Grease up your ball mitts but leave the rest of the gear at home: This game is all about catch and how many people show up to play.
Join the fun on Sept. 21 for what organizers Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center hope will be the largest game of catch and break the Guiness Record. The event is happening on Sunday, Sept. 21 at Yogi Berra Stadium, directly adjacent to the museum, at Montclair State University, 27 Clove Road, Little Falls, New Jersey.
Registration is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Big Catch starts at 1 p.m. All participants must bring a softball of baseball mitt.
Needed: 1,946 players
Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge means that the Museum must bring together at least 973 pairs — 1,946 players — to play catch simultaneously for five minutes. It’s OK to drop the ball.
Sept. 21 was picked as the date of the World Record try for two reasons:
⚾It marks one day before Berr’s 1st major league game in 1946 (he hit a homer)
⚾It’s one day before the anniversary of his death in 2015
How to Signup
Registration for the record attempt, which will be adjudicated by an official Guinness World Record representative, is now open at www.yogisbigcatch.org.
All participants will receive a commemorative T-shirt and there will be activities in the stadium plus free admission to the Museum after the attempt. Cost to register is $25 per pair, $15 per single player and $5 for spectators.
Why Go For the Record Now
Organizers have said in the past that this isn’t about breaking a record as it is as a way to recognize Yogi’s centennial year in a way that brings the community together. It was important that the centennial honored the the values Yogi stood for his entire life: respect, teamwork, sportsmanship and excellence.
The current record for the largest game of catch is 972 pairs or 1,944 people, by the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, on June 18, 2017.