DETROIT -- Growing up in Jackson, Mich., some 80 miles away from Detroit, Ryan LaMarre still had some great memories of Tigers baseball at old Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park.
None of them will top the White Sox left fielder's first career home run he hit in the second inning of Tuesday's 6-3 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park. And in an even stranger twist, one of LaMarre's uncles retrieved the baseball before the White Sox even asked about it.
"I don't think anyone in the dugout knew it was my first homer, so when [White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] found out about it, he called the bullpen to get that ball," LaMarre said. "It was my uncle. He already had it.
"He was sitting up there. I don't know if he caught it on the fly or on the bounce, but he wouldn't give it back. He was bringing it over to my parents. I'm not sure which uncle -- I have a lot of them -- but one of them caught the ball, which is crazy."

When asked the odds of an uncle catching home run No. 1, LaMarre smiled and said, "Probably the same odds as me hitting a homer, considering I had zero coming into the game. It made it even more special."
LaMarre made his Major League debut in 2015, with the Reds, and played with three other teams before the White Sox claimed him off waivers from the Twins in July. This was his 51st big league game.
LaMarre's blast to left off Blaine Hardy gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead after each team scored three in the first. The 29-year-old, who played three seasons at the University of Michigan, also made a diving catch on a James McCann line drive to end the eighth.

A traditional postgame beer shower followed LaMarre's career milestone. But with his wife, Whitney, his parents, Kevin and Maryanne, his grandparents and numerous other family members and friends in attendance, the celebration had to wait until LaMarre had the chance to see as many people as possible.
"It's an amazing moment," White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito said. "He came back to the dugout so pumped up. It gives me a good feeling to go out the next inning and play off that."
"I fist-pumped around the bases. I was so excited," LaMarre said. "It was something I've been kind of hoping to get out of the way at some point. To do it here and in Detroit was something I feel like you couldn't dream up."