Rangers Fan Cries After Couple Snags Foul Ball (VIDEO)

Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland tried doing something nice for the fans in the middle of the eighth inning on Wednesday by tossing a foul ball into the stands. The ball was scooped up by a man who handed it to his female companion. The couple was all smiles, but the small child seated with his parents nearby was visibly distraught.

The young Rangers fan started crying as the couple next to them began posing for pictures with the foul ball.

As the YES Network cameras captured the scene, Michael Kay reacted first by saying worse things could happen. But then he ripped the couple for not giving the ball to the kid once he saw the replay.

"Oh my God they can't give it to the kid? They're actually like rubbing it in the kid's face. Very cold," he said.

Luckily, someone in the Rangers dugout noticed and gave the kid another ball.

Crisis averted.

WATCH VIDEO ABOVE

(H/T To Deadspin)

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Comments

[candide63]

06:22 PM on 05/04/2012

It looked to me like the couple was oblivious to the boy. Even if they weren't, so what? They bought their tickets, they were lucky and got a ball. It would have been nice to hand it to the kid but I don't think they're in any way obligated to do it. And I don't think encouraging the kid to think "If I have a tantrum I'll get what I want" is a message to send.

I haven't followed the whole thing on the news but a friend told me that these parents were getting death threats over the matter. Man, that's warped.

[First NameAZ Rock]

09:58 AM on 04/30/2012

I don't know what's worse, the fact that there completely oblivious to what was going on or there excitement over a little white ball... classy.

[Lily P]

06:33 PM on 04/28/2012

The couple didn't know, and have 7 kids between them. You are all WRONG!

[pjlowry]

01:23 AM on 04/28/2012

Turns out the Rangers have been class acts about this. Not only did they give some other goodies to the kid and his family, but they gave the little guy another ball... this time one with the signature of all 25 Rangers on it. Now that is what I call going above and beyond for a fan.

[montanasian]

12:30 AM on 04/28/2012

Lets give the benefit of the doubt to the couple, they might not thought much of a crying kid-they probably thought he was crying for something else. However lets give it up for the Texas Rangers for making the kids day!

[lovelygirl33]

11:51 PM on 04/27/2012

So it turns out it wasn't the couple who were insensitive, but the kid's own mother.

You teach the 'you don't get everything you want' lesson with cookies at the grocery store, NOT with a 3 yr old with a once-in-a-lifetime chance at a major league game. I feel sorry for that poor child who will probably grow up being just as cold as his 'mother' to everybody he deals with.

[NunyaBus99]

08:36 PM on 04/27/2012

It is not like this ball would be worth anything, It wasn't some record breaking home-run, nothing signed by an important player etc...yes, i would have handed the ball over if i realized the kid was crying because of the ball.

As i stated before the ball is basically worthless.

But I do have a question out there for all those stating there is protocol at these games, the people were greedy for not giving the ball, etc.. Would you all give the ball to any kid sitting next to you if the ball was from lets say some famous player on a home-run streak and the home-run broke the all time record and you caught it. Truthfully, would you all fork it over so easily or would you have to think about?

[LeoChild]

08:18 PM on 04/27/2012

Oh this reminds me, I have to change my birth control patch!

[The Doctor Donna]

04:35 PM on 04/27/2012

The protocol in MLB parks is you catch a ball and you look for a small child nearby to give it to. No exception! If you don’t know that, then get the heck out of the park, you don’t belong. And now the couple is saying they’re being vilified unfairly. Bull crap. Look at the video: They’re oblivious, which I think Michael Kay mentioned. Why do people find it so hard to admit a mistake?

[sunflower456]

03:28 PM on 04/27/2012

"omg, profile pic! and then im gonna brag all over facebook about it to make all my friends jealous and for people to see how GREAT my life is!"

After incident:

"Damn, why did that little boy have to ruin my parade!, now everyone will think Im a witch. aww heck, im still going to brag about it and forget everyone who thinks it was wrong! Oh wow, look at that, I still got 50 likes even though a little boy's heart was broken!"

[Aldo Rodriguez]

01:40 PM on 04/27/2012

Well played by the Rangers. Good form!

[pjlowry]

11:29 AM on 04/27/2012

It's clear the player was tossing it to the kid, and how those adults acted was shameful.

I've been trying to catch a foul ball since I was 8, and if that's how I managed to get one... I wouldn't hesitate to give it to the kid. That's just cold.

I hope a player autographed the kids ball...

[Janet Root Wetherell]

05:56 AM on 04/27/2012

When grown adults are so shallow as to rub this kids nose in the fact they snatched away..shame on them..it would not have hurt them one bit and would have been the decent thing to do it give it to the kid..after all they are supposed to be the grownups..but after the vidoe not sure who was the child.. apparenlty thought it was funny thekids was crying..wow/

[goldengirl43]

09:16 PM on 04/28/2012

It's Texas. That explains a lot.

[sterling2112]

05:35 PM on 04/26/2012

Yes, handing the ball over to the screaming kid would have been the nice thing to do but those people are in no way obligated to do so. I think they were just excited to get the ball and were totally oblivious to the kid.

[baxtron]

05:04 PM on 04/26/2012

They didn't exactly rip it out of his hands, and dad doesn't look too upset. My kid cries all the time, that doesn't mean he is right or it is some other adult's fault.

[pjlowry]

11:45 AM on 04/27/2012

That might be true, but if I was sitting beside the kid and I did unintentionally did something that upset him that much... I'd give him the ball. Then again I am a parent so I would be mortified if someone was that cruel to my boy... so I would hand it over without hesitation. Usually when I go to a game, I'm very friendly to the people I'm sitting around, but these people are in their own world, oblivious to everything around them. Very shallow, uncaring and classeless people... most baseball fans are not like that.