(Beckett : if you know where V-Tek is setting up this season, you might want to keep it to yourself.)

Apparently, Ryan Howard had nothing to fear as long as he wasn’t sitting in the stands. From the Boston Globe’s Chris Snow.

”We were in a tight game, over at our place, and our backstop is fairly close to the catcher,” coach Kenny Humphries recounted. ”One of the other team’s kids’ dads was squatting behind home plate. Wherever the catcher set up, he was calling the location of the pitch. In between one inning I told the ump, ‘He can’t do that. You’ve got to move him.’ He said, ‘Sir, move.’

”He moved about 10 feet to the first base side. He squatted down, got his fingers in the fence, and continued to call location. The next pitch, Josh winds up, and he throws a ball 10 feet to the first base side of home plate. It hit the fence right at that guy’s nose. When it hit, it knocked him backwards and rolled him on his back. All the scouts and people started clapping. The guy dusted himself off and sat down.

”Here’s an 18-year-old kid thinking, ‘I’ve had enough.’ It hit right where the guy’s nose was. One of the scouts said, ‘That was the best pitch I’ve seen in my whole life.’ “