Padres fan dives headfirst into bushes for home run ball

No one ever said retrieving a home run ball would be easy. For that matter, most things worth doing in life aren't easy either.

What's weird about this particular home run ball (and the fan diving after it), is that it isn't from the home team. Atlanta's Jason Heyward homered off Jason Marquis in the 8th, bringing the Braves to within two runs of San Diego. The Padres won the game, but it was a nailbiter through the 9th. Nevertheless, this guy really, really wanted that ball.

Our flying friend here might simply have been trying to get a souvenir, sure. But I choose to think he was leaping into the bushes for a greater reason -- to serve some larger purpose. Maybe he's an ideal for us to strive towards. We will race behind him, we will stumble, we will fall. But in time, we will join him in the sun. In time, he will help us accomplish wonders.

-- Dakota Gardner / MLB.com