Meet Three Guys Who Know Where Brewers Home Runs Are Going to Land

Baseball knowledge runs in “inverse proportion to the price of the seats,” or so says Hall of Famer Bill Veeck. If that’s the case, then the Brewers fans roaming the outfield with standing-room tickets should be American Family Field’s foremost experts. 

These nomadic observers are ballhawks – fans determined to catch baseballs. They arrive early for batting practice, glove in hand, prepared for any ball that exits the field of play. They patrol the bleachers like additional outfielders, positioning themselves in the areas most likely to receive home runs, depending upon the hitter.

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Some study player tendencies, always aware of the probability of a ball’s potential launch angle and landing spot. Lefty swingers send ballhawks to the right-field area. Power-hitting righties call for a quick shift to the left-field bleachers for better odds of gloving a ball. There is no direct competition among them, and they all show deference to any youngster in their path. 

Milwaukee has a long tradition of ballhawks. There’s Dave Ernst, whose brash interactions with players and fans helped him maintain his edge as top ’hawk through the mid-’90s. And there’s the “Happy Youngster” (so dubbed by Brewers TV broadcaster Matt Vasgersian), who patrolled left field through the end of County Stadium. Today, it’s a trio of knowledgeable, skilled ballhawks who stand out among the dozens chasing balls, building community and making memories.   

“I’m not connected to the game like a player, but if I do the thing I came to do, I get to leave with a little pearl, a baseball that was part of the game,” says Shawn Bosman, age 35, who has been attending Brewers games since before he was born. His mother, Susan, was ballhawking at County Stadium while pregnant with him. (She fell in love with baseball after learning her grandmother had befriended Babe Ruth.)  

Shawn Bosman

Snagged a Christian Yelich walk-off grand slam in 2025 and a second salami in April 2026, for which he was commended by White Sox announcer Steve Stone for his proper positioning.

When he’s not working in finance and markets, Bosman is at the ballpark. His mom often joins him, continuing the family tradition. Everywhere he walks in the stadium, Bosman greets the staff by name, and vice versa. During batting practice, from his perch near Toyota Territory in right field, he’s attentive to every pitch.

While describing his childhood gift for ​​​​super-recognition, which he says allows him to identify and call out visiting team personnel for balls, Bosman snags a batting-practice home run, never breaking stride in his story. Moments later, he catches another baseball on the fly, 400 feet from where the hitter had launched it. He gives the ball to his mom and says, “Just for you.” 

“A batting-practice home run is a lot different from a game home run,” says Mike Sturm, a CPA with a knack for snagging baseballs. “During the game, the ball’s coming at a higher exit velocity, topspin on it; it’s a lot more difficult to make a catch than it looks.” 

Mike Sturm

Netted a playoff home run ball in 2023, for which he met the player, Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno, and received a signed bat and other memorabilia. Sturm shared the swag with the ballhawk buddy he had outmaneuvered for the baseball. 

Sturm, age 58, caught his first in-game ball during one of the most famous contests in Milwaukee history: Easter Sunday, 1987. County Stadium was rocking as the Brewers delivered the team’s 12th straight win to kick off the season. But for Sturm, a different streak began, when he caught a homer off the bat of the Rangers’ Pete Incaviglia. Nearly 40 years and 1,500 baseballs later, he’s still ballhawking.  

After some early-career high-intensity interactions with other baseball chasers and a fan interference that got Sturm ejected from the bleachers, “Uncle Mike” (as he’s called around the ballpark these days) has mellowed in his approach. But he still snares his fair share, roaming from right to left field during batting practice and the game. Nowadays, he gives the balls away to the nearest kid, grinning like a friendly pirate sharing his loot.  

“You never know when a ball is going to come,” says Jake Starck, who’s 34 and works in technical after-sales. “All you want is one to be close, i’ll take every chance I can get; it’s just a community of us trying to have fun, hoping somebody does something cool.”  

Jake Starck

Has a knack for gloving Gary Sánchez home run balls. In 2024 in Kansas City, Starck grabbed a Sánchez blast, leading to a high-flying TV appearance for the ballhawk. In spring 2026, Starck nabbed another Sánchez homer, this time in Milwaukee.  

Starck’s been ballhawking since 2008, when he caught his first in-game homer at 16. Since 2014, he’s been coming to as many games as he can. Starck’s enthusiastic approach and catching ability have attracted ​​​​like-minded folks, some of whom have become friends.

He and his band of merry ballhawks can be seen crisscrossing the outfield bleachers during batting practice before most games, tracking down 400-foot missiles with the practiced precision of outfielder Sal Frelick. During the game, they stay primarily positioned just behind the cameraperson in left-center field. Starck wears a glove with a pink ribbon to remind himself of his mother, whom he lost to cancer when he was 12. “It’s all for her,” he says.  

For some fans, the joy of baseball remains in childhood. For Bosman, Sturm and Starck, that ​​joy endures each time they search the sky for that one white dot, fielding their various positions in the game they love. If you were to shadow any of these three ballhawks, your knowledge of the game and your potential to get a baseball, would markedly improve. Starck sums it up best: “Anybody who wants to come and hang out, you can come watch a game with us, we’re just a group of friends hoping that one of us catches a home run.” All you need is your glove.