CLEVELAND _ When Javier Baez launched a ball toward right-center field, Steve Kraft, sitting in the front row above the wall, readied his Mizuno glove.
"It came right to me," said Kraft, a 37-year-old Cubs fan who grew up in Springfield, Ill., and drove to Game 7 of the World Series from his home in Cincinnati. "All I had to do was get my glove above everyone's hands. I'm just glad no one knocked it out of my hands."
Kraft, like so many others in the crowd, grew up watching the Cubs on WGN, spending his summers with Harry Caray and baseball.
"Outside of meeting my fiancee, there's not really a greater moment in my life," Kraft said.
Kraft, who plays in a 35-and-older men's baseball league, joked that he's dropped a few popups while playing second base but hopes his Series home run catch will gain him some newfound respect from teammates.
After family and friends saw his catch on television, his cellphone buzzed with texts and Facebook messages. Kraft finally turned it off.
"You don't have a phone charger, do you?" he asked.
Kraft attended the game with friend Joe Nix, who Kraft credited with helping him snag the souvenir.
"Good thing he's short," Kraft said.
Kraft has Cubs season tickets in the left-field bleachers, making it north to a few dozen games each year.
Baez's fifth-inning home run traveled 402 feet, nestling into Kraft's glove to extend the Cubs' lead.
