ball bounced over from 417, past several grasping fans, and landed in my friend Kathys lap.But she hadnt grasped the ball and held it aloft, the gesture that claims the prize. So I grabbed it. Naturally, I handed it back to her; shes a Yankees fan, and her crush Jorge Posada had stroked that particular foul ball. She also mightve clocked me if I hadnt.In the 12-plus seasons since, many foul balls had come in my general direction, but never had I been really close -- heart-pounding, adrenaline-spiking close -- until the Pirates game on June 17. In the first inning, Jake Arrieta threw a fastball to No. 2 batter Gregory Polanco, who fought it off and sent it up to 416.The ball was coming right to me on a high arc, a lofty popup. All I had to do was keep my eye on the ball and ...I didnt. I looked away, stumbled slightly to my right, and knocked beer all over Stockfish. The ball caromed between him and Azz, and some pedestrian in the aisle picked it up. He got cheers, I got boos.My guilt over the spilt beer was balanced by Stockfish having earlier nicknamed me Ringworm Lardner in honor of this column. But I did the right thing and gave him most of my beer (which he had bought anyway). Then I endured a well-deserved verbal lashing for having blown a freaking gift. In fact, Ive been hearing about it ever since.Then came the White Sox game on July 28. Adam Eaton led off against John Lackey?and sent a screamer above 416, into the stairs leading up to the 500-level seats behind me and to my right.The Big Bun -- who had those seats that night, along with our pal Champ -- was late (thanks to a slow CTA bus, Champ claimed). These empty seats let me do a Fosbury Flop over the railing to play the carom. I plucked the prize away from a guy jumping down from above.I grasped the ball and held it high. My first major league foul ball after 44 years of attending games. There were no kids in the vicinity, although a White Sox fan in front of me made a play for it. But she was too old to wear a glove, so that was that.Im averse to giving foul balls to kids, in part because Im heartless and in part because of events at the Arizona Fall League last October.I got a foul ball there, but thats no great accomplishment. With 500 people in the park, if you want one you have to go to the vast effort of standing up, walking over, and picking it up.Pregame, Id met and chatted with an autograph hound, a guy who had two umpire-pockets full of balls, and a book full of minor league baseball cards. He bragged about getting Kris Bryants signature back in 2014. He also had a boy with him, I presumed his son, maybe 4 years old. All this kid wanted to do was run around and mess with things, and when the Autograph Hound wasnt on the railing waving his pen at players, he was chasing after his wandering offspring.About five seconds after I snagged my official AFL ball in the eighth inning, this lad appeared in front of me. He put on an expression like one of those velvet portraits of a big-eyed Victorian street urchin, his hands held out together in an unmistakable wordless gesture: Im a kid. Give me that foul ball! Please.I told him, No, this one is for my inner child, and he smiled and scampered off instantly. I got a dirty look from the Autograph Hound, but to heck with him. I mean, did I even know this boy was his child? He mightve rented the kid from some Foul Ball Fagin, as a sentimental ploy to increase his odds of amassing more balls for prospects to sign.But if the baseball gods bless me with a second foul ball -- this year or ever -- Ill follow the advice of the Big Bun and the Country Doctor and make some kids year.Unless its a foul ball hit by a Cub. I dont have one of those. Yet. Frank Gore Bills Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Tremaine Edmunds Bills Jersey . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.authenticbillsfanaticfootball.com/authentic-bruce-smith-bills-jersey/ . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Doug Flutie Youth Jersey . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Frank Gore Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. NEW YORK -- For the third straight game, Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks 6-4 on Monday night.Kreider, who signed a four-year, $18.5 million contract on July 22, has three goals and three assists in New Yorks first three games. According to the team, he is the first Ranger since Brian Leetch in 1992-93 to tally six points in New Yorks first three games. He also became the first New York forward to record six points in three games to start a season since Bernie Nicholls and Darren Turcotte in 1990-91.Marc Staal, Rick Nash, Kevin Hayes, rookie Jimmy Vesey, Mats Zuccarello and Michael Grabner also scored for the Rangers, who have won two of their first three games this season.Tied 1-1 early in the second period, New York took a lead for good on Nashs first of the season 4:15 of the period. The sequence began when Rangers captain Ryan McDonaghs shot ricocheted off the end boards to Nash, who was in front of Martin Jones net.Jones finished with 22 saves.The lead grew to 3-1 6:06 later when Kreiders off-wing drive ticked off Jones stick and into the net.New York was 1 for 3 on the power play, and San Jose was 1 for 4.Staals one-timer 12:06 into the game put the Rangers ahead 1-0.Following Staals goal, though, the Sharks outshot the Rangers 7-2 for the remainder of the period, culminated by Logan Coutures 5-on-3 power-play tap-in with 57.5 seconds left.San Jose, which lost for the firstt time in three games this season, cut the deficit to 3-2 on Brent Burns second of the season at 9:13 of the third.ddddddddddddew York struck back quickly as Hayes and Vesey scored 21 seconds apart to push the lead to 5-2. The goals were the first of the season for both, and for Vesey, the first of his NHL career. The Rangers signed the Hobey Baker Award winner from Harvard to a two-year, free agent contract on Aug. 19.The tack-on goals were significant as Burns scored his second of the game 1:20 after Vesey scored, followed by Joe Pavelskis first of the season at 15:31.Zuccarello and Grabner added empty net goals.New York goaltender Antti Raanta made 26 saves on 30 shots.Game notes New York played without D Dan Girardi and D Kevin Klein, along with rookie LW Pavel Buchnevich, due to injuries. Before the morning skate, the Rangers announced Girardi was day-to-day with a strained groin and Buchnevich had back spasms. Klein has missed the first three games of the season with back spasms. ... San Jose scratched D Dylan DeMelo, and C Ryan Carpenter and C Micheal Haley. . Saturday Night Live actor Michael Che was among the announced 18,006 in attendance.UP NEXT:RANGERS: host Detroit in a nationally televised game Wednesday night.SHARKS: visit Brooklyn on Tuesday night for a game against the New York Islanders. ' ' '