"HE STOLE IT!"

[vicfurth]

The Texas Rangers have their own Steve Bartman now. Story...

A 30-year-old guy comes to the ballpark a normal guy, & he leaves as the biggest jerk in Texas. He goes to catch a foul ball in the stands, catches it, but he steals the ball from a little kid in doing so. The commentator was livid, a crowd of 30,000 people are all chanting "give him the ball", and the stadium announcer nearly punched him. The announcer went to talk to him during the game (this part was televised) and the old guy basically said he wanted the ball, wasn't giving it back, and he didn't care how he got the ball as long as he got one. The guys in the booth were saying stuff like (and I paraphrase), "If he wanted a baseball that bad, go buy a dozen at the sports store. He didn't catch it, he stole it." The kid ended up getting three baseballs and two bats personally delivered by Cardinals players...

In the wise words of my cousin...

"Don't try to catch a foul ball. You may end up ruining your life."

EDIT: I encourage everyone who reads this thread to check out the highlights on Sportscenter or Baseball Tonight tonight. It's even worse to watch than read about.

[zer0dotcom]

what an ass. at least the little boy did get something to remind him of his trip, and it was a great gesture on the part of the players for doing so. guys like this need to be taken behind the barn and shot.

what an ass

[Stampman]

Well the team showed class...

[vicfurth]

More of the Story (near the end)

My bad, both teams gave him stuff. Even the guy got something from Steve Kline of the Cards. A special t-shirt that read "Tough Guy" & "Ball Stealer".

[Roger Clemente]

I'm willing to bet the fans that saw him beat him up in the parking lot afterwards.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Shmee]

I'm willing to bet the fans that saw him beat him up in the parking lot afterwards.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

Nahhh...the ESPN article says he left early...guess he wanted to avoid the crowd.

[KCScout76]

Kudos to the Cardinal players, may the "ball stealer" rot in H-E-double hockeystick.

There are players with class that play in the majors, it's great to see that.

[tajmccall]

Wow, well people like that generally have their own demons, we dont need to feed into it by villifying(spel chek) more so than he already did himself.

in future news, a 30 year old texas man hangs himself after being a jackass, and getting nonstop hassle for it.

[paynomind]

Actually, people like that generally dont KNOW they are an @$$hole...

...and deserve whatever they get.

[STL FANATIC]

I was watching as it was the Cards game.

This 4 year old kid is at his first game. The guy jumps down a row, accidentally kicks this kid in the face and is sort of laying on his mom's legs as he snags the ball. The mom starts wacking him with her scorecard or program or something...

Everyone starts chanting, but the guy doesn't do anything.

A kid who is probably about 11 teaches the 30 year old guy a lesson, as he comes from his seats to give the 4 year old his ball.

Then, Reggie Sanders personally gives the kid a bat and a ball, though the ball may have been from ump, Angel Hernandez. The Rangers via ushers and who not (as in not actual players, though, still quite nice and classy) give the kid a Kevin Menche bat and a Nolan Ryan autographed ball. I believe I might have seen an adult fan also come down from his seat to give the kid a ball, unless that was one of the ushers.

Steve Kline, one of the Cards bullpen pitchers who has one of those competitive, come at you, serious but sarcastic attitudes has a Cardinal shirt ready to give the guy that says "Tough Guy" and "Ball Stealer" written on it by Kline.

Kline never gets the oppurtunity to give the guy that shirt as he ends up leaving early. The funny thing was, the guy left his seat one direction, and the woman he was there with left the other direction. It appeared his date had enough of him.

Anyway, the guy was definatley a jerk, though, I'm guessing he came off a little worse than he really is.

This was pretty much the highlight of the game, and though I had left to play a round of golf, my mom told me the Cards broadcast made that the play of the game.

I shouldn't say it was the highlight of the game, but it was the most entertaining thing by that time, because the Cards already had at least a 10 run lead by then I think.

[See Red]

That is a real classy act by both organizations.

I believe I might have seen an adult fan also come down from his seat to give the kid a ball, unless that was one of the ushers.

And if it WAS a guy, and not an usher that went down and gave the kid a ball, it was a very classy act by him as well and I would give him something if I was either of the organizations for being such a class act.

It's bad enough to take the ball from the kid, but to practically trample him and his mother and kick the kid in the face to get it is just so much lower of an act. I would've liked to see the ball go through his hands, hit him in the nuts and eventually end up in the control of the 4 year old . THAT would be a top play nominee on sportscenter for sure.

[Roger Clemente]

That man is in serious need of a Tiger Uppercut.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Puckguy14]

Pinned a kid? True class man. Granted a foul ball, but if its between me and a kid, I'll let the kid get it. I'll regret it forever, but the kid will love it.

[vicfurth]

I was watching as it was the Cards game.

This 4 year old kid is at his first game. The guy jumps down a row, accidentally kicks this kid in the face and is sort of laying on his mom's legs as he snags the ball. The mom starts wacking him with her scorecard or program or something...

Everyone starts chanting, but the guy doesn't do anything.

A kid who is probably about 11 teaches the 30 year old guy a lesson, as he comes from his seats to give the 4 year old his ball.

Then, Reggie Sanders personally gives the kid a bat and a ball, though the ball may have been from ump, Angel Hernandez. The Rangers via ushers and who not (as in not actual players, though, still quite nice and classy) give the kid a Kevin Menche bat and a Nolan Ryan autographed ball. I believe I might have seen an adult fan also come down from his seat to give the kid a ball, unless that was one of the ushers.

Steve Kline, one of the Cards bullpen pitchers who has one of those competitive, come at you, serious but sarcastic attitudes has a Cardinal shirt ready to give the guy that says "Tough Guy" and "Ball Stealer" written on it by Kline.

Kline never gets the oppurtunity to give the guy that shirt as he ends up leaving early. The funny thing was, the guy left his seat one direction, and the woman he was there with left the other direction. It appeared his date had enough of him.

Anyway, the guy was definatley a jerk, though, I'm guessing he came off a little worse than he really is.

This was pretty much the highlight of the game, and though I had left to play a round of golf, my mom told me the Cards broadcast made that the play of the game.

I shouldn't say it was the highlight of the game, but it was the most entertaining thing by that time, because the Cards already had at least a 10 run lead by then I think.

You shoulda heard the Rangers' broadcast end of it.

Stadium Announcer (SA)-We'll give you whatever you want if you give the kid the ball

Fan-I don't want anything, I want the ball.

Commentator (Tom Grieve)-I'm not giving him anything. (He said this as the SA was trying to, shall we say, bargain)

It was probably smart of him to leave early. Might've not made it out of the ballpark if he didn't.

New poll: Is this worse than the Bartman incident?

The 11-year old kid was named "Fan of the Game" for giving away his ball.

[Saintsfan]

Jeez what a jerk!

The story reminds me of when I was at a cricket game last year between South Africa and England, and England won. Now usually in cricket if the ball goes into the crowd you have to give it back. But the English batsman, Marcus Trescothick, hit the winning runs exactly in my direction, however I was too busy cheering to notice the ball jump into the crowd and in my direction and some other guy picked it up! Missed my chance of arare souvenir, at least I didn't snatch it off a 4 year old kid!

[Snowcap30]

i saw that on sportcenter, it had to be the funniest thing ive ever seen, not in a mean way but in the way the guy made himself look like a dick like that.

i think he just wanted the ball tho and accidenatlly hit into the kid but he mad matters worse when he wouldnt give it back...

[STL FANATIC]

I don't really think this incident and the Bartman incident compare, but...

I think this is worse. I'll give this 30 year old guy the benefit of the doubt and say both he and Bartman were reacting on instincts diving our towards the ball. Bartman however, would have taken back what he did very fast if he could have (of course, he didn't get the ball either...). This guy had numerous chances to make things closer to right, but he didn't.

Bartman's had an affect on the game, but it wasn't nearly as big as Cubs fans make it out to be. Alou had about a 50/50 shot to catch that ball. It was no sure thing. It did however go down as a strike, still a positive. The Cubs could have easily overcome that, but they choked with bad pitching and bad defense. Bartman was the least of their problems in that inning.

This guy's actions had no affect on the game, but they do reflect on THE GAME (of baseball), and not in a positive way. The game is about the exact opposite of what that guy made it, and I think if they are comparable, this situation is worse.

[yh]

The announcer went to talk to him during the game (this part was televised) and the old guy basically said he wanted the ball, wasn't giving it back, and he didn't care how he got the ball as long as he got one.

The bigger jerk here is you, Vic, for calling someone who's only 30 an "old guy."

That really hurts.

Now where did I put that Metamucil? Oh, there it is, by the Geritol.

Back to the primary topic, I'm sure a lot of ballplayers throughout MLB would have done the same thing that the Cards players did - showing goodwill even as the visiting team - but I'm very proud that the St. Louis franchise was involved in this particular, highly publicized situation. For those outside the area, this is truly emblematic of Cardinal Nation. I'm sure if Tony LaRussa were at the game there would have probably been a post-game trip to the clubhouse involved as well.

And by the way, is there any mention of the "old guy" being honored later in the season at Comiskey Park? I'm assuming he's somehow affiliated with Tom Gamboa's "fan club."

[STL FANATIC]

Just to add to YH, I first off agree with him about the Cards and how true that represents Cardinal Nation. Like he said, I'm sure the Cards aren't the only team who would have done this...As far as I know the Rangers never had the kid meet any players, but they did quite a bit for the kid.

I also agree about LaRussa...to add on to why he wasn't there though...he was at his daughters college graduation in California.

[jlucas4092]

The 11-year old kid was named "Fan of the Game" for giving away his ball.

Glad to hear that. That kid didn't get enough press.