Detroit — It looked like an average foul tip; a nice souvenir.
But once the ball off Javy Báez’s bat landed in Raymond Vanhaverbeck’s hand, it became immediately obvious that it meant so much more. The 51-year-old Clinton Township native kissed the ball, gripped it tight and pointed at the sky. On the back of his white Tigers home jersey: The name “Angie” and a number 1.
Vanhaverbeck was wearing the jersey of his late wife, a massive Tigers fan who died two years ago.
“All of a sudden, I heard the bang, I looked up and I didn’t even move. I just (stood) there and just (grabbed it). That’s it. I didn’t have to flinch or nothing. I just caught it barehanded,” Vanhaverbeck told The Detroit News.
“Something was telling me, I think my wife had been involved in something with it.”
This felt like something more than a cool coincidence. Maybe it was the butterfly effect at work. Vanhaverbeck said he’s been struggling with personal matters in the years after his wife’s passing. A few days ago, upper management at his work, Horizon Steel Co., pulled him aside; he thought he might be in trouble for something.
But rather, he was being rewarded for “rave reviews” with free tickets to Saturday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and seats right behind the plate, about 25 rows up. He doesn’t get to do this often.
MORE: Diamondbacks hand Tigers their third shutout in June, 5-0
“Some of them know about my stress I’ve been going through. … They said, since we heard, we wanted to give you four tickets,” Vanhaverbeck said. “It’s like, I couldn’t believe where we were (sitting) when we found out.
“I miss my wife completely and I didn’t know what to wear. … I put (the jersey with) my memorabilia in my bedroom … and I kept on thinking. … Something’s gonna happen. It’s gonna be in this row.”
It was arguably Vanhaverbeck’s second-best prediction of the day. While he was being interviewed for this story, Miguel Cabrera stepped to the plate.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll get a base hit. I’m pretty sure,” he said. Cabrera doubled two pitches later.
As the old adage goes, you never know what you might see at the ballpark. But the real magic of baseball? You never know who might be with you.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi