# Fan takes out little kid to get foul ball, then doesn't give it to him. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 14, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330 "2004-06-14T18:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/61 "2004-06-15T18:15:46Z")
> [@dantheman](#): > > Of course it is. If I smack into a person going after a ball, I’ve been reckless. If a second person is barely touched by my actions, that’s incidental contact. Why would I need to apologize to the second person? You don’t need to hit or injure aother person to be reckless. An accidentally discharged firearm is proof enough of that. This guy could have very seriously injured that boy. We’re talking about a collision between an out of control 200+Lb man, a 4 year old boy, concrete and metal. If the boy had been next to his mom when the dude fell, we’re talking broken bones and a stretcher, rather than a free bat. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/62 "2004-06-15T18:18:20Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > You don’t need to hit or injure aother person to be reckless. An accidentally discharged firearm is proof enough of that. This guy could have very seriously injured that boy. We’re talking about a collision between an out of control 200+Lb man, a 4 year old boy, concrete and metal. If the boy had been next to his mom when the dude fell, we’re talking broken bones and a stretcher, rather than a free bat. Yeah, I know what you’re saying, **Cheesecake**. I kind of think it was reckless behavior in general but that his contact with the kid was incidental and not worth mentioning. Take the kid out of the equation for a moment. It’s still reckless behavior, although it’s typical for fans going for foul balls. Which does not, of course, excuse the behavior. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/63 "2004-06-15T18:19:21Z")
Hmm, what an awful typo. Sorry, **Cheesesteak**. Didn’t want you to think I was being disrespectful. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/64 "2004-06-15T18:39:00Z")
For a second there, I thought I was being hit on 😉 Yeah, the bump itself is not that big a deal, it’s the crashing to the ground inches away from a little kid that matters. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/65 "2004-06-16T16:26:37Z")
You know, I was kind of reluctant to semi-defend the dumb jerk who flung himself into the row below him, as I was to semi-critcize the mother who whacked him with a program. Now, I think the kid’s parents deserve a pitting of their own. Apparently the kid’s parents [flew him to NY to appear on Good Morning America](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/061604dnmetfoulball.ea4b.html) to discuss this horrid tragedy. Nice… the kid doesn’t even know what’s going on, and now the parents are whoring him out, subjecting him to cross-country flights and the glare of the tv cameras. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/66 "2004-06-16T18:52:46Z")
**zuma** Well, after seeing your posting, yes I can see how the parents are wrongfully villifying the fan who was merely trying to get a foul ball. I’d say that fan is like Alfred Dreyfuss or Richard Kimball - an innocent victim of blind justice. :rolleyes: Yes, let’s hear _his_ side of the story. Let him go on “Good Morning America” give his name and addres, stop trying to shy away from the publicity he so _richly_ deserves. I’m sure he’d love to hear what the American people really think of him. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/67 "2004-06-16T19:16:58Z")
I do kinda disagree with the whole “Good Morning America” thing, but he did get some Mets tickets out of the deal. I would also like to add [this](http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1822940): > [@](#): > > 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 did not immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press on Wednesday. So I guess that was his wife that refused to leave with him after a couple of innings. > [@](#): > > 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.” Oh how I love the quotes from the guy’s pastor. What’s he gonna say? “No doubt about it, Matt Starr is going straight to hell.” ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/68 "2004-06-16T19:33:01Z")
So that was **Matt Star of Sachse, Texas** huh? Okay, even if he got a little carried away, he still had time to sit and relax and FINALLY get the “HINT” from the fans that maybe what he did was wrong. If not, why did he leave in the 4th inning? And what is the value of that precious foul ball now? If he puts it on E-Bay, is anyone seriously going to bid on it? AND how do you even know it is THE foul ball? I mean would you say that Matt Starr is a person of outstanding integrity and honor? ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/69 "2004-06-16T19:57:35Z")
I can’t believe some of you are saying the woman shouldn’t have been hitting him with the program. If I were sitting at a game, with or without a child, and some great big asshat suddenly jumped over a row of seats, fell into me, and started scrambling around my legs – lemme tell you, it wouldn’t be the program I’d be hitting him with, unless the very first words out of his mouth were an apology. She hit him with a _program_, not a Webster’s Unabridged. Look, I can understand getting carried away in trying to get a foul ball. And I’m not really in the camp of “automatically give it to a kid”. But this dude was such a freakin’ jackass about it! All he had to do was apologize, ask if the kid (and his mom) was okay, buy them some soda, something like that. From what I can see in the video, he didn’t so much as pause to make sure the kid wasn’t bleeding before he jumped back over the seats waving his prize. Even after that, he could have showed the slightest bit of consideration! He’s a grownup. He should know that when you make a mistake, you apologize. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/70 "2004-06-16T20:27:22Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > I saw the story on [mlb.com](http://mlb.com) this morning. Reggie Sander is a class act. > > As usual I have too much time to think: > > _Knock me out at the ball game, > take me out of the crowd, > spill all my peanuts and crackerjack > while you’re at it just step on my back > so you caught a ball from the home team > but you’ve no class-it’s a shame, > I would love to throw your ass out of > the old ball game!_ > > The guy is an unredeemable :wally Excuse me while I wipe away a tear. That was beautiful. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/71 "2004-06-16T21:42:07Z")
Here ya go > **[Fair shake for 4-year-old: Trove of souvenirs](https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1822940)** > > 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. He’s Matt Starr from Dallas. 28, married, landscaper. _ **AND A FORMER YOUTH MINISTER!!!** _ :eek: :smack: :wally ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/72 "2004-06-16T21:45:59Z")
In a very tiny little smidgen of a way I felt sorry for that guy, you could see the intense “I’ve just fucked up and I am going to try to keep a stiff upper lip and fein innocence” look on his face. A bad decision, but a snap one and once it’s made it’s hard to reverse, especially when millions tens of thousands of peope are booing you and millions watching. In a much bigger way I think he’s a jerk. It made the UK channel 4 news BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/73 "2004-06-16T21:55:03Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > He’s Matt Starr from Dallas. 28, married, landscaper. This could get even more interesting. Perhaps the woman he was with was not his wife. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/74 "2004-06-16T22:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > The Dallas Morning News identified him as Matt Starr, a married, 28-year-old landscaper and former youth minister . Former, eh? At the ripe retirement age of 28? I suspect dealing with plants was easier for him than dealing with people. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/75 "2004-06-16T22:31:22Z")
> [@htns](#): > > Good. The kid is gonna have to learn that reality sucks, and that life ain’t always fair. That’s the way it was when I was that age, and I fail to see why kids today can’t suck it up and deal with it. > > Insofar as Tim McCarver and Reggie Sander is concerned, tell them that they are a part of the problem, and that kids need to learn how to suck it up. > > I’m with the “fuckwidget” on this one. I grew up without going to a baseball game at all. Let the little bastard know what it’s like not to go to any baseball games, then let him be damn grateful that he got in the stadium at all. I’m guessing (read: hoping) you don’t have any kids. 'Cause you’re an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/76 "2004-06-16T22:53:48Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > . Former, eh? At the ripe retirement age of 28? I suspect dealing with plants was easier for him than dealing with people. Youth minister is generally a junior position and often not even paid staff; you rarely see 40-year-olds doing it. They’re either guys right out of seminary, or as I suspect in this case, a layman doing it for a couple of years after college. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/77 "2004-06-16T22:56:57Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > In a very tiny little smidgen of a way I felt sorry for that guy, you could see the intense “I’ve just fucked up and I am going to try to keep a stiff upper lip and fein innocence” look on his face. A bad decision, but a snap one and once it’s made it’s hard to reverse, especially when millions tens of thousands of peope are booing you and millions watching. Yeah, me too. That clip was hard to watch. I could easily see myself doing something stupid like that. (I have a long history of stupid behavior) But I would have given the ball to the kid pretty quick I imagine, rather than taunt the crowd further. Best part was the mother goin’ all “Ruth Buzzy” on the guy! I nearly wet myself laughing at that! And that announcer! How brutal! He has no self-editing issues. I bet had he been “On Air” during the “O.J. White Bronco Chase”, he would have shamed him into a confession! The only bright spot was that very classy outfielder. Good for you! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/78 "2004-06-16T23:06:43Z")
For Og’s sake people, will you stop feeding **htns**? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/79 "2004-06-16T23:59:23Z")
Back in the early 1980’s there was a television show titled \*\*“The Powers of Matthew Star” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083467/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083467/) Maybe the networks can get that baseball fan to act in **"The NEW Powers of Matther Starr"** The new, invincible Matthew Starr can: 1. Steal baseballs from 4 year old children. 2. Remain unscathed while enduring “brutal” beatings from program-wielding fans. 3. Disappear from angry baseball crowds. 4. Disappear from the face of the Earth. 5. Feel guilt-free about a meaningless “triumph”. 6. Buy an order of fries (small) from the “massive” windfall he received when he sold that baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/80 "2004-06-17T06:03:19Z")
Three cheers for the mother- I know exactly what _my_ mother would have hit the guy with if it had been me getting kicked, and you can bet it would be more than a cardboard fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330.md?page=5)