Baseball Fans Today

[nostopballa]

I heard about this earlier, how can a fan be so eager for a simple base ball?

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/sports/article.adp?id=20040616101809990001

*note* i know AOL sucks

I don't know how many of you saw or heard about this, but I wanted to know if anyone has a link to the footage of this actually happening.

[bvbaseball1]

its for AOL members only... tell us what happened... I'd like to know being a diehard baseball fan myself

[HansSky]

DALLAS (June 16) -- A Texas baseball fan who prompted a public outcry when he knocked aside a 4-year-old boy to get a foul ball now says he will give the ball to the youngster, the Texas Rangers announced.

The fan, Matt Starr, also agreed to send a letter of apology to the family of Nick O'Brien and buy them tickets to future Rangers games, a club official 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 John Blake, Rangers senior vice president.

Club spokesman Gregg Elkin said the Rangers did not influence Starr. "He did this on his own, through an intermediary," Elkin said.

No one answered the telephone at Starr's home Wednesday evening, and he has not publicly responded to the criticism. The Dallas Morning News identified him as a married, 28-year-old landscaper and former youth minister.

Starr, who was sitting behind Nick at a game in Arlington on Sunday, knocked the boy against the seats as he dived to get the foul ball. Fans started chanting "Give him the ball!" but he wouldn't give it up.

"I couldn't believe someone would do something like that to a 4-year-old boy," said Nick's mother, Edie O'Brien.

O'Brien said she swatted the man with a cardboard fan and called him a jerk, among other names. "I said, 'You trampled a 4-year-old boy to get this ball,' and he said, 'Oh, well,"' she told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, adding that the man seemed proud he got the ball.

Video shows Nick was standing up as the man dived across the boy's seat to grab the ball at Nick's feet. Starr's leg strikes the boy, and the boy is jostled a second time as the man stands up with the ball and appears to exchange words with the mother.

Nick wasn't hurt, but fan outrage mushroomed, and even Rangers announcer Tom Grieve voiced his disapproval on television, calling Starr "the biggest jerk in this park."

The Rangers and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals quickly made sure Nick got souvenirs of his own -- two bats and four baseballs, including one signed by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, a former Ranger.

[nostopballa]

DALLAS (June 16) -- A Texas baseball fan who prompted a public outcry when he knocked aside a 4-year-old boy to get a foul ball.

my grandparents said that they saw it on a replay on the news or ESPN or something, that the mother of the child hit the guy in the head with a small cardboard sign or somthing like it. The kid was brought on a news show and was given more murchandise then just a baseball, if i find another article not on AOL ill link it here.

[Squeek]

He should sue for mental trauma or something. Cardboard hurts you know. And with stupid court cases like what we've seen these days he could probably get millions! That lady who sued McDonald's for having her coffee "too hot without knowing it was going to be hot" got billions right? All you have to do is claim idiocy and you too can be rich!

~Squeek

[bvbaseball1]

I'd dive for a baseball at a game and all that shit... But if I knocked up a youngster I would give it to him; nonetheless i would give it too him anyways - not like that ball is worth anything. Also the kid got a fucking nolan ryan signed ball... He should shut up and go home cause thats a piece of ace right there. But only a jackass, or a drunk jackass would do that. Just sad. Also... its Texas.

[Jam930]

...He could have inadvertantly saved the boy's life by grabbing that ball.

but we can't know for sure...

I'm sure he's not a bad guy, just a crazy fan that wasn't thinking clearly at the time.

[evilbutterfly]

or maybe it was staged so the kid would get all this pity and free stuff. hell, if somebody came to me and said "hey, if u dive and knock my kid down, we'll give u some of the free sympathy gifts" i'd be like "hell yeah, man, i'll knock the kid out!"