San Francisco

Man Who Caught, Gave Back Travis Ishikawa's Walk-Off Home Run Ball Throws Out First Pitch at World Series Game 3

Despite the bitter ending for the San Francisco Giants in World Series Game 3, there was a celebration for a very special mechanic.

Although disappointed fans left the stadium quietly Friday night after losing to the Kansas City Royals 3-2, they cheered earlier for a new fan favorite.

Frank Burke from Oakdale was at the dugout talking with Travis Ishikawa before the game. Burke took a friend battling cancer to the last game against St. Louis at AT&T Park and caught Ishikawa's NLCS-winning homerun ball--which launched them into the world series.

The die-hard Giants fan gave it back to number 45.

"He thanked me again for getting him that ball back," Burke said. "You guys all know his history. He was almost out of the game. I would have done it for any of them, but to me, it’s like a Cinderella story."

As a thank you to Burke, the Giants handed him a ball. He threw out the first pitch at Friday night's World Series game with Ishikawa catching.

He also got a special jersey and four tickets.

The mechanic is not a celebrity, but for Burke, it is all part of the magic of baseball.

"Things don’t mean as much as people and experiences," Burke said. "Nobody is going to be able to take this experience away from me."

The World Series experience is memorable win or lose. And tonight, Giants fans like Burke are looking past the loss to Game 4

Burke and his wife are sleeping off the loss in style. He said the Handlery hotel in San Francisco put them up in a suite Friday night.

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