PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A Valley couple turned a ticket mix-up into a baseball story for the ages after catching home run balls on back-to-back nights at Chase Field, both hit by the same batter.<\/p>\n
Allan and Mary Jane Johnson arrived at Chase Field Monday night for what they thought was a Giants-Diamondbacks game. They were a day early.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe showed up and we had dinner and then we came all excited and went to go in and they wouldn\u2019t work,\u201d Mary Jane explained.<\/p>\n
The couple discovered their tickets were for Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then that\u2019s when the guy knows, oh, it\u2019s Tuesday night and this is Monday night,\u201d Mary Jane said.<\/p>\n
Instead of going home, Allan suggested they stay. \u201cI said, let\u2019s just buy tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the second inning, Giants shortstop Willy Adames sent a ball deep to left field. Allan tracked it and made the catch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s coming, and I get up like this, and it\u2019s coming, and it\u2019s curving, it\u2019s curving, and I catch it right in the air,\u201d Allan recalled.<\/p>\n
Allan said he had to look down at his glove to believe the ball was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure enough, man, that thing just went right in his glove. And he turned around and I was just jumping up and down,\u201d Mary Jane recalled.<\/p>\n
The Diamondbacks won that game 12-1.<\/p>\n
The couple returned Tuesday night with their original tickets. Before the first pitch, they got the ball signed by Adames.<\/p>\n
\u201cWillie was really grateful and excited to sign it for us,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
Then came the second inning again.<\/p>\n
Adames hit another home run toward the bullpen. The ball ricocheted off the Sanderson Ford bullpen wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thought was, okay, yeah, he\u2019s not going to catch this one,\u201d Mary Jane said.<\/p>\n
The ball found Allan\u2019s glove again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I got my club hanging down, and it goes, bink, bink, and I catch it. Just like that. And I\u2019m like, I can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
The odds of catching one home run ball are estimated at one in 18,000. Back-to-back nights puts the odds at roughly one in 324 million. Same player, same inning \u2014 those odds climb into the billions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so fun and so crazy,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
Allan said the two baseballs are already getting special spots at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably never going to happen again. You know, that\u2019s a well. But I\u2019m just, I\u2019m happy that it\u2019s happened,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
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