SAN DIEGO -- There are more reasons for fans to bring a glove to a ballgame than just catching a batted ball, especially when Brad Penny is the scheduled starter.

Penny made his way to the Dodgers bullpen 30 minutes before Saturday's scheduled first pitch, ready to start his warmups, but there was nobody in sight to catch him.

Penny grabbed a catcher's glove from the bullpen bench and sought to enlist a red-shirted usher, who declined. Penny next approached a member of the grounds crew who was removing a tarp from the second-base area, but he also begged off.

Penny then headed back over toward the box seats, picked out a fan wearing Dodgers gear with a fielder's glove sitting in the fifth row, and played catch with the man from 100 feet away in right field, the ball sailing back and forth from field to stands, until a bullpen catcher arrived.