SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres have dreams of making it to the World Series with the best fans on the planet rooting them on.
In this Zevely Zone, I meet a 'Padres Super Fan' who says he's caught hundreds of home runs dating back to 1984. Most Padres fans would consider themselves lucky to catch one home run ball. We met a fan who says he's snatched 257 of them.
Tracy Collins grew up in San Diego and started going to Padre games in 1984.
Since then, he told me he's only missed 12 twelve Padres home games.
I spoke to several longtime Padres fans who confirmed his story.
Tracy contacted me months ago and told me was finally ready to share his story.
"Is this your first sit-down interview with a news reporter ever?" I asked.
"Yep," said Tracy who is a man of few words.
I asked, "Why did you finally say yes?"
He told me, "I like your segments."
Tracy shared numerous videos of him catching home run balls at Padres games at spring training, Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park.
In the past forty years, this guy has been a home run magnet.
I asked him how many home run balls he caught.
"257. Including spring training," said Tracy.
He says the first homerun he ever caught happened in 1987 and came off the bat of the Mets player Howard Johnson.
In 1993, when Padres catcher Brad Ausmus hit his first Major League dinger, Tracy says he was in just the right spot again.
In 2006 when the Padres Mike Piazza crushed his 400th home run, Tracy was waiting.
He also showed me a clip of him catching a Manny Machado home run in 2023.
"I got one Fernando and two Manny's," said Tracy.
You could call it a slump, but Tracy only caught three home runs this year.
"If the Padres are going to make it the the World Series," I said, "I need to get you in shape. Are you ready to do some training?"
Tracy and I went to a local baseball park where I hit balls over the fence for him to catch.
"I need you at your very best, your A game," I told him.
Tracy's never caught a homerun ball in the playoffs so the pressure is on. After some early jitters, he showed off that Golden Glove of his.
"They are coming faster now," I said.
"Mr. Automatic. I think you're ready."
Who knows? Maybe Tracy Collins is the lucky charm the Padres have always needed. I can tell you firsthand, that he is in in playoff form. I spoke to three longtime Padres fans to confirm Tracy's story along with a recent member of the Pad Squad. Tracy plans to attend every playoff game with a baseball mitt ready to catch home runs.