Brewers fan got a baseball autographed by Baker Mayfield – after his foul ball hit her

PHOENIX – Brewers fan Amanda Siemandel got a prized autographed baseball from Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield but the experience involved a wee bit of pain first.

Siemandel, husband Joseph and son Kellan were in the lower stands, down the right-field line at American Family Fields of Phoenix, watching the Brewers take pregame batting practice Friday morning. Mayfield, working out with the team as a guest of friend and Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, pulled a liner into the stands that struck her on the left wrist, wrecking her watch and causing a slight welt.

Mayfield saw the ball strike Siemandel and yelled from the batting cage, “Sorry, ma’am!”

Undaunted, Siemandel recovered the baseball and was holding it as the Brewers exited down the right-field line for the clubhouse after BP ended. She yelled to Mayfield that she was the one struck by his liner and asked if he would sign the ball.

“It looked like they were going to leave, and I hollered, ‘Hey, can you sign the ball you hit me with?’ ” Siemandel said. “He said, ‘Oh, I hit you? Are you OK? Are you doing OK?' He was super nice about it.”

So, Mayfield signed the ball, and now Siemandal has a Heisman Trophy winner’s autograph on a baseball, not a common item. And she made it clear it was worth the watch and the welt to get it. 

“I knew exactly who he was,” she said. “We saw on Twitter the day before the Mayfield jersey hanging in the Brewers locker, so we were wondering, ‘Is he going to be there?’ And there he was.”

The Siemandels live in Rainier, Washington, but Joseph is from Wisconsin, having grown up in the Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells area.

“When you’re born a ‘Sconnie,’ your fanhood is decided for you,” said Amanda, who grew up in California. “I was born and raised an Angels fan, so we saw the Brewers play them (Thursday) and it was exciting.”

The Siemandels’ son is a Colorado Rockies fan, which made the 2018 NLDS painful for him but pleasing for his dad.

“We love all three teams,” Amanda said. “So, we’ve been able to see them here in Arizona. We are having a very good time.”

With a pretty good story to tell now.