# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/81 "2004-06-17T06:32:20Z")
Apparently, he has now had a “change of heart”. [http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8940487.htm?1c](http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8940487.htm?1c) > [@](#): > > Starr, who gained unwanted national attention when he knocked 4-year-old Nick O’Brien out of the way to get a foul ball during Sunday’s Rangers game against St. Louis, has returned the ball to Nick, written his family a letter of apology and plans to buy them tickets to an upcoming game, according to an official with the Rangers. Of course, I’m sure he would have done this regardless of the media attention… ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/82 "2004-06-17T06:44:04Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > 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. Oooh, is Louis Gossett Jr. available? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/83 "2004-06-17T07:59:27Z")
man, I’ll go out on a limb here, and say that most people that get a foul ball and don’t give 'em to the nearest kid with stars in their eyes at a ball game are probably selfish assholes. Caveat that some might have a _particular_ kid they want to give the ball to. I musta been around about 100 foul balls, and actually got one myself, and I’d say at least 90% of those were given to a kid at the game. Man, that’s one of the sweet things about baseball. Don’t know what y’all think about it, but it’s kinda one of those unwritten rules of life. Guy was a dickhead. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/84 "2004-06-17T08:19:23Z")
Mr. Starr (maybe a.k.a. **htns**?) is an asshole. He didn’t do any harm to the kid, but what he did was totally thoughtless and stupid. Hell, competing for a ball is one thing, but taking out a four-year-old in the process is low no matter how you slice it. I can buy that it was accidental contact and that he didn’t deliberately shove the kid out of the way, but the way he behaved afterward didn’t earn him any sympathy or help his image at all. So he brought that problem on himself. I’m not a parent, but certainly I’d be very annoyed if somebody did that to my kid over a baseball - and I really want to get a foul ball myself someday. > [@zuma](#): > > 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 to discuss this horrid tragedy. Not a big deal. Good Morning America contacted them, you know, not the other way around. They’ll be out of the news in a day or two, why begrudge them a few minutes on TV and some tickets and baseball memorabilia? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/85 "2004-06-17T14:39:35Z")
And the guy belongs to a fundy church! HA, ha ha ha ha ha! “Former youth minister”–and his pastor DEFENDS him! Yeah, they’re really moral paragons. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/86 "2004-06-17T14:47:03Z")
> [@leander](#): > > Apparently, he has now had a “change of heart”. > > [http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8940487.htm?1cOf](http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8940487.htm?1cOf) course, I’m sure he would have done this regardless of the media attention… I would very publicly tell him put the ball in a pitching machine set to “Mariano Rivera” run out about 60 feet, and bend the hell over. He got a ball from Nolan Ryan, why the hell would he want the other one? ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/87 "2004-06-17T15:54:36Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > man, I’ll go out on a limb here, and say that most people that get a foul ball and don’t give 'em to the nearest kid with stars in their eyes at a ball game are probably selfish assholes. Caveat that some might have a _particular_ kid they want to give the ball to. Someone who does not give a ball to a complete stranger’s kid is a “selfish asshole?” I guess I’m a selfish asshole then. Why the hell should I be obligated to give away a ball I catch to someone else. Hell, when I was a kid I caught my foul balls fair and square. I even insisted on going early to batting practice to ensure I’d get at least 2 or 3 balls. Let the parents give them the ball, or let the kid catch it for himself. What else am I supposed to give away to complete and random strangers? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/88 "2004-06-17T16:41:29Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > And the guy belongs to a fundy church! HA, ha ha ha ha ha! “Former youth minister”–and his pastor DEFENDS him! Yeah, they’re really moral paragons. Starr also is a landscaper. HEEE HEE HEEE HEEE HEEE! And some guy he works with says he’s really not that bad of a guy. Fucking landscaping pricks. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/89 "2004-06-17T17:02:12Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Starr also is a landscaper. HEEE HEE HEEE HEEE HEEE! And some guy he works with says he’s really not that bad of a guy. Fucking landscaping pricks. Landscapers don’t pretend to moral superiority, fundies do. The spectacle of a former youth minister behaving so callously to a child delivers a wonderful sense of _schadenfreude_. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/90 "2004-06-18T02:54:09Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Here ya go > > [Rangers fan showered by others' good will](http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1822940) > > He’s Matt Starr from Dallas. 28, married, landscaper. > > _ **AND A FORMER YOUTH MINISTER!!!** _ :eek: :smack: :wally What is in that link! Three times I tried going there, and each time I got tossed off the web, with a microsoft message. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/91 "2004-06-18T03:45:48Z")
I’m about as big a baseball fan as you’ll find, but I could never understand the mad scramble for a foul ball. Apart from a fan’s natural urge to catch a ball, that is. Once caught, the thing has no more value than a ball bought at the team store. Really, you show your friend the foul ball you caught and tell the tale of the thrilling catch you made. Your friend smiles politely and thinks to himself “_who cares??_?” ---
**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 18, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-takes-out-little-kid-to-get-foul-ball-then-doesnt-give-it-to-him/250330/92 "2004-06-18T05:48:18Z")
> [@Road Rash](#): > > What is in that link! Three times I tried going there, and each time I got tossed off the web, with a microsoft message. Still works for me. Anyone have any ideas? [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=4)