Yesterday we put up a blog about the moment a man at the Cubs game appeared to take a baseball away from a child in the stands that it appeared to be intended for. The captured video moment went viral and we all chirped about how mean this guy was and how he should have given the ball to the kid. What we didn't know then and do now is that after speaking to some of the broadcasters of that Cubs game as well as the Cubs organization, apparently the man did indeed give the child in the stands an earlier ball. The Cubs claim that this particular area of the stands gets baseballs tossed to them on a regular basis. This is a perfect example of how we all jump to conclusions before we know the full story (myself and us here included). I will say though that watching this video, and taking the video in just this context, it looks as though the man grabbed the ball and just disregarded the kids feelings. Little did we know that he already gave the kid a ball so he wasn't even thinking of him, that's why he looked so smug and pleased with himself. Take a look at initial video again...
If you watch after the man grabbed the ball, he gave it to the woman sitting next to him so he didn't take it himself. Apparently it's been reported he was grabbing baseballs for those around him and it just so happened this was the woman's turn for a baseball. At least we now know the poor kid did get a baseball after all! In addition the Cubs organization got wind of the viral video and did oblige (before finding out the man gave him a previous one), and gave the child a signed ball from infielder Javier Baez. Overall everyone got a baseball and everything was right in the world of baseball.
-Producer Lightning