It is the dream of every fan who has ever attend a major league baseball game, regardless of age – getting, or more specifically, catching a home run ball.

It is a dream that 55-year-old Keith Hupp of San Gabriel, California has fulfilled.

… many times.

And whether they realize it or not, every Dodger fan on the planet knows Keith Hupp, if not by name, by accomplishment.

If you saw the video clip of Justin Turner‘s historic game-winning three-run walk-off home run in Game-2 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on October 15, 2017, you know Keith Hupp. He’s the guy who leaned over the side railing of the Left Field Pavilion and made a great catch of the ball which is arguably the second greatest Dodgers home run ever hit; second only to Kirk Gibson‘s epic pinch-hit walk-off home run in Game-1 of the 1988 World Series which, ironically, occurred exactly 29 years to the day before Turner’s historic home run.

Hupp caught the ball from what is arguably the second greatest Dodgers home run ever hit during Game-2 of the 2017 NLCS. (Click on image to view video)

But what many Dodger fans may not know is that Hupp, a retired captain from the South Gate Police Department and longtime Dodgers season ticket holder, has caught other home run balls … many other home run balls. In fact, if you looked closely at the television broadcast of Dodger utility infielder / outfielder Chris Taylor‘s eventual game-winning home run during Thursday’s game between the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, perhaps you noticed that it was Keith Hupp who caught it.

“It was a really tough catch,” Hupp told ThinkBlueLA. “I didn’t want to reach over the yellow line and interfere with a ball in play, I didn’t want to be that guy and have the home run negated. So I had to wait until it actually cleared the wall and had to drop to my knees to catch it. It was a clean catch but I cut both knees making it.”

Hupp proudly holds up his trophy Chris Taylor home run ball, which was the actual game-winner in Thursday night’s eventual 8-5 win over the Rockies at Coors Field. (Video capture courtesy of ATTR)

But Taylor’s home run ball is not the first home run ball that Hupp has caught this season, or the second, or the third. It was the eighth home run ball he has either caught or chased down this season.

…sort of.

During the game between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on April 14, Hupp scrambled for and got the fourth inning home run ball from Dbacks third baseman Deven Marrero that barely cleared the wall in left-center field. In the confusion as to where the ball went, Marrero briefly passed Dbacks catcher Alex Avila on the basepaths. After a video review at the request of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (thanks to the keen eye of Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren), Marrero’s home run was overturned and he was ruled out and credited with only a two-run single. In other words, Hupp got a home run ball that wasn’t a home run; an extremely rare ball indeed.

The eight home run balls that Hupp has either caught or scrambled for this season are:

• Chris Owings (Dbacks) on April 2, 2018
• Deven Marrero on April 14, 2018 (home run overturned)
• Joc Pederson on April 21, 2018
• Kiké Hernandez on May 8, 2018
• Nick Williams (Phillies) on May 29, 2018
• Jefry Marte (Dbacks) on July 15, 2018
• Marwin Gonzalez (Astros) on August 4, 2018
• Chris Taylor on August 9, 2018

Keith Hupp with his eighth home run ball of the season, off the bat of Dodgers utility infielder / outfielder Chris Taylor. (Photos courtesy of Keith Hupp)

As you might have gathered by now, Hupp not only attends (nearly) every Dodgers home game, but also travels to Dodgers away games … a lot of them. In fact, he estimates that by the end of the regular season, he will have attended (about) 140 Dodgers games, this after having attended 147 games last season.

“My goal is to catch a home run ball at every major league ballpark before I get too old to do it anymore,” Hupp said. “But I don’t want get a bad reputation like [noted ballhawk] Zack Hample.* I have never cut in front of a kid or run into a kid while going after a ball, and I never will.”

What does Hupp do with the home run balls that he has gotten over the years?

“I keep them, unless the player who hits it wants it back,” Hupp said. “If they do, the only thing that I ask for in return is a photo with the player and an autographed replacement ball, which I keep in ball cubes.”

Does Hupp ever succumb to the merciless chants of “Throw It Back” when he gets a home run ball from a non-Dodger player?

“Nope,” he answered without hesitation. “Catching a home run ball is a very difficult thing to do. And it’s not like throwing it back will take the run off the board … well, except for the Marrero ball. But that ball has historical value to it, it has occurred very few times in baseball history.”

But chasing down home run balls doesn’t come without its bloopers.

“I recently ran after a home run ball and fell right square on my ass,” Hupp said with a chuckle. “It wasn’t until later that I found out that I made it on ‘MLB Bloopers’ and on the ‘Got Heem’ show. It was pretty embarrassing.”

So the next time you are at a Dodgers game – or watching one on TV – and a player hits a home run, pay a little extra attention to where the ball lands or who catches it. Chances are pretty good that you will see Keith Hupp somewhere nearby … or with the ball in his glove.

Play Ball!

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* Author’s note: I have personally witnessed Zack Hample do both – this in addition to many other unscrupulous things witnessed by others.