Former Baker City resident catches a souvenir at Yankee Stadium

By Gerry Steele

gsteele@bakercityherald.com

Most baseball fans watching ESPN’s “Sportscenter” Thursday evening or Friday morning probably saw Jacoby Ellsbury’s home run lift the New York Yankees to a 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

What most watchers probably didn’t notice was who caught Ellsbury’s homer in the upper deck of the right-field stands at the famous ballpark.

Ellsbury has Oregon ties in that he played for and graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis and is a graduate of Madras High School.

What made the scene Thursday evening so interesting is that the person who caught Ellsbury’s home run ball is Todd Ellingson, a 1994 graduate of Baker High School and, like Ellsbury, an OSU alumnus.

This is how Ellingson, the son of Rob and Dianne Ellingson of Baker City, alerted friends and family on social media Friday morning:

“Yes I was at the Yankee game last night. Yes I was in the right field upper deck. Yes I caught the go-ahead HR off fellow Oregonian and Oregon State alum Jacoby Ellsbury. Yes it was barehanded. Yes…it was awesome.”

Ellingson, an emergency room physician who lives in Sherwood southwest of Portland, was in New York City with friends attending another friend’s birthday party.

“We decided to get tickets to the game,” Ellingson said Friday in a telephone interview.

“After all, it was the Yankees and Boston.”

Ellingson and his friends, who also live in the Portland area, wore their Portland Trail Blazers shirts to the game.

“The Blazers have a spot on their website where fans can submit photos of the strangest places where they are wearing Blazer memorabilia,” Ellingson said.

“Blazer fans can get recognized for submitting their photos.”

Ellingson said it was his first visit to Yankee Stadium.

And the home run ball was his first souvenir catch, fair or foul, at any of the many baseball games he has attended.

“It was awesome,” he said.

He added that catching the home run ball was somewhat “fortuitous.”

The fan sitting in front of Ellingson had gone to the concession stand and was just returning to his seat.

Ellingson had to stand to let the other fan pass in front of him. At about the same time Ellsbury hit hishomer.

“I didn’t have to move six inches,” Ellingson said. “It hit me right in the chest. Fortunately, I caught it.”

See more in Monday’s issue of the Baker City Herald.