Sunday’s news – Man tramples 4 year old to get foul ball (See the replay). He refused to give the ball to the youngster even after the stadium (and TV announcers) turn on him.
(ARLINGTON, Texas) — A four-year-old Texas boy didn’t get the ball but he got a lot more.
A man sitting behind Nick O’Brien at a Rangers baseball game Sunday was shown on video diving for a foul ball and knocking the boy against the seats. Fans chanted for the man to give the boy the ball, but he wouldn’t.
The Rangers and the rival St. Louis Cardinals gave Nick some souvenirs of his own — two bats and four baseballs, including one signed by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.Today’s news – Man says he will give foul ball to boy
The Texas baseball fan who prompted a public outcry when he knocked aside a 4-year-old to get a foul ball now says he will give the ball to the youngster.
Matt Starr has also agreed to send a letter of apology to the family of Nick O’Brien and buy his family tickets to future Texas Rangers games, club official John Blake said Wednesday.
“The fan let it be known to us that he wanted to give the ball back, and we informed the family that it indeed is going to happen,” said Blake, Rangers senior vice president.
Club spokesman Gregg Elkin said the Rangers did not orchestrate Starr’s decision.
“He did this on his own, through an intermediary,” Elkin said. “Someone that knows him said, ‘Hey, he wants to do this, can you help him get it to the O’Briens?’ and that’s all we’re doing.Steve Bartman must be the happiest man on earth today.
Update: St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Reggie Sanders deserves a “good guy” award for seeing the play in the clubhouse and coming out and giving a bat and ball to the kid (as shown in the video.
I would be too, if I were him. He certainly was quite reviled for a bit there… and probably still is in some places.
Gotta love the guy’s wife/girlfriend who apparently was fine enough with the whole fiasco to not force the prick to give the ball back.
Sorry, Kev…
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Wait a minute. I watched the clip and the kid wasn’t going for the ball. The little guy had no idea where it was. That doesn’t mean the guy wasn’t a jerk for diving and tumbling over the seats and almost hurting the kid.
The kid barely got touched…this is ridiculous. He never even so much as fell. The kid got the worst as the guy got up quickly because the dumb mother was hitting him with paper, when her son was not in any danger. I think the mother should get an award for being an IDIOT. The child does not deserve any souvenirs or the ball.
Brian is right, this has been taken too far. When the guy jumped over the seats to catch the ball, the boy wasn’t touched, he was fine. There’s no reason to make such a big deal about such a stuipid thing. I think the media and the baseball teams are making this worse than it is. They are teaching this little kid poor lessons at life. You can just exxagerate injuries and suffering and people will give you free stuff. Come on, that wasn’t a big deal and there’s no reason he deserves that foul ball or any other ball from the team. The kid needs to grow up and the players are doing nothing to promote his growth. Instead they are impeding it by teaching him poor lessons in life and spoiling him. This cannot go on.
I gotta side with Sean here. The kid was mostly oblivious. He was jostled but not injured.
It doesn’t excuse the man for being a jerk and diving over those seats in a most incredible display of greed for a common baseball, but it wasn’t child endangerment, nor did the man steal the ball from the kid.
The man may have been too aggresive with the foul ball, but I think that the mother is the jerk. That ball was never the kid’s, but she used her own child to get all the baseball memorabilia, ranger’s tickets, the trip to Good Morning America in NY, Mets tickets, and her 15 minutes of fame. If you think about it, the man was the real victum
I also think that it is sad that the facts have been so misconstrued by the media and it has been blown way out of proportion.
I think I’m in love with that little boi…I’m also fat!