this could be one of the most disgusting things i've ever heard or seen in my life. no matter what happens in the end, this guy is one real asshole who should get the beating of his lifetime for this, even though he did agree to give the ball back to the kid. here's the article:


Baseball Lessons: Young Plano boy learned a lot from his first game

12:49 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Nick O'Brien, age 4, has reminded us just how much can be learned about life from the sport of baseball. Or at least from the sport of watching baseball, which, it turns out, is a full-contact sport at times.

Nick was watching his first professional live baseball game on Sunday at Ameriquest Field in Arlington when a foul ball headed his way. He never saw it land, though, because by the time the ball arrived, he had been shoved out of the way and pinned against the seat in front of him as a rude fan lunged toward the ball with no regard for others.

The fan climbed back over young Nick's seat to hold up the ball in triumph. As an unsettled Nick tried to understand what had just happened, fans started chanting, "Give him the ball!" The unidentified man refused and, eventually, his date would force him to leave the stadium. So let's recap what young Nick (and all of us) have learned from this:

That some adults act like jerks, not only when a historic home-run ball heads their way, but even for a measly, random, third-inning foul ball.

That sometimes, when adults act like jerks, they don't apologize, even when publicly scolded by a stadium full of angry fans.

On a more positive note, that when others see that you have been treated unfairly, they will come to your defense. Nick may have set a new world record for making 40,000 new friends in a matter of minutes.

That when something exciting happens in a blowout of a baseball game, no one talks about the fact that the starting pitcher gave up nine runs in a little more than one inning.

That some professional athletes still have the right attitude. While others have insisted that they are not role models, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders, whose foul ball made these lessons possible, sees it differently. He called the boy and his mother down to the dugout and gave him a bat. "I felt in my heart I should do something," Mr. Sanders said. "You gotta remember, it's all about the kids."

Amen to that. And thank goodness for people like Mr. Sanders and Rangers outfielder Kevin Mench and the other baseball players who showered young Nick with bats and balls in an attempt to show that not all big people only look out for themselves.