'Frat boys' go nuts after catching foul ball, break our hearts with next move

By Joe Setyon March 31, 2018 at 9:45am

The first week of regular season baseball has brought with it some great moments.

There was White Sox third baseman Matt Davidson coming out of nowhere to hit three home runs Thursday on Opening Day.

There was Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis blasting a walk-off home run that same day to cap a huge comeback and get his team off to a 1-0 start.

And of course, don’t forget about the Milwaukee Brewers scoring five runs in the ninth inning Friday night — capped off by a Ryan Braun three-run dinger — to beat the San Diego Padres 8-6.

Aside from the on-field excitement, there have been some very emotional moments that had nothing to do with the outcome of any game. The ceremony prior to Friday night’s contest between the Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs comes to mind, when families of the Parkland school shooting victims threw out the first pitch.

Later on in that game, there was another memorable moment, though one that came on a much more lighthearted note.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Marlins utility man Derek Dietrich lined a foul ball down the first-base line. The ball ended up in the seats, where a fan was able to make an impressive barehanded grab.

As seen in the video below, the young man was very proud of his heads-up play, holding the ball up in the air for all to see. His long-haired friend may have been even more happy, as he continually pumped his fist with such vigor it seemed for a moment like he might dislocate his arm.

But it’s what happened next that makes this brief moment worth mentioning at all. After catching the ball, the fan immediately walked down the seats to a young boy and handed the ball to him without hesitation.

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It was a sweet gesture, and the young boy definitely loved the souvenir, as he started jumping up and down with the ball in his hands.

On Twitter, many users indicated that they liked the gesture as well.

https://twitter.com/NathanSandberg/status/980078119934504960

https://twitter.com/chrisflowersmd/status/980080562705764352

https://twitter.com/GregWeeksCLT/status/980058852950503424

Well done sir, well done. 🙂#PositiveThings https://t.co/lwuErgCRUO

— #GingaNation 🇺🇦 (@DaGinga80) March 31, 2018

In the game itself, meanwhile, the Marlins ended up defeating the Cubs on a walk-off single by Miguel Rojas in the bottom of the 17th inning.

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Tags:

Chicago Cubs, MLB, Uplifting

Joe Setyon

Deputy Managing Editor, Editorial

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Joe Setyon was a deputy managing editor for The Western Journal who had spent his entire professional career in editing and reporting. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine.

@JoeSetyon

Joe Setyon was deputy managing editor for The Western Journal with several years of copy editing and reporting experience. He graduated with a degree in communication studies from Grove City College, where he served as managing editor of the student-run newspaper. Joe previously worked as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine, a libertarian publication in Washington, D.C., where he covered politics and wrote about government waste and abuse.

Birthplace

Brooklyn, New York

Topics of Expertise

Sports, Politics