Colton Cowser’s embarrassing Kimbrel game ball blunder saga has ironic ending

The Baltimore Orioles had their own game ball saga that they have had to deal with this season during what appears to an epidemic of such drama in 2024. The Dodgers have had to deal with various amounts of drama with home run balls being kept/not kept by fans already, but the baseball drama that Colton Cowser found himself in over the weekend was an all-timer.

Against the Royals on Saturday, Cowser caught the final out and promptly threw the ball behind him, where it ultimately landed in the fountain at Kauffman Stadium. The problem? It was the final out of closer Craig Kimbrel's 422nd career sav,e which tied him for seventh all-time with Billy Wagner.

What followed was a frantic and frankly hilarious search for the ball, which featured the use of a net to fish it out, Cowser jamming the now-soaked ball in a container of rice to dry it out, and placing said container at Kimbrel's locker (along with countless apologies).

On Sunday, everything came full circle, as Cowser cracked a homer in the 5-0 win over the Royals, and you will never guess where the home run landed.

Colton Cowser's home run lands in same fountain that got him in all sorts of trouble

Yep, you guessed it: Cowser's blast landed in the exact same fountain that he had tossed Kimbrel's record-tying ball in. It seems unlikely that there was nearly as much effort to retrieve that ball, but it was still a hilarious ending to Cowser's adventures at Kauffman.

Just to be clear, this was more a hilarious whoopsie than actual drama. Kimbrel was never upset at Cowser for yeeting the ball in the first place, and tying for seventh on an all-time list probably could be a game ball that Kimbrel could live without. Cowser felt terrible about it, did his best to make things right, and the story had a happy ending. Perhaps most importantly, he continued his hot start to 2024 that began this spring by sending a ball to the fountain with his bat this time.

This isn't the first time that a game ball has resulted in mass confusion. One pitcher who shall not be named once threw a ball over the center field fence from the same mound in frustration, and Mets first baseman Pete Alonso famously threw the ball from Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn's first hit into the stands, although Winn was able to get the ball back and everyone had a good laugh afterwards while Alonso got over the horror of what he had done.

More Orioles News from Birds Watcher