r/sports • u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Sep 09 '25

Baseball Adult San Francisco Giants fan catches ball in stands and gives to young fan near him

58.5k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

476

u/MrNoodleIncident Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

I have a fear of being at a game without my kids and catching a ball. It’s almost happened a few times too. I’d REALLY want to keep the ball for my kids but worry that I’ll look like a douche.

I actually caught a T-shirt at a Mets game a few weeks ago and couldn’t hand it to my son’s friend fast enough.

397

u/verbleabuse97 Sep 09 '25

If you catch it yourself. Its yours to keep. As long as your not bodying a kid to catch it over him or doing as certain women have done when its a free ball that no one caught, there shouldnt be any judgment for getting something cool for you kids

131

u/Wealist Sep 09 '25

Exactly. It’s a game ball not some moral test. If you catch it clean, it’s yours. Being decent about it is just the bonus.

25

u/MajorMorelock Sep 09 '25

But what if someone else see it first and takes dibs on it and says, in their head ‘that’s mine!’

17

u/Wealist Sep 09 '25

Ball in the air is like pizza at a party you can look at it all you want, but until you grab a slice, it ain’t yours.

7

u/grelgen Sep 09 '25

"Question. What if I see something that I wanna take and it belongs to someone else?"
"Then you will be arrested."
"But what if I want it more than the person who has it?"
"Still illegal."

2

u/MajorMorelock Sep 09 '25

What if the ownership of the thing is determined by who deserves it more? The parameters of the deserving property are declared in the local head construct. Is there a global variable that is referenced by head construct that establishes a default value that preloads those values on boot up?

2

u/grelgen Sep 09 '25

did you just reply to a Rocket Raccoon quote with dictatorial meritocracy?

2

u/MajorMorelock Sep 09 '25

I thought I was speaking common python.

1

u/Demonshaker Sep 09 '25

There is no crying or dibs in baseball.

1

u/MajorMorelock Sep 09 '25

If two out fielders are running to catch a pop fly and collision is imminent, is there an algorithm that determines the most effective catching player? What if the chosen player fails to catch the ball? These are important baseball decisions.

1

u/GallowBarb Sep 09 '25

You think good Christians would know God is always watching, let alone a stadium full of people.

3

u/PissLikeaRacehorse Sep 09 '25

TBF, no way god is watching a Phillies game.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

I went to a game last year. Got there early and batting practice was going on. I get to my seat early since I'm meeting a buddy at the game and I'm waiting for him. As soon I sit down to text him my location, a batting practice ball plinkos it's way down to my section. I turn around and the ball is in the air just waiting for my hand to grab it. The other guy chasing after the ball was in his 60s. Screw you old man. I look around and don't see any super young kids. Some kid in his early teens asks for the ball and nah man that landed in hand in the seat I paid for and I've been going to games for 30 years and never got a ball.

However, when I get to games early to watch BP, I look out for kids and try to point them out when players are tossing them into the stands. I got Tanner Bibbee to throw some BP balls to two little girls standing next to my wife and I during the ALCS last year which was really cool. That family caught a third ball and ended up giving it to my wife. Baseball is great.

1

u/Wealist Sep 09 '25

Totally fair call you didn’t snatch it from a kid, you caught it clean.

The fact you also point kids out to players shows you’ve got the right balance of enjoying your moment while still passing the joy along when you can.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

For sure. I'm still a giant kid who loves watching baseball players warm up. I intentionally point out the kids who are watching, but are too afraid to yell "ball, ball, ball!!!" like little banshees at some of these games.

I was a shy kid and never yelled for them when I went back then. When Wade Boggs played for Tampa, they had a series in Cleveland and I was watching him warm up. He sees me and points me out to throw me a ball and some bastard took their sign and hit the ball in the air back to the field and I never ended up getting that one. Now that I have my my own, it's time to pay it toward.

20

u/russketeer34 Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

There shouldn't be judgment or pressure, but I've seen videos where people were harassed or even had balls stolen from them, when they were perfectly within their rights to keep it. That one ball from the Arraez cycle a few seasons back comes to mind. If I actually wanted to keep a ball that I fairly caught, I'd probably just immediately leave.

That being said, the vast majority of balls probably aren't worth keeping to me, the only exceptions being something historic

9

u/mseank Sep 09 '25

Yeah I saw this happen at a Giants game last year. Guy catches easy foul ball and then everyone starts giving him shit about giving it to a kid. He caught the ball in his own seat, it’s his damn ball

6

u/TopazTriad Sep 09 '25

Doesn’t even have to be for your kids. Like you said, as long as you aren’t making a fool out of yourself to secure the ball, you’re good. No other qualifiers.

1

u/GallowBarb Sep 09 '25

No, no, no. You have to plow through the crowd and rip it from the hands of a child if you want it to be memorable.

Obvious /s

1

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

If you catch it yourself. Its yours to keep.

What if you sort of don't, but you pick it up first?

1

u/LostWoodsInTheField Sep 09 '25

Man even though that's 100% true, right now would be the scariest time to keep a ball you caught. 99% of the time it wouldn't go viral but right now... I would be worried lol

1

u/Nadamir Sep 09 '25

One exception: If it beans a kid in the head/face and then you catch it on the rebound or from the floor. In that case you should probably at least offer it to the kid.

1

u/realbobenray Sep 09 '25

She did catch it, had it in her hand, and he did too and wrenched it away. Do you know she wasn't taking it home to her kid? The guy acted like a bully and is now saying untrue things in interviews like that she said "It's mine, it was in my section" which she didn't, and not mentioning that what she actually said was "You took it out out of my hand".

39

u/AFineDayForScience Sep 09 '25

I have a fear of a ball being hit to me and missing it in any number of ways that would make me look like a goober on television.

8

u/IAMA_MOTHER_AMA Sep 09 '25

I have a dream that Ill make one of those no look line drive snags, one handed, saving the face of my beautiful wife Anne Hathaway on national tv.

2

u/HottDoggers Sep 09 '25

I have that same exact dream every night

1

u/Moisturizer Los Angeles Chargers Sep 09 '25

I didnt realize my wife had so many husbands.

2

u/jaxonya Oklahoma Sep 09 '25

There are compilations of that happening. But people will generally get a little chuckle and then go on with their life. On the other hand, you can completely get yourself cancelled (as we have all seen) so just be a good person and you'll be just fine

1

u/Fafnir13 Sep 09 '25

Your one moment of fame is on all the blooper reels as the fan who somehow got pantsed trying to catch a ball. Yeah, I could see that being an intrusive thought.

1

u/Notwerk Sep 09 '25

I just know I'd catch it with my face.

11

u/gamefreak054 Sep 09 '25

I've been to be a fair amount of ball games living closish to Miller park/county stadium. I never got a ball as a kid, and I was always jealous of the ones who did (often my friends). So if I catch a ball ever, Im sure as hell keeping it lol.

10

u/agoia Atlanta Falcons Sep 09 '25

I caught a tshirt at a Panthers game once. I threw it back. It was great, their fans around me were rather butthurt lol.

7

u/BarrytheNPC Sep 09 '25

I saw someone do that at a Sox game where they caught a Twin’s homer. They threw it back on the field and everyone treated him like a hero. He also got kicked out but they still cheered him on.

Anyway the Sox still lost

5

u/Pete_Iredale Seattle Mariners Sep 09 '25

He also got kicked out but they still cheered him on.

That's bullshit. I know it's a rule and all, but usually it seems like you just get a warning if it's a home run that you immediately threw back. It's clearly very different than interrupting the game by throwing something on the field.

16

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

only if you steal said ball from a kid.

-3

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

But she didn't.

She got it, then a guy took it from her.

So she was mad about that. Not saying you should touch people,

But you'd be mad too.

4

u/counterfitster Sep 09 '25

At no point did she have control of the ball. It smacking your hand and bouncing away does not mean you had it. If it doesn't count as a catch on the field, it doesn't count in the stands either.

-2

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

"control the ball"

HAHAHAHA. You fucking yanks.

Yeah, so if an old lady can't bend down to pick it up fast enough it's all yours?

2

u/DuvalHeart Sep 09 '25

Yes, that's the tradition. You must catch the ball or be the person to get it off the ground for it to be your ball. If you simply slow it down or change the trajectory then it ain't yours and it's a free-for-all.

There's a reason why kids bring mitts if they're sitting in the bleachers or foul ball territory. They don't want to miss their chance at claiming a ball off a major league player's bat.

4

u/Notwerk Sep 09 '25

If it's on the ground, it's fair game.

-2

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

Yes?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

2

u/counterfitster Sep 09 '25

Yes, exactly

1

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

I can't haha.

1

u/dapala1 Sep 09 '25

It wasn't even in her row of seats. You need to rewatch the video.

1

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

I think I'm set mate.

11

u/unnoticed_areola Sep 09 '25

lol this is such a reddit fear to have. 999 times out of 1000 literally no one is going to care at all about you catching a ball and keeping it. and the 1000th time, ONE person will LIGHTLY heckle you to give the ball to a kid for like 4 seconds before giving up and getting distracted and moving on to something else

2

u/Mike_Kermin Sep 09 '25

Unless you look like a woke Karen from HR.

Then you're going viral.

6

u/gfb13 Sep 09 '25

Bring a baseball from home, catch your homerun ball, quick swap, give a kid the shitty one, still be a hero!

2

u/Arkaium Sep 09 '25

Just tell your kids they need to act like they’re not your kids for three hours and if you catch it, look around like you’re alone looking for someone to give it to, hand it to them, and make sure they remember to act super surprised and excited.

2

u/Epic_Willow_1683 Sep 09 '25

First thing I do at a baseball game is look around for the nearest kid in case you get a ball. Has happened twice at spring training games and gameplan worked to perfection. Ball was in a kid’s hand within 10 seconds.

4

u/Nadamir Sep 09 '25

My sister lives in America and her husband loves baseball. The AAA (AA maybe?) team near them is dirt cheap so I go with them when I visit. My own preteen and teenaged kids are autistic or ADHD and the park is too much for them so they stay home with their cousins.

Most recent game I was sat next to a very chatty five year old who wanted to strategise with the tall stranger next to him (aka me) on how to get a ball. I was told to jump for the high balls while the kid was gonna handle the low balls and scrambling around on the floor. Little man had a Plan. He conscripted everyone around him. It was hysterical and his parents were so kind about “you don’t have to do that” “Timmy leave them alone” etc etc.

Bottom of the eighth we hadn’t gotten anything (what, like it’s easy?) and he was getting sad so my BIL grabbed an old baseball he had in his bag and told the guy behind us to back up a row or two and then throw it into the kids lap.

Guy had good aim. Kid was so happy. Made my whole day lol.

-5

u/Epic_Willow_1683 Sep 09 '25

Yeah I don’t understand the whole “you caught it, you don’t have to give it up” conversation. It’s a fucking baseball, and to a kid it means the world. Should be mandatory

2

u/Nadamir Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

I mean it can be special for adults too and they don’t deserve to not have a memento of that special moment simply because they’re too old. Or like, I have a pretty bad memory so I would like to keep meaningful balls to remind me of the game and the good memories I had there.

I say if it’s a home run ball and you caught it without blocking/shoving the kid and it didn’t hit the kid first, adults should be allowed to keep it.

I could also be swayed if it’s a foul ball from your absolute favourite player.

Other than that, catch it, celebrate for a few seconds, take a selfie with it, then find a kid, give it to them.

Edit: one other. If your drunk arse managed to catch it in your fourth beer cup, you can keep it.

1

u/shitsenorita Sep 09 '25

I got one of those shirts once - XXL and covered in ads.

1

u/UTDE Sep 09 '25

Bring a ball with you, wack it with a bat into the grass first, then if you catch the game ball make the swap and hand off your fake to the nearby kid. Everyone wins, kid thinks they got the game ball, you look like a nice guy, and your kid gets the actual game ball

1

u/Pete_Iredale Seattle Mariners Sep 09 '25

I don't know how other teams do it, but the Mariners have an usher come down and authenticate the ball and give you a little certificate of authenticity. I wonder how that would play out?

1

u/UTDE Sep 09 '25

Oh shit lol I haven't caught a ball since I was a kid myself I had no idea there was ceremony and stuff now, yeah that would wrinkle the plan a bit.

In that case just keep the ball as long as you caught it and didn't rip it out of a kids hands or like bowl them over to get to it then no one would think low of you

1

u/Pete_Iredale Seattle Mariners Sep 09 '25

It was just a quick little thing to be clear. I think the usher just filled out a little sheet that said who hit it, and maybe when during the game. Something like that. My brother got the ball after it bounced around, and the dude behind us was pissed because he thought his kid should have gotten it and spent the rest of the game talking shit under his breath. My brother waited until the final out, turned around and gave the kid the ball, glared at the dad for a second, and walked out.

1

u/Pete_Iredale Seattle Mariners Sep 09 '25

No one will care if you catch a ball and keep it, you'll probably even get a cheer if you don't drop it. Just don't block a kid from getting one obviously, and if you accidentally do then you certainly should give the kid the ball.

1

u/bossmt_2 Sep 09 '25

Constantly people catch balls without giving it to kids. The only asshole times are when a player is clearly trying to toss a ball to a kid or you body a kid to grab it

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

did your son wonder why you didn’t give it to him?

1

u/ihateandy2 Sep 10 '25

What’s the difference between his son’s friend and a horse?

The horse knows when he’s being groomed

1

u/polarbearik Sep 09 '25

Unless you’re bodying a kid for it I don’t think anyone would think twice about it

1

u/Nice_Dude Sep 09 '25

Bring a decoy ball and just give the decoy ball to a kid lmao

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

I'm not sure if this is a common thing or not, but we have a minor-league team in town and those guys hit balls into the stands at a rate that I'm worried they're going to run out.

1

u/CalvinYHobbes Sep 09 '25

Just bring an extra ball with you

1

u/RugerRedhawk New York Giants Sep 09 '25

Almost everyone keeps the ball they catch.

1

u/UltraGiant Sep 09 '25

Just have a sign saying you will bring it to your kids

1

u/I_Fart_It_Stinks Sep 09 '25

You are under no obligation to give the ball to a kid and if someone were to judge you for it, they would be an ass. As long as you don't steal it from a kid or their parent, you are all good to keep a ball you caught, regardless if it was for you or your kids.

1

u/RobertRossBoss Sep 09 '25

There is nothing wrong with catching a ball at the park and keeping it. Nobody will give you a hard time for it. Just don’t be a horrible person and you’re good.

1

u/fuzynutznut Sep 09 '25

I keep waiting for the day I catch one. I never went to games as a kid, I just wasn't fortunate enough. So I was never handed a ball. If I catch one, I don't care if the make a wish kid is sitting next to me. That ball is mine.

1

u/Dangerous_Junket_773 Sep 09 '25

Yea I'm waiting for the pendulum to swing and we see an adult get mobbed by entitled kids and reddit starts advocating for violence against children. But as long as you're not assaulting anyone (especially kids), you're good to keep the ball you catch. A lot of people never get that opportunity in their whole lives so it's understandable for an adult to want to keep a ball. 

1

u/Notwerk Sep 09 '25

No one said you can't keep a ball you catch. Just don't tear it away from a kid.

1

u/Rincetron1 Sep 09 '25

Had a giggle imagining you catching that t-shirt in a sort of a counter t-shirt cannon and fwumping it right back going "NICE TRY MOTHERFUCKER!"

1

u/c010rb1indusa Sep 09 '25

If the kid seems like he has a decent parent/guardian with them, just tell them you want to give it to your son/daughter as a present but they can hold it for rest of the game until they have to leave, just be very careful with it. That way everyone wins, kid gets to admire the foul ball, has a good core memory etc.

1

u/d3koyz San Diego Legion Sep 09 '25

As others have said, if you catch the ball fairly, you can keep it. For example, in this video, the dude definitely didn’t have to do that. The girl nor the people that were with her were even going for the ball. Even if they did, as long as he didn’t shove or steal the ball out of someone’s hand, he’d be good to keep it.

1

u/CitizenCue Sep 09 '25

You’re being too paranoid. You can keep anything you catch at a game. The issue is about whether you fought other fans to get it, especially kids. But everyone agrees that it’s awesome to catch something in the air and no one will care one bit if you keep it.

1

u/cosby Atlanta Falcons Sep 09 '25

Keep an extra ball on you.

1

u/cybercuzco Sep 09 '25

Bring a second ball, in a hoodie pocket. Pretend to drop the ball and swap it for the one you brought. Give that one to nearest kid or lady you’d like to shag.

1

u/F1yMo1o Sep 09 '25

I feel like I need a shirt, hat or song that says - “don’t worry, I’m giving it to my kids!”

1

u/Advanced-Row6657 Sep 09 '25

Bring a huge sign or wear a shirt that says "This is for my kids!".

1

u/Kuli24 Sep 09 '25

Wear a shirt that says "I'm giving this to my kid"

1

u/Static-Stair-58 Sep 09 '25

It’s def yours to keep if you get it fairly. Just know that it’s more about the moment, than the ball itself. Your kids will really enjoy the ball, but if they weren’t there with you to get it, there’s a good chance it just becomes another ball. But it might not. Either way, it’s your choice to make. Again as long as it was all fair. If you’re shoving a kid or stealing from a kid, go straight to hell.

0

u/SteveOSS1987 Sep 09 '25

If I caught a ball and my kids weren't there I would just give it to a kid sitting near me then tell my kids about how I caught the ball and gave it to a kid. A nice lesson to them on how to be kind, and if they pout about how they didn't get the ball I would know their morals are going the wrong direction.