Once in Phoenix, we parked and walked to the stadium.  The heat kept everyone inside, and it was pretty quiet outside.  We got out tickets which had been left for us by the DBacks and headed into the stadium as the gates opened.  We went to the third base line to view batting practice, and also got a kick out of a "Superfan" named Susan who shouted her head off congratulating every player in sight.  The players all seemed to know her, and it was really funny to watch.  After that, we walked around a bit and tried our luck with batting practice home runs in left field... but, our luck would be saved until later in the game!

Chase Field has a giant retractable roof and looks like a giant airplane hanger from the outside.  We compared it closely to Miller Park, and decided that we liked the Brewer's home better.  The air conditioning cooled the inside of the stadium down to an uncomfortable 80 or so degrees, but it was at least better than the outside.  We first sat in some good seats on the third base line, but soon got kicked out when an usher asked to see our tickets.  Little did he know it, but he contributed to an amazing event!

The Marlins jumped out to a 2 to 0 lead in the first inning and Dontrelle Willis looked sharp through the first two.  Then in the third, with a man on, Orlando Hudson homered to deep center.  Discouraged that we were kicked out of the good seats, we were walking around near center field at that time.  As soon as the ball looked like it had a shot to travel the distance it would take to clear the large center field wall, Neal dropped everything and ran.  A key bounce off the wall and then another off the railing plus a diving Neal would lead to an extremely rare snag of a home run ball.  And the best part, Neal was on the Jumboscreen catching and presenting the ball!  It was amazing!  Immediately, a picture was taken of Neal with the ball and employees came up to him offering to have Orlando Hudson sign the ball and then send it back home.  We sat in our real seats for the rest of the game and then thanked the usher who kicked us out.  See you tomorrow at Carlsbad Caverns and Roswell, New Mexico!