WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Each spring, Houston Astros fans make the trek to this spot just eight miles or so from some of Florida’s nicest beaches to get an up-close look at their favorite team.
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The attraction of spring training is being able to rub shoulders with the likes of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Jeremy Peña as they make their way between fields for their preseason work. On most mornings, the players – no matter how well-known – stop to sign autographs and take selfies with fans. Understandably, that creates a bit of a crush inside the team’s spring training facility.
There’s no such mass of humanity outside the facility, but there are always a few die-hard souvenir hunters.
Jake and Kayla Molling and their four kids – Rylie, Easton, Granger and Finley – are here on their first family spring training trip. Before heading east, Kayla happened upon an Instagram clip from Astros superfan Nguyen Le, who was giving his more than 73,000 followers tips on how to come away with baseballs in Florida.
And that’s how Jake and 8-year-old Granger found themselves outside Field 2 this week, squinting through the green mesh covering the outfield fence, trying to catch a glimpse of who’s taking hacks at the plate.
Jake Molling and his 8-year-old son Granger with the bag of home run balls they caught by standing outside the Houston Astros’ spring training facility Sunday, March 8, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Matt Young/Houston Chronicle)
Field 2 has the exact dimensions of Daikin Park, so left field is short with a high wall. However, there’s no actual Crawford Boxes behind the left-field fence. Instead, there’s a net a few feet back that stretches approximately 80 feet in the air to protect the nearby apartment complex from an assault of launched baseballs. That means every ball crushed to left and out of Field 2, first hits the net, then drops with a thud straight to the ground just outside of the facility.
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There’s a rhythm to it. As Jake kept his eyes on the hitters, you’d hear the unmistakable crack of the barrel meeting ball, then Jake would yell out, “Here comes one!,” and soon a thud of a demolished baseball hitting the ground would follow.
“We’re gonna get a thousand balls,” Granger said proudly as he deposited another keepsake into the clear plastic bag they’d secured earlier when they bought more conventional souvenirs at the team gift shop.
“Not that many, but not sure how we’re going to get all these on the plane,” said his dad, who later found the family had come away with about 30 balls on the day. They plan to share their bounty with their friends back home in Angleton, about 45 miles south of Houston.
Things outside the fences of Gate 1 are a bit more precarious. About 20 yards behind the left-field wall is a large retention pond and there’s no protective netting, so baseballs hit far enough will roll down a grassy slope and into the drink. Experienced ball hunters come prepared with a golf ball retriever with an extendable pole to help them snatch the ball before it sinks to the murky bottom.
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On this day, no one was nearly as prepared and if anyone had any ideas about stepping into the water, that quickly changed with the nearby sign warning of “alligators in the area.” No such creatures are visible, but probably better safe than sorry.
A sign warns fans of alligators in the pond outside the Houston Astros’ spring training facility on Tuesday, March 8, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Matt Young/Houston Chronicle)
Ben Posson, who made the trip from San Antonio with his wife Andrea and two teenage children, managed to snag eight balls before they found their way into the danger zone, and that’s all he needed.
Before this week, Posson’s lone MLB ball was a cherished one he caught during batting practice at Daikin Park on a birthday trip Andrea gifted him. That ball made this trip from his desk to Florida and while 15-year-old Emily and 13-year-old Grant were inside the facility getting it signed by Altuve, Peña and Yordan Alvarez, dad was outside trying to secure more autograph material for them.
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“This is a fun chance to get a ball,” said Posson, who later said his finds also ended up with new signatures on them. “I don’t think many people know about it.”
That’s because most fans are inside the gates trying to get players’ autographs, but Granger is undecided which part of spring training is his favorite.
“Out here you get to chase balls,” said Granger, who wears No. 3 on his Little League team to represent Pena, his favorite player. “But in there, you get to see the players up close.”
This article originally published at Want a ball from Houston Astros’ spring training practice? Just stand outside the gates and wait..