ST. PETERSBURG – “Nice catch.’’
That’s what Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said as he leaped high to fist bump a 12-year-old fan who caught Cedric Mullins’ seventh-inning home run on the fly during the Padres’ 9-4 loss to the Rays on Friday night at Tropicana Field.
At first, Tatis claimed fan interference. He thought he had hit the fan’s glove as he jumped for the catch. In fact, he hit the wall and the fan, Fynn Szostak of New Jersey, caught it clean in the first row of Section 144. The replay confirmed that.
Szostak, wearing a Tatis City Connect jersey to honor his favorite player, was initially incredulous, thinking he had done something wrong. After all, Tatis had thrown a ball to Szostak during batting practice. The last thing he wanted was potential interference.
“Hey, you’re good,’’ Tatis said before jumping up for the first bump.
“I can’t believe that just happened,’’ said Szostak, a 14U travel-ball player accompanied by his mother, Heather. Next week, he starts the seventh grade. He has been to games in all 30 Major League parks, but definitely favors the Trop, where he once caught another home run ball on the fly in left field during a White Sox-Rays game.
“I mean, Tatis is my favorite player,’’ Szostak said. “I can’t believe I caught it right in front of him. Do you think I might get on the highlights tonight?’’
No doubt about that.
“It was close enough to review,’’ Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “I don’t know if there was a good angle to determine whether that ball was over the fence or not. You wanted to see if New York had a better angle. Hey, the kid made a good play.’’
“I thought [at first] I hit the kid’s glove, but it was not even close,’’ Tatis said. “I saw him before that [during batting practice] wearing my jersey. I just wanted to be human, just jump up and give a little something back, give him some love for a nice catch.’’