As we took our seats, she asked if many balls would come our way. I said maybe 2 home runs were hit each game and the chances of them landing in our section were pretty slim.
In the bottom of the second, former Phillie of the Day Kevin Gross was facing Cubs catcher Jim Sundberg. Sundberg hit a 2-0 pitch that soared over the bullpen and thumped against the empty seat next to her. Fans climbed over each other to get the souvenir. In the bottom of the inning, Phils outfielder Glenn Wilson hit one to the exact same spot with the same reaction from the souvenir hunters. She was not pleased. We decided to move to avoid any future scrums and found empty seats in the 300 level down the LF line, where we watched the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the 6th, Mike Schmidt hit one to the same place. She questioned my baseball knowledge. I made a mental note to stay clear of home run territory for future games. The Phils ended up losing, 4-3.
Gross pitched in Philadelphia for 6 years and made one All-Star team. One of my more memorable moments was on Aug. 10, 1987 when umpires went to the mound to see if Gross was scuffing the ball. He was caught with sandpaper and a foreign substance on his glove and was suspended for 10 games without pay. He whined about the suspension, saying he had a family to feed. And that really pissed me off, especially since I was making $22,000 a year at the time.
Gross went on to pitch for the Expos, Dodgers, and Rangers. But I'll always remember him for the sandpaper suspension.
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