DENVER — Colorado Rockies catcher Brian Serven fouled off the first pitch in his very first major league at-bat Wednesday, right in the direction of his family sitting behind home plate at Coors Field.
“It's pretty funny that she got the first ball that I fouled off in the big leagues," Serven said. “But the story out there, I don't know if I'm believing it.”
No, in fact, his mom didn't catch the ball. It landed in the area they were sitting in and a fan nearby scooped up the ball instead of the Servens family.
The fan then handed the ball to Serven's parents, Laura and Jim. A Rockies communications employee gave the fan a ball autographed by infielder Brendan Rodgers to complete the deal.
“It's pretty cool,” Serven said.
The Rockies rookie ended up grounding to second and went 0 for 2 in his debut before being pinch-hit for in the eighth as the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3. The 27-year-old California native was a fifth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2016.
“Today when I was catching (Rockies starter Kyle) Freeland in the bullpen, I was like, ‘This is real. I'm going to play in a big league game.'"
And now his parents have a nifty souvenir.
“Congratulations on his debut. He did a great job,” Freeland said. “Very happy to have him behind the dish. I threw to him in spring training. I threw to him in Triple-A when I was rehabbing last year. He's one of those guys that wants to learn. So I'm very happy to have him back there today.”
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