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Waiting on Waveland
By Scott Venci Sports Editor
There is another tradition at Wrigley that people sometimes forget about. It’s actually outside the stadium, right behind the left field wall, on Waveland Avenue. It’s there where some of the biggest baseball fans in Chicago huddle together and listen to the day’s game on the radio or a little handheld TV. In a matter of seconds though, the peaceful get together can become a dangerous one, with grown men wrestling each other to the ground and grabbing in places that are deemed inappropriate. The scene shifts from peace to violence faster then it takes for a Sosa blast to leave the park. These people are called Ball Hawks, and their sole job is to catch the home run that has just left the stadium seconds before. For the past quarter century, Ball Hawks have caught homers off the bat of everyone from Ernie Banks to Ryne Sandberg. Sometimes it can be an easy job, like the time when one Ball Hawk sat in his lawn chair while Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire hit a ball out on to Waveland. While two guys ran for it, he just sat in his chair and watched as the two converged on each other, eventually hitting heads and falling to the ground. He then proceeded to pick up the ball that had just rolled to him, and thought to himself what all the fuss was about, since it was only a batting practice home run. On this particular day, a veteran Ball Hawker named Dave Daverson is in his 70’s style van, waiting for a potential home run ball. Two kids are playing catch, not really showing too much concern for the game going on inside. A man in his late twenties is wearing a Roberto Clemente jersey and stands with a glove on his right hand, hoping to make a catch the Pirate great would have been proud of. The wind is blowing slightly in, giving the Ball Hawkers a decent chance at getting a ball. Pirate first baseman John Vander Wal, a left-handed hitter, comes up to bat to face Cub ace Jon Lieber in the top half of the third inning. Daverson sits back down in his van and takes a break. Vander Wal provides little hope of a home run, especially an opposite way one. Seconds later, the fans inside Wrigley react to an obviously well hit ball by Vander Wal. Moments go by and, then, out from the cloudy sky, comes a snow-white baseball that just barely clears the fence. The unprepared Ball Hawkers rush as the ball continues its downward spiral to the street below. Before anybody can get to it, the ball hits the street and takes a big bounce over a nearby fence. While the Ball Hawkers try and pry the ball from under the fence, Daverson has gotten out of his van and has run right to the fences door, where he opens it up and runs to where the ball has rested. He uses his glove to snatch it from the other hands that are trying to get it, and walks proudly back to his van.
For Daverson, the Vander Wal ball marks his 155th game ball. In his 10 years of doing the Ball Hawk thing, Daverson has accumulated over 3,000 total balls, many coming from the batting practice conducted by the players an hour before the game. What can someone possibly do with so many baseballs? “I use the batting practice balls for a number of things,” said Daverson. Right after Vander Wal hit his home run, Daverson used one of those 3,000 balls to satisfy the Wrigley Field faithful. It is a custom when sitting in the bleachers to throw a ball back on to the field after an opposing player hits a home run. It’s an unwritten rule, and Ball Hawks are expected to follow it. Daverson does a trick that he and others have perfected over the years. As the fans inside Wrigley are demanding that he throw the ball back, Daverson pockets the real one and grabs one of those practice balls. He does his best impression of Kerry Wood and heaves the ball back over the fence and onto the outfield grass. The fans cheer, and Daverson gets to keep the ball and his dignity intact. Daverson is different then some other Ball Hawkers. He’s not interested in selling any of the balls that he catches; unless of course he had caught Sosa’s historic 62nd. “I would have sold that to the highest bidder,” he says. “But I have all of the game balls that I’ve caught. I keep them and get them signed by the player who hit them.” While Daverson has never sold a ball, he has given one away. He caught Doug Glanville’s first home run back in the centerfielder’s rookie season, and he gave it to Glanville without getting anything in return, a rarity in today’s memorabilia craze. “I told him that I wanted to take batting practice with him one of these days,” said Daverson. His collection also includes a dozen-home run balls off the bat of Sosa, including number 12 from his historic 1998 campaign. He missed out on getting a shot at Sosa’s 62nd of that season though. “I actually left early that day,” said Daverson. “He hit his 61st earlier in the game, and he wasn’t supposed to bat again. The Cubs had a three-run lead going into the ninth, and of course the Cubs blew the lead. Sosa got up again in like the bottom of the ninth and by that time I was already playing baseball.” In the end Daverson was probably lucky that he wasn’t out there. His friend Mo caught the ball, but it was gone before he could blink his eyes. “Mo had the ball five seconds and then got it stolen from him,” said Daverson. “He was never able to get it back. It was really dangerous out there. All the gangbangers were hanging around with their knives and switchblades just waiting for Sosa to hit one.” Happier times always seem to prevail with Ball Hawkers though. The chase to catch a ball is what gets them going, and Daverson has been on a roll recently. The day before the Vander Wal homer, he caught a home run off the bat of Cub shortstop Ricky Gutierrez. “They seem to come in bunches,” Daverson said. “I can go months without catching a game ball, and then all of a sudden I’ll get five or six in a row.” For Daverson, being a Ball Hawker can be summed up in a few words. “Like everyone I’ve always wanted to be a Major League baseball player,” he said. Getting a baseball is a way to be a part of the game. You go home and look at the box score the next day and see the home run by the player and you have the ball right in your hand. It’s like you’re part of the game.” The day after catching Vander Wals’ home run, Daverson is back on Waveland. Decked out in his Julio Zuleta jersey, Daverson walks down the street toward the front gates of Wrigley, where he gives an usher a ticket to see that day‘s game. Even ball hawks like to go inside once in awhile. The Columbia Chronicle would like to hear your opinion on this topic. Note: If your browser does not support multiple windows, click here. Back to top | Home The Columbia Chronicle is a student produced publication of Columbia College Chicago and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of Columbia College administrators, faculty or students. |
April 23, 2001
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