Tom McCarthy caught a home run ball during the annual broadcast from the stands in June of 2014. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)
Tom McCarthy, John Kruk, Ruben Amaro Jr. and Ben Davis will broadcast Tuesday's Chicago Cubs-Phillies game on NBC Sports Philadelphia from section 201 in right field as part of the network's annual telecast from the seats at Citizens Bank Park.
This is a tradition that NBC Sports Philadelphia — then called Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia — began in 2014. While fans look forward to a new location each year, sometimes you can never top the original.
Back on June 27, 2014, McCarthy was joined on the call by Matt Stairs and Jamie Moyer in left-center field. Something rather miraculous transpired.
"Jeff Halikman, my producer, said, 'Hey, make sure you bring a glove,'" McCarthy recalled in a conversation with On Pattison. "And we sat out there for a couple days during BP and nothing came out."
Still, McCarthy always kept his first baseman's mitt — which he says he's had since eighth grade — in his truck along with a bucket of balls so he could be prepared wherever he was at to throw BP to his son, Tommy. And sure enough, in the bottom of the first inning, Freddie Freeman hit a ball to left-center field, leaving McCarthy in need of the glove.
"I didn't have it on at the time," McCarthy revealed.
So when the ball came off of Freeman's bat, the mitt wasn't yet on McCarthy's left hand?
"I didn't have it on," McCarthy reiterated. "No, I had to put it on while the ball was on the air."
But, while also calling the game, McCarthy realized that he was in need of the glove and put it on because he said he wouldn't have tried to catch a Major League home run ball barehanded.
"So when he hit it, I'm like, 'Huh, that looks like it's coming like right near us.' And sure enough, thank God, I caught it," McCarthy remembered.
Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy once caught a home run from Freddie Freeman live on air, and threw it back! 👏😂 pic.twitter.com/5dE6WLS1MR
McCarthy then succumbed to peer pressure from Moyer — who had grown up rooting for the Phillies before eventually helping them win the 2008 World Series — to throw the ball back:
McCarthy wasn't necessarily worried about getting in trouble for throwing the ball back on the field, which has become a tradition among fans at many MLB stadiums. What actually concerned McCarthy more was that he had a sore shoulder from years of throwing batting practice, and was worried about what the throw would look like. Ultimately, he did toss it back, and he remembers seeing center fielder Ben Revere laughing. McCarthy did apologize to starter Kyle Kendrick for turning what normally would have been a negative moment on a local broadcast into a bit of a celebration, but Kendrick simply responded by laughing and saying, "Well, maybe I shouldn't give up the home run."
What's also made this such a fun moment to look back on is that Freeman — then just 24 years old — has turned into one of the most accomplished players of this era. To this point, that's one of 17 career home runs that Freeman has hit at Citizens Bank Park, the bulk of which came during his 12-year stint with the division-rival Braves. While Freeman was often public enemy No. 1 when coming into town with Atlanta, he's always been one of baseball's more likable stars. Phillies fans are probably much more willing to admit that they can't help but like the future Hall of Famer now that he's in his fourth season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and no longer killing their team on such a consistent basis.
McCarthy says that he doesn't think Freeman realized what had happened as he was circling the bases that night, but that the eight-time All-Star has since been made aware of it and thinks it is "hysterical." One day, he's still hoping to have Freeman sign the ball, which he did eventually get possession of again after tossing it back onto the field.
"Oh yeah," McCarthy said of if he's talked to Freeman about the moment. "I never got him to sign it, that's what I always kept saying, that I would [get him to] sign it. In fact, a lot of times when he's ready to come into town, I text him and say, 'Hey, I gotta get you to sign that ball.' And I just never do it."
According to McCarthy, the hardest catch he's made in the stands actually came a year later when the broadcast was done in right-center field and he used a fishing net to haul in a hot dog launched by the Phillie Phanatic.
That may be true, but even for someone that's called no-hitters and World Series games, it's going to be hard to ever have a moment as a broadcaster that he's asked about more than the one involving Freeman.
"I get asked about it a lot because people run it on social media at random times," McCarthy said. "Like last year was the 10th anniversary of it and they ran it, and people thought it was just happening. And I said 'No, my cul-de-sac was just a little thicker with hair at that point.'"
