(USA TODAY Sports Images)
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh is already known for one nerdy fashion choice: His much-lamented dedication to “dad pants.” But as it turns out, Harbaugh also regularly brings a baseball glove to baseball games even though he is a 50-year-old former pro athlete.
From an excellent Mercury News feature on Harbaugh’s friendship with Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin:
“He brings his glove to the game, which is hilarious,” a giggling Melvin said of Harbaugh’s intense visits to A’s games this summer….
“Yeah, I was very disappointed I didn’t get a ball,” Harbaugh said, shaking his head solemnly during a break in 49ers camp last week. “That’s just every time I’ve ever gone to a baseball game, that’s my main focus. Going and getting a ball…. I’ve got 20.”
Assuming Harbaugh’s above begging players to toss him balls and boxing out children to grab them, then his collection is incredibly impressive — glove or no. Plenty of fans go their whole lives without catching a single foul or home-run ball, so 20 is a pretty amazing total even for a grown world-class athlete bringing his own glove.
Harbaugh and Melvin played for the same Palo Alto-area American Legion baseball team, a couple years apart. They struck up a friendship earlier this summer when Harbaugh visited the A’s clubhouse. Harbaugh also told the Mercury News that as a child, he once wet his pants for the opportunity to meet a member of the Cleveland Indians.