Cool fan behavior at MP

by tristarscoop on Aug 27, 2009 12:42 AM CDT Comment 19 comments

It's rare that I'll use any of my writing platforms for anything extraneous, but tonight I want to use the reach this site has to point out some pretty cool fans sitting near us today.

We were in row 2 of section 207 and had a family with young children up the row from us. We were in prime area to catch balls from the right fielder and ball girl after the warm up catch game that occurs every half-inning.

There was a family down the row from us and the dad of the youngsters had his glove out and had a ball headed his way when the guy in front of him jumped up and snagged it.

A few innings later, the group of five or so younger teenage guys in front of us caught the ball girl's attention and got a ball tossed their way. One of them biffed it and one of the others made a beautiful snag over the railing to save it from dropping below.

The next inning, I notice the two tipsy 20-something couples sitting behind the family talking and pulling out wallets. Then, one of them comes and sits next to me, taps the teenager with the baseball on the shoulder and offers him some money to give the ball to the young boy down my row, which the teenager did immediately. The guy from behind me wouldn't take no for an answer, so the teen kept the money.

A little while later, one of the other teens caught another ball and gave it to the little boy's sister and the first teen gave the couples their money back.

There are so many stories of rowdy, drunk, dumb fans out there, I was pretty impressed with what I saw tonight and I thought these folks deserved some props. If there were a way I could have given the teens sort of "reward" they would have accepted, I would have. So instead, I have to hope one of them reads BCB.

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i read the title and immediately expected sarcasm

but was pleasantly surprised.

"I'll be glad to have Ryan help if he wants to. I'll give him a badge and he can be my deputy."
-Sheriff Melvin

by sowingwildoats on Aug 27, 2009 3:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

sounds like they were somewhat guilted into it or didn't think of it themselves

but they ended up doing the right thing.

who was the guy that jumped in front? was he associated with any of the parties, or did he get lost immediately after taking ball #1.

by PagsBrewCrew on Aug 27, 2009 6:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe it was the happy youngster.

Steve
http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com

by stigmo on Aug 27, 2009 12:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm of two minds on the subject of foul balls

A young child gets an initial thrill of having the foul ball given to them and on the ride home. Once they’re home (or maybe have even fallen asleep on the way), they pretty much forget about the whole thing. At the very least it’s not too important.

If the person that caught the ball before giving it to the youngster actually intended to keep the ball, if not get it signed by a player, then why should they be expected to give it up to a young child sitting close by? I’m not advocating the run over the little kids to get the ball, but can’t an adult enjoy a foul ball, too?

I suppose the teenage girls in this scenario probably would’ve valued it even less than the young kid would’ve so that argument doesn’t necessarily apply here.

by ecocd on Aug 27, 2009 6:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think it was expected that they give up the ball.

They were just trying to do something nice.

by Legend54321 on Aug 27, 2009 7:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They won't forget about it

They’ll tell every one of their friends at school.

Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".

by tcyoung on Aug 27, 2009 9:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's exactly it.

You’d be surprised at how often a small child (6 year old in my case) will out of the blue say “Do you remember when…” and then proceed to rattle off a fairly accurate tale of something that happened 6 months ago.

by Brew Angel on Aug 27, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Can't an adult enjoy a foul ball, too?"

No. :)

I see your point but why isn’t the momentary thrill for the kid reason enough? Maybe it’s because I’m a Dad, but to me what they do with the ball later doesn’t matter once I’ve seen the reaction of the kid in the moment he’s given the ball.

BTW, my 5 year old still has and loves the ball he was handed when he was at a game last year. He keeps it in his room and won’t permit anyone to use it to actually play baseball with it.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Aug 27, 2009 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

When my daughter was 7 we were sitting down the third base line field level. It was against the Giants when a foul ball was hit well above us – but ricocheted off the concrete fascia of the Loge level and flew back at us. I caught the ball (somehow). She held that ball for the rest of the game and she put it on the shelf behind the bar when we got home.

When my daughter was 8 we went to a game early enough to watch BP. We were in the right field corner when Dennis Sarfate and some other Brewer call up where shagging fly balls. My daughter obviously wanted one, so I told her that they players first name was Dennis and to get his attention she had to yell out his name and ask for the ball. The hope was that by calling a minor leaguer by his first name and not ‘hey number 73’ she would get his attention. She got a BP ball thrown up at her by Dennis. We also got a Prince Fielder BP HR that day. Ok I almost trampled over her to get that ball, but we left the game with two baseballs that day.

She is now 11. To this day, when ever someone new comes over – either adult or child, she shows them the balls and tells the story about the foul ball that almost hit her that her daddy caught. She knows that Dennis (no clue what his last name was) threw her a ball at BP and that daddy ran her over to get a Prince HR ball.

Never discount the memory of a child. They remember everything.

by Saberilliterate on Aug 28, 2009 8:45 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs