Here's a story on the kid: ARLINGTON, Texas - A 4-year-old boy who lost a foul ball to a not-so-grown-up adult is getting a windfall worthy of a game-winning home run hitter. A man sitting behind Nick O'Brien at a Texas Rangers (news) baseball game Sunday knocked the boy against the seats as he dived to get a foul ball. Fans started chanting "Give him the ball!" but the man 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. The man'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 TV, calling the man "the biggest jerk in this park." The man and a woman with him left before the game was over. Meanwhile, the Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals (news) 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. Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders came out between innings to give Nick a bat and ball. "In my heart, I thought I should do something," said Sanders. "It's all about the kids." The man who took the foul ball has not responded publicly to the criticism, but The Dallas Morning News identified him as Matt Starr, a married, 28-year-old landscaper and former youth minister. Starr is "not the bad guy he's been made out to be," said Rick DuBose, senior pastor of the Sachse Assembly of God Church. "He probably got a little aggressive and did something he regrets. But that's not Matt. He's a good kid, a good young man." On "Good Morning America," host Charles Gibson gave the O'Briens more souvenirs Wednesday — this time from the New York Mets (news). The family got tickets to Wednesday night's game against the Cleveland Indians (news). "Wow," Nick responded.
If something had happened, like the guy dropped the kid, then I'm sure he would get blasted with the Rangers idiot. They're both stupid acts, the end result though is different. In one case guy caught ball no harm done. Second case, guy kicks kid reaches under ladies legs to get ball then raises said ball while kid cries.
I'll admit the media is blowing it out of proportion and the kid's mom accepting to do national interviews isn't helping her cause IMO.
Can you believe the guy is a former youth minister? Lets say he blanked out a la Steve Bartman, how does a former youth minister act like a sob afterwards?
no one is immune from jackass behavior! we all have good days and bad days. i've been involved in youth ministry a ton...my closest friend other than my wife is a youth pastor. you could catch him on a bad day and come away with a bad impression....though i doubt he would act like this, frankly.
The attention these people are getting over this is ridiculous! I saw the damn play. Yes, the boy was hit(barely) and the fan was overzealous in going after the ball. But, my God man, the kid raked in autographed bats and balls in addition to now going on morning tv talk shows. Why don't we give the family a million dollars while we are at it? Yea, let's villainize the other guy for a momentary lapse of judgement because he wanted a baseball. So, let's condemn him for life. May he rot in hell. Get your priorities straight, America. There is a war on. Geez.
Well this has turned in to a feel good story unlike the war. News is news and if the media can make a quick buck from this story they will.
And it's not long before it turns into a "mother's an attention w****" story either. Should've been left inside the stadium. Dude makes huge mistake, gets ridiculed on regional television by an announcer, then on national television by everyone. The kid gets all kinds of souveniers and now he and his Mom are on national television giving interviews. It's gone quite overboard.
The only thing I've seen about it is through here. I don't watch GMA or anything like that. Just the fact that they were on that show proves that this thing has gone way overboard.
Yeah. To me, the story should end with the kid getting the stuff at the game (or with the interviews after the game with the players saying why they did what they did). The follow-ups on the national news are unnecessary.
That guy taking the ball from the kid, will probably the best thing to ever happen to the kid. Talk about cashing in. Why not just give him one autographed ball and be done with it.
the mother should have been happy her kid didn't get plunked by the ball. i bet if the "*******" deflected the ball from hitting the kid and then fell over and kicked him, i wonder if people would still be harrassing him. basically, all he did was go after the ball and fell over the row and accidently hit the kid. the kid is not anymore entitled to the ball than the jerk.
I don't know how he could've deflected it since he waited for it to land before jumping for it (rather than falling). But her being glad her son wasn't hit by the ball was over before the guy decided to jump at her legs and kick her kid. Like I said before, if he had been going for it before and accidentally fell into the row, it would've been a bit different to me since it would've been an accident instead of an intentional act.
I wish someone would've knocked me over in the Astrodome so I could cash in on autographed bats, balls, and other memorabilia.
