SEATTLE — During the eighth inning, Justin Smoak hit a foul ball, and a fan caught it right in his cup of beer.
Luckily, the unusual incident was caught on camera.
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter James Schugel spoke with the man who caught the ball in Section 135.
“I got my dad, my uncle, my cousin. These were the baseball guys in my life,” said Johnny Turk.
Turk told KIRO 7 the seats where he caught the ball were not his original seats.
“Crack of the bat, you automatically look up, caught that one going up,” said Turk. “Clanged off that (the ledge), went 30 feet in the air, and the drift of the ball, that’s going to come right, and there it was. I just stood up and put it right. It was right there, on the money.”
The cup broke, and Turk then chugged down the beverage fast with the ball still in the cup in a celebration of "beer-ball."
Turk’s cousin was also surprised by the catch.
“We were thinking much more than 'Oh, my God. Thinking oh, my,” said Kyle Ketcham.
Turk played baseball as a kid with Ketcham, but he couldn’t remember a catch like this.
“Right in the hole. Right in the hole. Thank dad for teaching us how to catch,” Turk said. “Just the right spot. Right time.”
Turk plans to cut the ball into four pieces; each family member will get a piece.
Turk will be at Safeco Field Thursday watching the Mariners play Texas Rangers. Felix Hernandez is making his first home start.
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