Baseball Fans: What would you do? (long)

[Jeff Clark]

Here's the situation: Yesterday's game, Texas Rangers vs. St. Louis cardinals. A Ranger player hits a soft foul ball just behind the Cards dugout. A 4 year old fan in the front row has his glove on and he's ready. The ball is coming right to him when an older man behind him literally pushes the kid out of the way and grabs the ball. now I know the kid is 4 and probably wouldn't have caught the ball anyway, but that's beside the point. The crowd tries to get him to give the ball to the kid, he refuses. The TV announcers see what is going on and send their roving reporter down there. They offer him anything he wants to give the ball to the kid. He still refuses. The Cards bench see's what is going on and Reggie Sanders goes out, calls the kid down, and gives him an autographed ball and one of his bats. Two of the Ranger players go over and do the same. The guy was hounded so much by the crowd he finally got up and left, with his foul ball.



Here's my question: Would anybody here keep the ball in the same situation? Does the foul ball mean that much? I go the ballpark on a fairly regular basis. In all my nearly 28 years I've never caught a foul ball, not even close. But I always thought that if I did, I would hand it to the first young fan I saw knowing that it would make that kid's day.



I guess this is more of a rant than anything. I just can't believe someone would do that.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

1. ) I would'nt have pushed to kid out of the way of the ball.



2. ) If he didn't catch it, and I did, I would have given it to him.

 

[Casey Ray]

My wife saw this on the local news this morning and told me about it when I got out of the shower. My wife who doesn't know baseball from squat was p. o. 'd. Naturally she didn't know the teams involved, but was ranting about the guy like there was no tomorrow, said the guys girlfriend even turned her back on him and the lil guys mom was giving him the whatfor. Glad to hear the fans got on him, hope he will be too embarrassed to show his face in town. Good to hear the teams got involved. 'Lil guy probably won't forget that game.



I'm with you on giving the ball to a young'un.



Take care,



Casey

 

[Rman]

It's just a baseball, iw ouldn't have pushed the kid and I sure as hell would have given the ball to him if I caught it. ridiculous. A 12 dollar baseball!

 

[mikel]

The guy that kept the ball is an ass. He took it from a kid, it takes a pretty big man to take something from a kid.



Mike

 

[Jumbo Jet]

Do you think the guy may have been trying to protect the kid from brain damage or other injury?



Well, that would be a good excuse I guess, but HE SHOULD HAVE given the kid the ball.



Why didn't someone just kick his a$$!

 

[s2Mumford]

Shoulda punched that little punk in the mouth!



Who the hell does he think he is, going to a baseball game to have fun!











Seriously, what a jerk that dude was. Least he could have done was apologize to the little boy and given him the ball. I bet he is popular today!

 

[Rattlin_Ram]

Went to a game at our local minor league park here in Colorado Springs last week. Took the kids and actually witnessed the opposite. Down a few rows from us, a woman caught a foul ball and handed it to a kid 9 or 10 year old girl behind her.



I wouldn't have pushed the kid, and if I did I surely would've given him the ball.



My daughter has a ball she got from the same park I was talking about above from a few years ago. Actually it is a replacement ball, autographed my someone (can't remember who), but the original was chewed up by our yellow lab just after we got him. I wrote an email to someone at the park and they hooked me up with replacement autographed ball, and a letter to my daughter. She still remembers the day she got the original, she was 5 years old at the time, she's 8 now.

 

[Rman]

Originally posted by Jumbo Jet

Do you think the guy may have been trying to protect the kid from brain damage or other injury?



Well, that would be a good excuse I guess, but HE SHOULD HAVE given the kid the ball.



Why didn't someone just kick his a$$!

it did say SOFT foul ball... anyhoo, someone shoulda kicked him where the sun don't shine.

 

[Jeff Clark]

This guy is still getting attention on the news. People know his name now and it said on the news that he USED to be a youth leader at his church. His neighbors say he hasn't been home since the game on Sunday.

 

[socal_rattler]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=545&e=5&u=/ap/foul_ball_boy

 

[JLEONARD]

I wouldn't have pushed him out of the way. The kid at 4 or any age deserves the chance on his own and the experience of not succeeding... (it would help him in the future... make him more determined perhaps).

I would have tried to position myself for the "rebound" or to protect him from an injurious hit if possible , and given it to the kid if I was lucky enough to grab it... .

Anyway, adults need to act like adults... ok, at least in that situation.

Jay