White Sox fan's photo, tweet of Gordon's catch goes viral

CHICAGO -- Ethan Routzahn is a 17-year-old junior at Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, Ill. He's also a right-handed pitcher who has committed to play baseball at Dallas Baptist.

And thanks to Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, Routzahn has become an overnight Internet sensation.

Routzahn sat in his family's season-ticket seats in section 151 down the left-field line during the sixth inning of the White Sox 5-3 victory on Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, when Gordon came charging over for a Micah Johnson foul ball. Gordon dove into the stands about three rows in to make the catch, a grab that some have termed the best catch of the year even though the season only is approaching the end of April.

How's it going Alex Gordon? Just made a sweet catch flying by me in the stands pic.twitter.com/9E0dH3W2eW

- Ethan Routzahn (@EthanRoutzahn) April 26, 2015

With Gordon laying on the ground, Routzahn had the presence of mind to snap a picture of the play's aftermath. He put it on his Twitter account, @ethanroutzahn, with the following message.

"How's it going Alex Gordon? Just made a sweet catch flying by me in the stands."

That particular tweet had 1.8 thousand retweets and 3.2 thousand favorites as of Monday afternoon. Routzahn's picture and tweet were picked up by news outlets across the country, and Routzahn even did a guest spot on 610 Sports Radio, the flagship station of the Royals.

"It's been kind of cool, a fun experience so far," Routzahn said during a phone interview on Monday, in between a free period where he helped set up the baseball field for batting practice and gym class.

"I saw the ball up in the air, thought it would be a foul ball and I was getting up to catch it. Out of nowhere, Gordon jumps and catches it. I'm pretty sure he took everyone in the row by surprise."

Gordon didn't say anything upon landing in the stands. When he came back out for the seventh inning, Gordon gave a baseball to the fan he knocked over when making the catch, according to Routzahn.

"At first, I took the picture and sent it to my aunt in Kansas City, who is a big Royals fan," Routzahn said. "It was a cool picture so I put it on Twitter. I was not expecting it to go viral."

The catch was the best catch Routzahn has seen in person. But the White Sox fan was even happier his team won twice on Sunday.