Young baseball fan makes catch of the night with unbelievable leaping grab
Arguably the best catch in baseball Thursday was made by a guy who’s closer to Little League than the majors.
And if the kid can field like this in Little League, he might reach a point someday where he doesn’t have to buy a ticket to get into a big league ballpark with a baseball glove on.
During a game between the Pirates and Padres, a young Pirates fan saw a foul ball coming, read it curving away from him, reached out his glove and speared it with a spectacular leaping catch worthy of the #SCTop10 hashtag on Twitter.
Does anyone know if this kid is draft eligible?
📰: https://t.co/eVqBhrh5f0 pic.twitter.com/B1gfYMHA7G
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 18, 2018
This isn’t the first time Pirates faithful have made a great show of souvenir collection at the ballpark.
There was the kid who used a popcorn bucket as a glove a few years back.
https://twitter.com/TheFunnyVine/status/452504578022719488
And there have been numerous reports of fans using beer cups to snag foul balls, including during the Pirates’ game against the Giants back in early May.
But this particular kid’s catch on Thursday was all the more impressive because he used an actual baseball glove, which keeps it within the rules of the sport.
After all, consider MLB’s official definition of what constitutes a catch.
“A catch is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it; providing he does not use his cap, protector, pocket or any other part of his uniform in getting possession,” the rulebook reads.
Now, sure, you could invoke the Air Bud principle and say “ain’t no rule against popcorn buckets or beers,” but the day an actual MLB player drinks a beer or eats popcorn on the field is the day baseball can cross that bridge.
It should also be noted that a kid catching a ball with a baseball glove when he is not in fact playing in the actual baseball game is fantastic and worthy of praise.
Of course, a grown man doing it needs to leave his glove at home.
But this kid used an actual regulation baseball glove to show off actual baseball skills, which puts him one up on the Padres fan who used one of those novelty oversized gloves to corral a ball in April.
Great catch, kid in Pittsburgh. And gold star to your parents for teaching you solid baseball fundamentals. You did ’em proud.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
