Call him Spider-Man or call him Batman -- Meet the Cubs fan who stole the spotlight during Thursday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers
CHICAGO, Ill. (CBS 58) -- It was the sixth inning during the baseball game at Wrigley Field on Thursday, June 19.
The Chicago Cubs were taking on the Milwaukee Brewers, as the latter's outfielder Sal Frelick swung -- and missed.
His bat flew out toward the stands but ended up getting caught high up in the netting.
“Next thing you know, a bat goes flying, looks like it’s almost going into the crowd," recalled lifelong Cubs fan Lou Farinella, who was sitting in the second row. “My instinct just kicked in to be like I’m gonna go grab that thing, just like it’s a foul ball.”
With Spider-Man-like skills, Farinella leapt into action to the delight of the 41,000 fans attending the game, scaling the net several feet in the air.
“I didn’t really think it was that high at first, I was like, oh, I think I can reach it just by stepping onto the wall a little bit," Farinella told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White. “But then once I got up there, I could hear the crowd behind me start to cheer, and I’m like, oh man, I’m committed at this point, I just gotta go for it.”
Luckily, the bat easily became loose and Farinella was able to safely get back down.
“I was just holding on for dear life and I figured it would hold me, but yeah, I had a lot of friends being like dude, you might’ve ripped that whole net down, did you think about that?" Farinella said. " I’m like no, I didn’t think about anything at all.”
Farinella was briefly escorted out by security who retrieved the bat but allowed him back into the game.
And while Farinella said the Cubs offered to give him a ball as a souvenir, he hoped to aim higher.
“I was just like, hey Sal, I caught that bat, and then they took it from me. Any way I can get an autographed bat after the game?" Farinella said. "He kind of looked at me right away, and he’s like what? They took the bat? And he’s like, I got you bro, I got you!”
Sure enough, after the Brewers clinched the win, Farinella saw Frelick signing another bat in the dugout.
“He signed it Sal Frelick on the end, and then he wrote 'nice climb, go crew' so I thought that was great," Farinella said. “Great guy, great player, was really cool to have that experience.”
