Man knocks kid down for foul ball

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 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 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. The family got tickets to Wednesday night's game against the Cleveland Indians.

"Wow," Nick responded.

Rock On, Cardinals, \,,/ \,,/

This has been on ESPN quite a bit, the guy dove for the ball knocking the kid aside. He is what was referred to in my neighborhood when I was growing up as a "gavone".


wil.

Breaking - The Gavone Matt Starr now has promised to apologise to the youngster, and give him the ball, and some Ranger game tickets. Looks likes Matt is getting his 15 minutes curtesy of ESPN.


wil.

either

a: the guilt is killing him, especially having to see the incident talked about everywhere making matt look like america's favorite sports-jerk

b: its not the real ball and he is going to give him some crap from olympia

The kid likely needs some tough love to show him what this world is really about.

I've only seen the clip once...and, sure, the adult (Matt Starr) was a little reckless in knocking the kid around a little, but from what I remember seeing, the kid wasn't even going after the ball and didn't even seem to be paying attention. It's not like Starr ripped the ball from his hand and made him cry.

But that certainly doesn't make it as good of a story.

I caught a foul ball one time and gave it to a young kid behind me! Good thing that wasn't Bonds breaking the home run record cause this guy probably would've toss the kid out of the way! You have to be aware at ALL times what your surroundings are! If their are kids near you , you should be careful! That guy should've given THAT ball to the little guy!! Hell it didn't hurt when I gave the ball I caught to the little guy behind me! Hell his mother who was "HOT" gave me her # we dated and still keep in contact! hat was 10 years ago!! SOMETIMES it pays to be a nice guy!!

i have been going to games for 19 years now and have never caught a foul ball, and if i ever do catch one i am not giving it to anyone. Also i have seen mad scrambles for foul balls much worse than what happened to that little kid. Not saying its right but it happens.

I saw it last Monday morning....I saw it once and about like tuley did....the kid was just standing there looking the other way....

.....had it been me I probably would have just given the ball to the kid.....but then why dive after it if you're just going to give it away, unless you're going to make sure that you get it so you can give it to the kid???

...haven't seen this kinda reaction since the Bartman ball....

.....just curious to know how this would have played out had it been the Bartman ball or some record breaking homerun ball that would sell for some serious dollars....the parents would have knocked the kid into the infield to get at a ball like that.....

This guy blew it. He should have kept the ball, and looked for a big sign-on bonus with the WWF who could immediately promote him as a bad guy wrestler/manager or referee.

Fans would line up to watch him get pummeled.

i agree with tuley here. it's not like the kid was even going for it. he was clueless as to what was going on. the mother was the one who got upset - but if you look at the mother - she didn't look like the most nimble of people. by the time she got her hands off the nachos and hotdogs that ball woulda been in someone else's hands. what the guy did was not 100% right - but i sense a lot of other people woulda done the same thing. let's cut the guy some slack.

and as for tom greive blasting the guy on the broadcast - if greive hadn't made so many dumb moves he might still be the texass GM and not in the booth. for greive to comment on stupidity is like the pot calling the kettle black. this starr guy could spend a lot more time commenting on greive's stupidity than vice versa.

The kid was just apparently in the way. However, the correct response to the situation is not, "Oh Well". Geez, you show a little concern and appologize.

Rock On, \,,/ \,,/

I dont't know what you guys saw but I saw a total a hole knock over a little kid. Whether he was looking that way or not is irrelevant.