Episode 225 - The Historic Home Run

Eric went to his first ever College World Series game with his son and saw Game 1 between the Troy Trojans and West Virginia Mountaineers. A historical home run ball was hit during the game and there's a great story that followed. Be sure to tune in to hear what happened in Omaha. 

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Transcript

0:17

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the You're In Fun Average podcast. I'm your host, Eric Prophet, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas. And with me, as always, I have Johnny Bowen, late Charles Gumbo Gator super fan, incoming tonight from the beautiful, somewhat cluttered Bayou Broadcast Center in Calhoun City, Mississippi. Well, Johnny, we haven't really talked about it here much, but, uh, here in just over a short 30 hours at the time of this recording, Joe and I will be heading off on Prophet Palooza 2026. we need an intro song for that. Like, you need Prophet Palooza kind of theme song to, you know, to promote it, to help get excited for it. so 30 hours from right now. Wow. Just over 30 hours or so, maybe a little bit longer, we'll be on the, in the air heading up to Boston. Mm-hmm. And we'll be in the area for about nine days or so. So, Our trip will be over by the time this comes out, but, hopefully everybody will be following online to see how that went. And, you know, as we typically do, we talk about the trips afterwards and see what the merch was like and how much we spent and the food and all that. So we'll catch up on that. But, as of right now, we are almost down to the very end of the College World Series. Uh, hard to believe that it's getting close to over already. this episode will be out afterwards, but, uh, if you go back and listen to the previous episode or two, uh, we did a little preview with Mr. TB McCutcheon, Terry talked about what teams we think will win, and his, uh, pick to win it all didn't fare so well last night they're from Texas, I can tell by the way they... Throwing in, is that a little Ella Langley that Johnny's throwing out there? Yeah, a little Ella at us tonight. I'm trying to be hip for the kids, right? You know. Yeah, a little Ella reference there, I obviously thought that was a good pick. you know, like any tournament, you just don't know, you know? neutral, obviously a very neutral field. And that was hard for an Aggie like Mr. McCutcheon is to pull, or not pull for, but pick, those Texas Longhorns. That's right. Well, just earlier today, those UNC Tar Heels eliminated those West Virginia Mountaineers, so they have made the championship. And in, the possible final game before the championship series, the Oklahoma Sooners are up 5-1 on three seed Georgia Bulldogs. Mm-hmm. they got bottom six, Georgia has two on right now, and they just brought in LJ Mercurius, so we'll see what he can do. But if Georgia loses this game, they are out, which means it would be UNC, OU, and, OU has just been super hot. Yeah. Uh, hot in that Georgia Tech regional, and, blew right through KU in the super regional in Lawrence, and has not lost yet in the College World Series. And if they hang on and win this game, they'll get to face the other team that went undefeated on the other side of the bracket. So I think that has a big potential, even if it was Georgia, but if it's OU, UNC, I think that's gonna be a good best of three series for the championship. I will go ahead and make this prediction. North Carolina's uniforms will look a lot better. Their uni game is a 10 out of 10 to me. I, I love those colors. Yeah. And have a really nice look with their, their uniform set is just, uh, fantastic. I said to the CEO the other day, that's one of those college bookstores, it would be dangerous- Yeah to be in there. Like, I would be 'Cause I just have always loved those colors. They get, like I s- said, such a great look. Just simple. NC interlock, powder blue, they throw a little navy into the mix. just a fantastic look. Yeah, I would go crazy in the nor- And I have no pulling, I don't pull for them. I don't, I'm not a fan. I just, it'd be a simple I like your merch, kinda. Like, I just like your look, kinda, kinda purchasing there, 'cause it, it, it is fantastic. Well, we, uh, are gonna spend this episode talking quite a bit about the College World Series. Uh, have a few stories to share, so, that's gonna be the plan for this episode, continue talking about the College World Series. Uh, before we get going though, would you mind sharing what hat you have today? in, in a little surprise move, now speaking of teams I don't pull for or root for, and simply based on how much I like the logo and the merchandise, in kind of a shocking selection, a little Baltimore Orioles tonight. Do we have any friends that are Orioles fans? do we have any friends at all? I don't. Oh. I thought maybe you at least did. I don't know. I don't really know any Orioles people. I've been to the ballpark, but I don't really know any Orioles fans really. Oh, I do. Reverend Chris, our friend, Reverend Chris. Vanderbunty, okay. Oh yeah, yeah. He, he is an Orioles fan, so if he's li- he listens to this, shout out to Reverend Chris. we talked on the phone a couple weeks ago. uh, we keep, keep in touch. yeah, Reverend Chris is a, even though he's in New York State, he is a Baltimore Orioles fan. So shout out to Reverend Chris. Well, do you remember that story when I was in, Prophet Palooza Junior 2023, I believe? We went up to Redding and ran into him, just ironically didn't even know he was there. And I walked by, I'm like, Reverend Chris?" He's like, "Oh, hey." So- I just ran No idea neither one of us were gonna be at that ballpark, and happened to run into each other. So I've gotten, gotten to meet him before, so that was really fun. He is the Orioles fan that I know right off the top of my head. Okay, Johnny, so the hat I'm wearing, I don't have it on yet, so it's the first time you're gonna get to see it. Uh, there is a backstory of why I'm wearing it. it's probably your favorite team. No, it's not the Atlanta Braves. But here is what I am wearing on today's show. Here we go, the debut, the revea- Oh, gosh. It's those. It's, uh, got a T on it, but it's, uh, T for Troy. Got the Troy Trojans hat that I'm wearing. Oh. It's on-field hat from the game. It's red, got a white, uh, Trojan, their T logo on it. I'm pretty sure it's game used, not sure by who. But it's a little dirty on the bill, but that's okay. So I got the Troy Trojans hat, and during this episode it'll make a lot more sense, uh, why I have this hat. So one of your favorite, uh, colleges, the Troy Trojans. I'm like most fans, uh, or grads of, of one school. I, I don't pull for the other Alabama schools. Uh, I made that statement to the CEO, was that yesterday? She said, "Well, you like Alabama." I said, "I do." She said, "Because I do." Okay. Okay. Okay, roll tide. I just don't pull for the other As you see by my Tervis tumbler, we keep it real, As I like to say, I'm green and gold till I'm dead and cold, okay? There you So yeah, they, they have, uh, as you could, uh, would expect, they played in different sports for decades. I've said disparaging things in the Curb Brim media group text about Troy. think I did on the podcast the other day about Troy. they were the Cinderella this year, so they were, you know, representing the, the Sun Belt there's probably people throughout the country have never heard of Troy even though they've had some football success. That's kind of been, always been their, number one, sport. Of course, they were NIL before NIL, if you know what amazing how much cash you can sta- stash in a fast food bag. But I think that's just rumors. I, I mean, you know. Or your grades weren't quite good enough to go to Birmingham, but, you know, I don't some schools require an ACT. I, you know, I just know. I'm just hearsay. So before we get in bigger trouble, should we stop talking about the College World Series and switch over to the World Cup that's going on right now? Maybe we can get Freddy on the podcast or something. I think we need to go back, right back to the College World Series. I'm curious of what it's gonna be like. So when Joe and I go on our trip, part of the World Cup's at Foxborough- Oh, boy uh, out there in Massachusetts, and we're gonna be in Boston. So my big hope is that I can at least find a rental car. That's what I'm hopeful for. I know a lot of them are probably gonna take the train and stuff up in that area, but as long as there's one vehicle that works and can get us around, I think we'll be okay, 'cause I tried to put us at, uh, ballparks a couple hours away, opposite directions on the... 'Cause it's not every single day the World Cup's playing at Foxborough, at Gillette Stadium, but the couple days they are while we're there, I'm trying to get us in opposite directions. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how traffic and everything goes with that. But, wanted to share a little bit about, kind of the itinerary of, uh, this past weekend. So, uh, my son had a, tournament. He's on a travel ball team, and they played in Omaha, which happened to coincide with the start of the College World Series. he went up there on Wednesday night with a teammate and stayed with him for a couple nights. Uh, had a lot going on at work and couldn't get out, so I didn't get up there till Thursday night with, uh, Shannon and Easton. But the, team played two games Thursday morning, and then played Friday morning, and then Friday morning and Saturday afternoon. So they had five games that they played, so we made three of the five games there. So that's kind of the ba- basis and background of why I was in Omaha this past weekend, was for my son's axe tournament. So starting with some questions before I get in trouble with our Troy, the Troy fans that'll be listening this episode. maybe a brief description of the overall experience of the College World Series. You first visit, what were your, or initial, maybe initial thoughts is a better question. When you get there, you, Zach get there, what, what were your thoughts for that game Yeah. So as I had shared, uh, on a previous episode that will be coming out before this drops, I did, uh, mention that I was able to acquire a couple tickets to our first ever College World Series. with Zach only having one game on, that Friday morning, I knew we'd have enough time where, the game would get, would get over and then we could go over to the College World Series. I just so happened I went to get the tickets for the very first game, and it happened to be the game that I wanted to see because as I had mentioned, it was basically an SEC tournament this year. but the Big 12's West Virginia Mountaineers and the Sun Belt's Troy Trojans were playing each other, so I had tickets for that game. I had seen the ballpark from the outside. I had not seen it in... I had not been, uh, obviously inside before. So it's actually 2020 when things kind of started opening up a little bit. Zach and I went on a trip and went to, like, the Kansas City Zoo, and then we went to the Omaha Zoo. And kind of what's cool is right there in the parking lot of the Omaha Zoo is where Rosenblatt used to be. Mm-hmm. And the foul poles are still there. I think home plate's still there. But then they made it into, like, a, a miniature, like, T-ball field. And I don't know that anybody actually plays on it, but it's just kind of like a little memorial. And they have basically these, uh, statues where the bases would be and then, like I said, still have, like, the foul poles out there. And so it's kind of a little cool memorial for Rosenblatt. They have some seats from the stadium out, kind of in what would be a little outfield of the, the mini ballpark. So that was kind of cool to see. And then we drove over, and looked around on the outside of Charles Schwab Field, where they had, like, all the College World Series winners. And we went up s- a flight of stairs and kind of could look in a little bit. Couldn't see the field that well. So I'd seen the stadium from the outside, about s- five, six years ago. going there. So when Zach had went up, earlier, a day or so earlier, he actually went around, uh, with th- with his teammate that he was staying with. They... There's a ballpark village, kind of similar to at a bigger scale. But, you know, when we went to Rickwood- Right and they had that little v- ballpark village with, like, different vendors and different little museum type things you can walk through and see the history and stuff. They kind of had something similar to that. they sold, obviously, a ton of baseball gear. So they had different baseball brand companies there selling helmets and bats and gloves and, some of the stuff you could buy, that was cheaper than what you could typically find anywhere else since it was on site. so it was cool. He got to walk around, got to see a lot of that stuff. And then so when we went We walked around just for a little bit. didn't see a whole lot of it. and then from there we went ahead and went up, walked in up, through, the outfield gate and then just kinda did a lap around. So we went in on the right field gate and then walked around down the first baseline around the, home plate and all the way over to where our seats were in left field. So basically did almost a full 360 around the concourse, just kinda getting a view. Uh, a lot of people were in there on the concourse, not a lot yet in the seats, 'cause we got in there pretty early. But it was just surreal to kinda get in there and see that, hey, this is, you know, where the eight best teams get to play, over, the course of every season there in Omaha It amazes me that they have that big, beautiful stadium, but yet there's not a primary tenant there, right? Is I foolishly thought that the Storm Chasers played there, and they just scheduled away games, that they shared a stadium. But they, as you know, actually play in the suburbs. Yeah, they're in Papillion, so they're 25 minutes from downtown where Charles Schwab Field is. Papillion basically, is where Omaha has, the Storm Chasers have their games. Creighton I'm pretty sure does play there. I think that's their ballpark. Now, obviously you're, they're probably not gonna field a ton of fans since it's a pretty large ballpark. but yeah, as far as I know, because like for instance, the Nebraska Cornhuskers don't have their own ballpark on campus in Lincoln. They play at Haymarket Park where the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association play. And I'm almost positive that Creighton plays at the College World Series for their home games. So yeah, there is a team, but obviously they're only for the spring. And outside of that, for the summertime, there's no one that typically plays there that I'm aware of, unless they have, I don't know, some other events, and then nothing in the fall either. So yeah, it's mostly spring is the only time anybody plays there that I'm aware of. That would be cool if they did like their state high school championships. And they very well could. You know? Uh, they might. I'm not sure if they would play there or maybe at Werner Ballpark where the Storm Chasers, either one. It's very possible that the state championships are there, 'cause it is such a nice and, you know, big stadium. 'Cause like for Kansas, for five and 6A they were supposed to be at, KU, in Lawrence this year, but because KU ended up hosting a regional they moved them to Wichita State, which you know is still a division one ballpark. And then, they moved 432 and 1A, which I think may have also supposed to been in Lawrence. They moved that over to Manhattan, and they played at Kansas State this year. So they, it could be, I don't know for sure. Obviously with Nebraska State High School where they play, but they very well could play there. Yeah, that would be cool for those high school kids to- y- you have your own road to Omaha on the state level. any merchandise purchased, at the game? I did not get any, merchandise. Majority of the stuff was team. they had all eight teams, they had a lot of their merchandise, so the shirts, majority of the shirts had all eight teams on it, or if they had hats, they had each specific, uh, school that was there, their logo on the hat. So no, like any of the regular merch I didn't get. The only thing I did end up getting is a lapel pin, the classic College World Series logo. Pretty much everything I saw was all year specific. I don't know if they have anything that's just basic College World Series without the year. I'm pretty sure they always put the year on all their merch. but it had the College World Series logo, said 2026, and then below it connected was eight boxes, eight squares that had all eight teams' school logos. Hmm. So it was just one lapel pin, but had all the eight schools that were there. So I ended up getting a lapel pin for my map. but that was the only thing that I got as far as merchandise, and Zach didn't get anything either. Most of that stuff runs fairly expensive, but now I would've gone broke if KU would've made it. You know, they were- two games away. They end up beating or losing to a, a red hot OU team. if, KU would've made it, I would've bought a lot of hats and shirts and everything with their logo on it with the College World Series. But yeah, no, since most of it was school branded and I didn't really have a, a dog in the fight, I didn't end up getting anything, uh, besides a lapel pin. I tell you, the one I would be tempted to buy watching that game, that West Virginia kind of throwback cream. Mm-hmm. Wow, that's a great looking hat. In fact, while I was watching the game, I got on my phone and was googling West Virginia baseball hats, seeing if you can buy even I found one store that had kind of like adjustable versions in different colors, you know, like blue and gold with that, you know, the, the W, uh, the W and the V. That's a fantastic looking cap. The whole uniform, getting up to my uniform sets, that whole uniform set is fan It screams baseball. Great, just traditional old school look. how was the atmosphere? before we get I, I'm, I'm dying to hear y- your particular story, which I'm, I'm still shocked by. Mm-hmm. So am I. shocked by those events. so being there, the game, uh, that you guys wanted to see, so what was it like? You know, 'cause TV only can give you so much. It looked like a great, energetic, first game, two teams that never been there before. what was the being in that crowd, being in that atmosphere, what was that like? It was really fun. it wasn't quite a sellout, uh, you know, being a Friday afternoon game. obviously, uh, for me, I think that the West Virginia fans outnumbered Troy by quite a bit, and so they were really loud, for most of the game, whatever chants they'd do. and then we can, you know, talk about at the end of the game if you want kind of how they do their tradition and, and everything on it. So, uh, yeah, no, it was a really fun atmosphere. I think, what'd they announce the crowd? 21, 24,000, somewhere around there. So a little over 20,000. So a big crowd but wasn't quite a sellout. But, well, I would say very hot. I think they said this year it's been one of the cooler, weeks of, uh, the year up in Omaha. But even then, it was, 1:00 in the afternoon with the sun beating down on you on metal bleachers. So it was still pretty warm, for the most part. but yeah, no, it was really loud and it was a very competitive game too. they went back and forth, so it wasn't, like, one-sided like some of the other games have been in this tournament. So overall, you know, it was a, a really fun crowd. tried to get into it when we could. obviously, we don't know most of the cheers or, you know, we weren't We were kind of rooting for, your favorite team, uh, just 'cause the other team was Big 12 and we don't really care for them, being KU fans. So, didn't have a whole lot of fans around us that were also cheering, for Troy, but it was, it was still pretty fun for the most part. when, you know, big crowd. What was cool is because it was game one, I don't think they do this every game, they had season ticket holders for the College World Series, which, man, if, if I had the money, I could do that, just have season tickets and go to every single one of the College World Series games. They got to bring out a flag, the American flag, in the outfield during the national anthem, and then right at the end they had, I wanna say like five fighter jets that, that'll fly over, and they just buzzed super fast over the stadium, and it was, it was really neat. You didn't see it coming. Kinda, I mean, I'm sure they've done it before, but you s- sometimes you can see them off in the distance, but because we were sitting in the outfield, we didn't see it, and it just shoots right over our head and out the other side within seconds. Besides my favorite subject, uh, merchandise, another favorite subject is, of course, food. you said that there was a, you had a special World Series, get it there only kind of food item, if you would talk about that. I saw posted on Twitter, uh, one of the guys that I think you probably follow as well, Micah Butt- Beutel. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um, he posted that he's been there all week, and they had special food items. And I believe the, either the Charles Schwab Field or the College World Series, one of the Twitter pages posted the specials for the, World Series this year, and one of them in particular I was really looking forward to. So as soon as I saw it, I told Zach that we had to get it. So as soon as we got into the stadium, as we were walking around to our seats, I stopped and got it. It was called the Midwest Monster Twinkie. Oof. So what is a Midwest Monster Twinkie? It was probably a good foot long or bigger Deep fat fried Twinkie topped with like strawberries and Basically like a f- kind of like a funnel cake, but it had cream filling in it, and just this monster... I think it had, like, a little bit of chocolate, drizzle on it, and some... I don't know if it had, like, caramel or other drizzle on it. But just this massive Twinkie, that was so big that Zach and I had to attack it together, 'cause I don't think I could have finished it by myself. But, it wasn't too bad. It was really good that they, uh, deep fat fried it so it got, you know, pretty crispy on the outside. On the inside, I felt like it was a little too fluffy. It wasn't even... Kinda moist. It wasn't... I don't know. It just... It didn't taste like a standard s- kinda spongy Twinkie on the inside like I typically would see. the outside though was really good and, you know, the toppings with strawberries and everything. So, little, a little pricey. Uh, so that was the only food item I got. I did get, uh, a, a water a little bit later, and then Zach went and got a souvenir cup, said the College World Series, had the logo and said, like, "The greatest show on dirt," I think is their slogan. It's only seven bucks for a pretty big sized souvenir soda, which there were some other big lemonades and stuff they were selling that were, like, 11 bucks. So not too bad for, uh, the drink he was able to get. But yeah, so I got the Midwest Monster Twinkie, and I posted it online. So if anybody goes and checks out Instagram or Twitter, they'd be able to see that, that I posted on there the snack food kingdom, this may shock you, I never was a fan of Twinkies Yeah, I mean, I, I would have them occasionally, but it wasn't something that I really sought after. So yeah, it's not something... I'm kind of the same way. I'm just, eh. we grew up on Zingers, which they, of course they still... Uh, now, you get me a raspberry coconut Zinger, that's a different story. I love the ra- I haven't had one in years, but the raspberry coconut Zinger was always one of my favorites. I, I guess it's just one of those things my mom didn't, didn't buy Twinkies. I didn't grow up... I, I just have never, never have much, much of a, have ever had a taste for a Twinkie, you know? Which is not a bad thing. But that does... Only thing, like, sweet I think I've ever had deep-fried was an Oreo, and it was really good. Yeah, I've had some of those. When we were in Texas at RoughRiders Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, they had actually two versions of it. The stadium sold one, and then it was like North Texas Fair- Promo or whatever, and so they had little food trucks there, and they end up selling some of their own version. So I had two different versions of fried Oreos at the RoughRiders game a couple years ago. Yeah, th- that was, that was good. I've only eaten that once, and that was a long time ago, but it was, it was, um, good. I was eating lunch outside. It was actually just a food trailer. It was catfish, and the guy comes out and says, "Hey, would you like to try this?" What is it?" "Deep-fried Oreo." "Yes." And it was free. little cholesterol, little, little sugar, and, and free, but it was, it was tasty. our main subject, the miracle story of a home run ball, and then the Which I, you, you haven't even shared this with me, so what I'm, I'm he- I'll be hearing this details of how all this transpired with everyone else tonight, so I don't have any- seen pictures. Yep. And now you, you put on t- uh, on X, I still say Twitter, and when I saw the video, I said, I looked at my phone and said, "I see the ball in, son. See the ball If you'll share the story of the home run first, and then get into the behind-the-scenes detailed story. For sure. So, uh, at the time of the game, Troy was, losing to West Virginia seven to six. It was the top of the seventh. And catcher for Troy, Jimmy Janicki, came up to bat. Where we were sitting in the game, at the game, at the ballpark, was in left center field, so we weren't straight away left field. Out there in left field is the bullpen, uh, one of the bullpens, and then, uh, we were shaded towards, so there's two big video boards, which is really nice that, you know, a lot of ballparks just have one video board, and if you happen to be in the seats in front of it, you have to turn around and look up, and it's really hard to see. Well, they had one across the other side of the stadium in right center, and then we were sitting right in front of the one in left center. so we were left center field, and it said row 21. Now, I don't think it was 21 rows up. I don't know what number they started with, on their numbering, but we were probably about halfway up the, the section. but I, we weren't 21 rows back, I know that much. We, I don't know how many we were. Maybe it was, it just didn't seem like we're that far back. yeah, the catcher for Troy, Jimmy Janicki, ends up, hits a home run ball, and it came out to left center field, and that home run tied the game at the time, top of the seventh, seven to seven. So, really cool moment to see that, Troy had tied the game, because back and forth for most of it. we're down a little bit there, and we're able to hit that home run ball, and we're able to tie the game with that home run in the seventh inning. Okay, so the ball I saw on the video you shared, looked like a pretty good group of people there. How did you Did you have to elbow somebody a little, how did you Did you just throw a little, th- th- throw the bow again, like I said, how did you get the ball in the midst of all those people? So that does give it away. I did indeed get that home run ball, for those that have not seen the, pictures or videos online. So yes, the, uh, home run ball in the seventh inning that tied the game for Troy, was a home run ball that I was able to get. so kind of what was going on with that. So there was nobody directly in front of us for the first basically six innings of the game, and then these college age or just over, just out of college, not super old, maybe in their early to mid-20s guys came and were sitting, came down and were sitting in front of us in the sixth inning. They were there in the seventh inning, and then shortly after the seventh inning they left. So they were only there for about two innings. so when the ball was hit by Janecki, Zach picked it up immediately. I didn't see it at first, but then I looked down on the field and I saw the left fielder sprinting towards the fence. And as I saw him running towards the fence, I looked up and the ball hadn't gotten to the stand yet, but I finally picked up the ball. Johnny, it was heading right to me, like dead, not above my head where I had to reach up. Like, it would've basically hit me probably in the face or the chest if the guys weren't there, like they hadn't been almost the entire game. Well, what had happened is the two guys in front of me reached up and it smacked off of one of their hands, bounced off, so in the outfield are metal bleachers but have chair backs. Mm-hmm. Bounced off the chair back of where the seat I was sitting, hit the ground where I was standing, and bounced up and went onto the seat of the stands where the k- two guys in front of us were sitting. And last second they were getting ready to reach it, and I reached down and I snagged the ball and got it before they were able to grab the ball. So I did not catch it on the fly, so I'll admit that right away. For me, luckily, I probably would've tried my best to catch it on the fly barehanded. I didn't have a glove, but it hit their hand and saved my hand. I didn't It didn't hurt my hand at all- That's awesome 'cause it didn't, it didn't hit my hand at all. So, but yeah, I reached down there and was able to grab it. Well, the guys that were in front of us, they didn't-- I don't even remember what happened. They didn't really say anything, but there were some other kind of college-aged or slightly older guys behind us, and they were hooping and hollering, "Yeah, good job getting the ball," and high-fiving and showing it off and stuff. And Zach was just super pumped because we got a ball. it has the 2026 College World Series logo on it and everything, and it was a pretty clean ball. I'm not sure where he hit it, but it wasn't on the logo because the logo was still really clean. I don't-- I'm assuming it was one that they just brought in one or two pitches earlier. but wherever he hit it, it didn't smear the logo at all. And so Zach had gotten, uh, when he was at the, Ballpark Village the day before, they did it where you could walk around and get do a little ballpark passport thing in the village and complete task, and then you could spin a wheel. Well then, so he came back the next day with me before the game, spun the wheel and won some resistance training bands that he can use for when he's stretching and warming up for pitching, and it was in one of those clear, drawstring bags. So we opened that up and shoved it down as far as we could in there, and so we could keep an eye on it and, make sure nobody could just kind of get into it or whatever, because we just had the bag on the ground. So of course, what was I couldn't get great reception in the ballpark, so I get up from the seat and I'm walking around and I'm sending You know, I sent it to the, the CBM group and telling everybody I got the ball, and told my brother and all this. And, You know, when I told my brother, my mom, my I guess my mom was watching it with him, and she saw somebody in gray and thought that was me, but I was That, the, that was the guy in front of me. so they kind of saw the area or whatever, but didn't really recognize at first. then went back down to the seats and, uh, watched the rest of the game. unfortunately, Troy, gave up a, kind of a chopper over the drawn in infield in the eighth, the bottom of the eighth for West Virginia. Scored two runs and ended up winning that game by two. so after that we walked out to the ballpark, walked out of the ballpark, and went to through the Ballpark Village for another probably not quite an hour. And while we were there, a lot of Zach's teammates were actually They didn't go to that afternoon game, they were going to the evening game. So as we were switching between games, in the Ballpark Village was a lot of his teammates and he had already, you know, was texting them. They're like, "Let me see the ball, let me see the ball." So he was showing off the baseball to all of his friends. And, what was kind of cool, as just a side note, is that So OU was playing their first game on Saturday. Well, the big star for OU in the regional in Atlanta was Dayton Taki. He hit that walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth in game seven to beat Georgia Tech. And we were walking along, and just a few steps in front of me, I'm like, "That's Dayton. He's just kind of walking amongst the people in the Ballpark Village, checking out all the booths and everything." And Zach was kind of behind me a little bit, so he didn't really recognize him And then he gets closer and he just looks over and goes, "Hey, Dayton," and just gives him a fist bump. And you know, this guy's the, like, the king of the colle- you know, college baseball world right now. Hit that walk-off in Atlanta and then had three home runs in Lawrence in the KU Super Regional, and he just gave Dayton a fist bump. And I go, "What? You didn't recognize him at first?" He goes, "No, but I did recognize his mom because they showed his mom nonstop on ESPN during the regionals and the super regionals." So he said he recognized OU's star first baseman, his mom, before he even recognized, Dayton. And then, uh, a couple guys, Camden Johnson and Jayson Walk for OU, were out there in the ballpark village signing autographs, and Camden Johnson used to play, for Wichita State for a couple years. So it was really cool just to be walking around amongst, you know, a big crowd and some of the big stars of OU, and I'm sure there are others out there that were just kind of walking amongst all the people while, you know, kind of w- since they weren't playing yet till the next day. So, scrolling through, seeing what everybody has to say, I posted that I got the ball online, and I look and I was trying to, you know, see about, you know, from Troy what they posted on- online. Well, they posted that when Jimmy Janicki hit that home run ball, that set the school record for RBIs in a season by a Troy baseball player. It also set the record for fir- well, not a record, but he was the first ever Troy player in school history to hit 20 home runs and 20, doubles in a season. Hmm. So that set two basically records, for a Troy player. Jimmy Janicki is only a sophomore. He was the Sun Belt Player of the Year, so he is obviously the best player on the team and in the league. And so I thought to myself, I'm like, This baseball is a pretty historical baseball, this home run ball. So I kind of thought about it and I'm like, You know what? I wonder if Jimmy wants this ball." So what I did is I go on to Troy's baseball Instagram page, and I direct message them, and I'm like, "Hey, uh, I didn't realize that home run that Jimmy Janicki just hit was such a historical home run. I have that ball. Would he want it?" And then just kind of left it at that Friday night, and I'm like, "Who knows?" It's not like one of those pages where they have a million followers, but I'm like, They may not see it, may not care." If it was any regular home run, I would've just gone with it, kept it, 'cause it was really cool with the logo on it But I'm like, I don't know. Maybe, maybe he would want it." Come Saturday morning, Zach has his first game of the day, and then I get a message back on Twitter from Troy Trojans baseball Instagram pa- or sorry, Instagram. hi, Eric. Yeah, uh, I think Jimmy would like that baseball. Uh, we'd be willing to trade an autographed baseball for it." So I got the ball rolling. They responded, and I'm like, Well, I'm still in Omaha. I'll be here till sometime Sunday." It was Saturday, so they had an off day. I said, Is it possible that instead of just mailing it to you guys, I could just bring it and give it to him or give it to somebody?" And so it was, uh, one of their, media relations guys, I'm not sure his exact title, but whoever was responding on the Instagram account, and he told me the team hotel that Troy was staying at and said, "We're gonna have practice today since it's an off day. After practice, you're more than welcome to come over to the hotel." Well, then he messages back and says that practice was canceled because of the weather. There was some pretty bad weather in Omaha over the weekend. And then he came back and said, "Well, they're gonna do batting practice, and they'll be done and be back probably around 5:00." I said, "Well, my son has a game about 3:00, and so I wouldn't be able to make it," 'cause he said if you m- could make it between, like, 2:30 and 3:00. I'm like, "Well, my son has a game." I said, "Maybe we'll try to connect after." So after 5:00, I... He gave me his number. I texted him. I said, "Hey, uh, we're done." He goes, "Okay. Uh, come on over." So we drove. Well, what was funny is that the ball was in Zach's bag. We end up staying at an Airbnb, so it was back at the house. So in between games, when I originally thought I was gonna go meet him over there, I went to go get the baseball, but then the communications guy said, Well, he's not at the hotel right now. We'll have to try later after batting practice." So we had the ball back with us, and then we end up driving all the way over to the hotel. And I ended up... And soon as Zach and I walked into the hotel, I text the guy and said, "Hey, we're here." Uh, and he said, "Okay, give me a minute." And then I actually saw Jimmy Jaenecke first. He comes walking off the elevator, and He must have saw me post online, 'cause he said my name, or the guy must have said it. He's like- cause we were just sitting on a chair in the lobby. He goes, "Eric?" I'm like, "Yeah." So I get up and so I got to meet Jimmy Janicki, which was really cool, gave him the baseball back, and then he autographed a baseball for Zach. But I said one of the things that I said is, "If we give him this ball, could we possibly get an on-field hat?" So he went, the communications director guy went to the, wherever they had their ballroom, conference room, and got two, uh... They were all black hats with the Troy logo outlined. It was white with the red outline. Well, the one that he got was a little too small for me, so I asked if they had a large. So he went back and came back, and the one he gave me was this red one. So I ended up getting a red Troy on-field hat, and Zach got a black one. And then I said, "Hey, can we get a, a, a picture?" So we got to take our picture with Jimmy, gave him the ball. He autographed another ball for us. We got on-field hats I got to tell him the story, so he said, "Did you catch it?" I said, "Well, not on the fly. w- had a couple guys in front of us that weren't there, earlier in the game, and they put their hand up and it bounced off, and I basically caught it off the b- you know, after it bounced down, I picked it up." Well, Jimmy said that he saw me tweet about it and he was gonna DM me, but then he kinda thought, "Eh, it's just kind of a ball. Whatever if I don't get it." Well, since I ended up reaching out myself saying, "Hey, I have the ball," would he like it. What was kind of funny though was there were some, I don't know if they were players or fans in the hotel that I heard them kinda, not whispering, but it almost sounded like they knew that we were coming over to exchange the ball and they're like, "Yeah, you could just make that story up." And I was like, "Why would I make that story up that I got a home run ball? You can see the pictures that I took at the stadium where we were sitting. There was video that Troy posted online from the game footage where he hit it and I have the, uh, you know, the ball." I was like, "So I don't know why, you know, he possibly thought I would've made up the story," but, you know, I just thought it was a really cool moment getting to meet him. So, kind of what else was cool, so he's only a sophomore, so he's not draft eligible yet, however they said next year it's possible he could potentially go top 10 in the MLB draft. That's how good he potentially is. And you know, like I said, as a sophomore he won the Sun Belt Player of the Year Award. so just a overall really cool experience, getting to present him the ball, give it back since it was such a historical, uh, moment for him, and then get a, a hat and a, a baseball autographed in return. Wow, that's cool that they had those hats there. You know, 'cause they wore what the camo ones e- every game, right? They wore the USA- Mm-hmm, in the T, you know, red, white, and blue in the T and a camo, the camo o- on fitted I guess. I guess that's their lucky hats or player fave or whatever, you know. that's an amazing story. I can't believe people would think- here, here you're trying to be generous and thoughtful, and there's these Troy knuckleheads. Right. Well, I mean, I guess it's one of those things, like why would, Well, first of all, yeah, why would you make up that story? But I mean, you very easily could've just been like, "Oh, hey, I got the ball," blah, blah, blah. But, you know, no one else posted that they got the ball. And, what else was kind of funny is, so then, Troy played then, uh, on Sunday against Ole Miss, and, the three hole hitter is from Australia. he hit a home run. His mom end up and she said she s- I saw a video that she was being interviewed. She set out to find the home run ball he hit, that her son hit, and it was just a random ball that she was offering, like, 100 bucks to get that ball back. I was like, "Well, I didn't get 100 bucks," which was fine. It was still, still really cool just to get the hat and everything. And I kinda thought about it, you know, if it's one of those MLB scenarios, I could see where I would probably push the envelope a little more and see what else I could get. But since, you know, it's just a college kid and everything, I was like, I probably wouldn't ask too much." Now, if he would've ended up direct messaging me myself, I might have asked for So the o- the one thing out of all of it that I felt was a little bit of a bummer was that The ball they exchanged it for was, did not have the College World Series logo on it, and I asked for it. Not only did I ask for the hats, but I said, "Can I get it exchanged for another logo ball?" Right. That makes- And the guy said, "Unfortunately, because it's an off day, they only have those at the stadium." because they were only at the stadium, they didn't have one, so it was just, like, a regular baseball that he ended up autographing. the also unfortunate thing is it was autographed in pen instead of Sharpie, and it was raining out, so it smeared a little bit. I mean, but still, it's still a really c- really cool experience. So, since Zach had told a lot of his teammates, they told their parents. So, um, the next day when we had some games going on, some of the parents, "Oh, cool. C- that's really cool that happened. Did you get to meet him and everything?" And so I got to tell them that. So, I've told this story a handful of times now, and it's just a fun little story I got to tell everybody. But then what I thought was cool is when we got back on Sunday just in time for the Ole Miss-Troy game, they replayed the home run that he hit, and you could see a lot clearer in that video that they posted on Sunday. You could see Zach very clearly, and then if you slowed it down, you could see me, and you could see me bending down. And, you know, obviously I have the ball, so you could, you couldn't really see me grab the ball, but you could see that I was And then I, because I had it. And so I posted that online as well. So I'm, like, trying to post as much pictures and videos as I can. Like, this has really happened. I truly got the ball. And then I What was also funny is that in that game against Ole Miss, Jimmy hit another game-tying home run in the top of the seventh. So back-to-back games hitting a game-tying home run in the seventh. And I posted, "No, uh, that was not me that got that one," or something like that. Mm. Because, you know, I got the original one. So, uh, yeah, first ever College World Series game, and I end up getting a historical home run ball. And so yeah, overall, really cool experience. Yeah, that, that's a million-dollar story. I mean, every time you, you wear that hat, Zach wears his hat, y- you're gonna think back to And, and then if this kid- Becomes a superstar Yeah and you'll, a- and you'll have the fun of keeping up with his career. N- this is a personal level. You've actually met him, were able to give him the ball back, got an autograph from him, and then, you know, so you'll have that however his c- career ends up. I think what would be cool if he's a future Turbo Tub. Now, that would be a- follow-up story. You and Zach are in a Turbo Tubs game in 20- whenever, right? 30, and then he, he gets called up to the Wichita Turbo Tubs, and you got a chance to, "Hey, you remember, you remember back in 20, you know, in 2026, and we met," you know, and, kind of a, a follow-up story, or if he's on one of the visiting teams in the Texas League- that would be a great follow-up story. But yeah, that'll be cool going forward to follow his next year, Troy, Be even cooler if they did a series at Wichita State next year, you know, in 2027, where they travel to Wichita and you could watch him play and possibly talk to him, meet him, meet him again and, may keep that connection. That was, that would be super cool. You know, I did that for years with Brett Phillips Right Yeah, every step Brett took. You know, I've got Brett cards here, you know, because we met him, right? And so you have that personal connection. yeah, that, that's a great, great story. I mean, think about the odds, one out of 20-something thousand people. When you put it in perspective of how many people were at the game and you to get You and Zach to get the ball and, and this great, great story, 'cause when I, when I saw all that, I was like, Who made the connection between Troy baseball and Eric Proffitt? How did they- Yeah, you see some of those sometimes where during the game, if it's a historic ball, you'll see some usher or somebody from the s- staff come immediately. No one came over during the game, but they'd posted online that it was such a big home run. And then, like I said, he saw that I said that I got it, and he was gonna message me himself, but ended up And I, I just thought to myself, um, normally if just a regular home run, I was like, "Eh." But I was like because of h- him setting the school record for RBIs and then the first ever Troy player to have 20 home runs and 20 doubles, 'cause that home run was his 20th of the year, then I was like, "Well, maybe he, maybe he'd want the ball." So I was the one to nego- or reach out originally and said, "Hey, I have this." but then also when I end up meeting him and we got the picture, with him, so even with, you know, autograph, anything else, just getting to meet him and having our picture with him, I posted that online and he responded and said, "Hey, great meeting you." So it's cool that he responded to my tweet and said it was nice meeting Zack and I. And it was just a very quick, less than two-minute hi, Here's, let me sign the ball. Here's the hats," type of thing. But overall it was, uh, just a overall fun experience, getting to meet him, and you're right, maybe we'll And that's kind of maybe next year because he, as far as I know, still should be playing in college. You know, he, if he transfers, that's one thing. Hopefully not. Uh, maybe we'll get down there and try to see him. If he doesn't come up this way, maybe go down to Alabama and see if we can see him in a game before he ends up getting drafted. Yeah, like I said, that'll, that'll be fun going forward for hopefully years. He has a long career, has a lot of success. And I also just thought about this, wouldn't that be cool, and I don't, obviously don't know the Troy baseball setup, at their facility, which I imagine all this money will help prosper Troy baseball that they've made with all these rounds of games that they've won, if they had on display, like at their baseball facility. That would be super cool if I've been waiting on ESPN to reach out 'cause they're doing a story on it that he, how he got the baseball back and everything. But yeah, I don't know. I asked if maybe if he didn't want it, if the school wanted it for a display or something, but who knows what, if he's just keeping it or what's gonna happen. But no big story came out of it, but we're gonna make it a big story from this podcast episode. A- absolutely. And, and believe me, speaking of ESPN, this is a lot more touching story than Steve Bartman. That third, that troubling, troubling 30 for 30 years ago, the famous Catching Hell, uh, episode about poor Steve Bartman. It's a lot better story than St- poor Steve Bartman. well, thank you Eric, for sharing all that. I'm, I'm glad I now know the, the entire story. I've been so curious, how the conne- like I said, how that connection was made. I thought, "Did they look up Eric, like by ticket?" But then when I saw the video, like there's a whole bunch of bodies out there. Did they say, "Well, okay, these tickets were purchased by Eric Proffitt," and, and somehow through that you know, you didn't share any pictures, like you said, of one of the usher, that when somebody from Troy that came out there and said, "Sir, this is a historic But you know, that never, so that connection was not made. yeah, like I said, and every time you wear that hat, you automatically And it's, and it's special to me because it's not just something you bought at a shop or- Right I, I want a Troy hat." But that, that, you know, that they took the time and the generosity to, to give you guys those two hats, that's re- that's really neat. I appreciate you hopping on here with me and talking a little bit about, the experience that I got to have with College World Series. Yeah, I thought it ended up being a really cool story, and I know you're not a, a big fan of the school, but I've kinda got a little Since they were the underdog and all that happened with them. Who knows? I mean, it could've happened if it was a big home run from, like, UNC or something. But because it was Troy making their first ever College World Series experience, first ever home run that- Right Troy hit in the College World Series. Right. And so a lot of firsts, not only for the player, but for the school and everything as well, and then they got their first ever win then to take out your boys from Ole Miss on Sunday. So I know you're not a huge fan of them, but they have a little special place in my heart now. That Yeah, and that You're right. You th- y- That's a great thought as we kinda close up tonight, you know? First appearance, that needs to be, if I I'm great at spending other people's money, as I like to say. That needs to be displayed at the baseball facility. For sure. For for what you just said. First home run, first appearance in Omaha, that needs to be on a nice, some, some display in the public. If they have, like, a lobby, some- I, again, I don't know about their, their facilities, Rumor has it they just got indoor plumbing two weeks ago. You gotta open and close the show with those? Yeah. Yeah. My last jab, I mean, my last comment about, Troy. But, yeah, it needs to be on display, some publicly in a case that people do that is a historic artifact. Uh, it really is, and it need, people need to be able Doesn't need to be on the coach's desk or in his dorm room, you know. I mean, it's his ball, but they need to really kind of make a big deal out of that, something tangible that for generations to come, that people can come and, a- and know the story of that ball and the significance of it. Yeah, that would be a cool as a, a history nerd just to have that with the public, like I said, could get their eyes on. Not, not just the players or staff, but, people that come into the lobby. unlike Ole Miss had it locked on that week we were there in 2024. But yeah, it needs to be, it needs to be seen. Well, thank you, sir. safe travels to you and, and Brother Joe, as you head up, uh, northeast and now, what, 29 hours, for Profit Palooza 2026. And as you mentioned, we'll, we'll hear those stories after, after you guys get back. Uh, as you said, you'll be posting, some of the merch. And, I almost pulled the trigger because of free shipping. I almost ordered a Rock Cats hat the other day. I They had a little Father's Day thing, free shipping, and I almost, got the long-awaited Rock Cats hat. Well, Johnny, hopefully everybody goes out and follows us online, uh, social media, Twitter, Instagram, BlueSky, Threads. And as we're winding up here, it's, not over yet. They got three outs to go, so there could be a comeback, but Georgia has now gone down 11 to three to OU. So it's looking like barring a massive comeback in the bottom of the ninth, it's gonna be OU against North Carolina in the best of three for the 2026 College World Series National Championship. That should be Big 12 ACC. Yes. It basically is. In my mind, that's a Big 12 team playing an ACC team. But that's just in my mind. That's not a reality in 2026 with Oklahoma. America, lower your standards. Average is what these guys do best.