Baseball fans have been left furious after a man stole a ball away from a young girl during a game on Monday night.
At the bottom of the fifth inning of the game between Tampa Bay and Cleveland, Guardians star Daniel Schneemann smashed a two-run home run to the right field.
The adult fan attempted to catch it but botched his attempt, leading the ball to squirm out of his hands and bounce towards a young girl.
She raced down the steps to try and grab it and take home a memorable souvenir, only for the man to fumble around on the floor alongside her and grab it before she had the chance.
The man then lifted it into the air in an embarrassing celebration before returning to his seat, leaving the girl devastated.
A clip of the incident quickly went viral and caused fury on social media, with baseball fans labeling the man ‘pathetic’.
A Cleveland Guardians fan has been blasted for stealing a ball away from a young girl
The fan failed to catch the ball and then raced over to grab it before the little girl could
The young girl looked devastated by the incident as fans destroyed the man on social media
One posted: ‘As many games I’ve gone to in my MLB life, I have never caught a ball but I would NEVER steal the opportunity from a kid. Pathetic response from the guy.’
Another commented: ‘Imagine celebrating after you wrestle a little girl for a baseball. That is an all-time bozo move.’
A third replied: ‘What a greedy grown a** man. I can’t stand old people doing this to children. Every if he genuinely caught the ball which is obvious he did not. He could have pretended he missed and handed it to the little girl.’
‘As a man, you shouldn’t even make an attempt at a foul ball unless it’s to keep it from hitting a woman or child,’ another commented.
‘Typical Cleveland fan for you. They’re the worst,’ one fan exclaimed.
The moment was caught on live TV and Tampa Bay’s play-by-play announcer Andy Freed issued a stunned response. He said: ‘No! He’s not gonna steal that!’
‘Yeah, that can’t happen,’ color commentator Brian Anderson then added.
Fortunately, there was a happy ending to the story thanks to the Rays’ broadcast crew’s sideline reporter, Ryan Bass.
After watching the incident unfold, Bass raced up to the section the girl was sitting in and handed both her and her younger brother a baseball. The girl was seen crying as Bass walked away.
Tampa Bay’s sideline reporter Ryan Bass went up to the stands and gave the girl her own ball
Bass posed for a selfie with the family after his act of kindness ensured a happy ending
The young girl’s mom revealed in a Facebook post later on Monday the man gave the ball back
‘Just exercising all of that bonus girl dad energy,’ Bass posted alongside a clip of the moment.
The Rays broadcast also revealed they saw the girl’s brother approach the man and ask for the ball back for his sister during a commercial break.
And the girl’s mom revealed on Facebook later on Monday night that the man did, in fact, give the ball back.
Nikki DeVore posted: ‘You know my son went to ask him for the ball, which was so brave.
‘I just have to say thank you to Tampa for broadcasting it, when Cleveland broadcast cut to puppies rather than show the man stealing the ball from a child.
‘I cannot thank Ryan and Tampa enough for making things right. Thank you all for looking out for ALL young baseball fans. It is top-notch sportsmanship.
‘My daughter and I cried happy tears. I am so proud of my kids for how they handled tonight, and so proud of Tampa and its fans for standing up for my child.
‘The pressure resulted in the man giving her the home run ball back 4-5 innings later towards the end of the game. It wasn’t the same but we appreciated him doing the right thing. But we appreciate all of you even more.’
The incident drew comparisons to the infamous ‘Phillies Karen’, who bullied a man into handing over a home run ball that he’d snagged for his son back in September.
