Former ASU Catcher Fouls Off First MLB Pitch, Mom Gets The Ball

DENVER, CO —Former Arizona State catcher Brian Serven made his Major League Baseball debut for the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in Denver, and something kind of magical happened in his first at-bat.

In the second inning of the Rockies' 5-3 win over the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field, Serven, who was Colorado's starting catcher, came to the plate against Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb.

On the first pitch, Serven fouled off an 86-mph changeup, which landed in the stands behind home plate just 10 feet from where Serven's parents — Jim and Laura — brother, sister and some friends were sitting, according to the Desert Sun newspaper.

A fan scooped up the ball and handed it to the Servens as a memento.

"I mean, we're watching his first pitch and he hits a foul ball right at us," Jim Serven told the Desert Sun. "It could have gone anywhere."

According to the Associated Press, a Rockies communications employee gave the fan a ball autographed by infielder Brendan Rodgers as thanks for the gesture.

A bit later in the afternoon, the Rockies posted a photo on social media of the Serven family, with Laura Serven holding the ball and smiling.

"It's a dream come true," Laura Serven said about her son's big league debut when interviewed on the Rockies TV broadcast during the game. "It's a day we have been waiting for. I just want to enjoy every minute."

Brian Serven, a native of Palm Desert, California, ended up grounding out to second base in his first at-bat, and he popped out to right field in his only other plate appearance.

When told after the game that his mother ended up with the ball from the first pitch, the 27-year-old Serven was skeptical.

"It's pretty funny that she got the first ball that I fouled off in the big leagues," Serven said. "But the story out there ... I don't know if I'm believing it."

After a standout three-year career at ASU, Servern was a 5th-round pick (140th overall) of the Seattle Mariners in 2016.

This season, Serven had played 23 games for the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate the Albuquerque Isotopes, and he was hitting .275 with five home runs when he got called up to the big leagues on Tuesday.

Laura Serven told the Desert Sun about what it was like for her family when Brian delivered the news.

"We were all just crying," Laura Serven said. "It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. It still feels like a dream even though I am sitting here in front of everybody watching my son play."