Surprise! Fisher's team wins charity softball game
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_831c553b-5e57-587d-92c0-8239fd5d3b1c.html
It took a Bump Bailey type effort in the outfield by punter Johnny Hekker, but coach Jeff Fisher's squad (surprise!) won again in the fourth annual "Coach Fisher & Friends" celebrity softball game.
Fisher's squad held off a squad coached by special teams coordinator John Fassel 20-17 Sunday night at T.R. Hughes ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. With a runner on base in the seventh _ and final _ inning, a running catch by Hekker crashing into the fence in right-center field robbed wide receiver Kenny Britt of a home run.
Hekker knocked over a section of the fence making the catch, but unlike Bailey in the Robert Redford movie _ The Natural _ he lived to tell about. Hekker had seven RBIs and three home runs but the night's MVP award, as awarded by Fisher, went to Hall of Famer and softball game participant Aeneas Williams.
The night's hijinks included a bench-clearing "brawl" and the usual bending of the rules by Fisher.
Earlier, linebacker James Laurinaitis repeated as home-run derby champion. Although he didn't win the home-run contest, backup quarterback Case Keenum, who looks like he's played slow-pitch softball a time or two, hit four out in the first round.
At the end of the evening, as Fisher and the players headed off the field, a couple of fans could be heard yelling: "Stay in the Lou," and "Stay in St. Louis." One young fan walked around with a sign that read: "Keep the Rams in St. Louis."
The event raised money for five charities: The Backstoppers, the Jack and J.T. Snow Scientific Research Center, Mercy Ministries, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Catch-a-Dream Foundation.