As A High Schooler, This Minn. Man Won The 1st Home Run Derby
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Inside the Benton County Government Center in Foley, Minn., the man who won the 1985 Home Run Derby is approving an application for a septic tank permit.
Sean Moe works for the planning and zoning department now. He hasn't played baseball in almost 30 years.
Once you steal a home run from Ryne Sandberg, what else is there?
"Then I've done everything, yeah," Moe said.
In 1985, Moe's high school baseball team at St. Cloud Apollo won the state title and was invited to shag fly balls for the first-ever Home Run Derby, which was a team competition back then -- American League versus National League.
"As he hit the ball, I started running back on it," Moe recalled. "As soon as I caught it, I hit the fence and realized that it would have been a home run."
And his first thought was?
"Oh no," Moe said with a laugh. "Oh no. I think I'm possibly in trouble for what I just did. But nothing really came of it. I (could) see Ryne Sandberg is, like, in disbelief of what just happened. And maybe I was too."
The American League ended up winning. By one -- meaning Moe's catch made all the difference. A high schooler from St. Cloud won the first home run derby for the American League.
He still has the ball.
"It's dirty," Moe said, "because my son, at five years old, found it in the drawer and played with it outside."
Which is alright, because he never should have touched it either.
"I knew I shouldn't have caught it," Moe said, a smile creeping across his face. "But, you know, it happened."
Not only was Moe not in trouble, but he was invited to be a ball boy for the All-Star game the next night. He sat in front of the commissioner's box just in case any balls decided to make their way toward that part of the stands.
He will watch this year's home run derby on TV, with his son. Tickets, he said, are just a little too expensive.
