A home run from the Cleveland Guardians’ Daniel Schneemann resulted in a bad look for a grown man in the left field bleachers at Progressive Field on Monday night.
Schneemann hit a two-run, opposite-field shot to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the fifth inning.
A grown man dropped the baseball, and it bounced several feet to his left, where a young girl was trying to pick it up. The man then went over and wrestled the ball away from the girl.
“No! He’s not gonna steal that!” Rays play-by-play announcer Andy Freed said, stunned as the broadcast showed a replay.
“Yeah, that can’t happen,” Tampa Bay color commentator Brian Anderson said.
After the disappointing scene, Rays reporter Ryan Bass did his best to make things right and gave a baseball to the young fan.
“Well, when you’re seeing something wrong has occurred, it’s nice to make up for it,” Freed said. “And Ryan Bass making up for that Cleveland fan by going out and making friends. And she deserves that baseball.”
“What a guy,” Anderson said. “What a guy.”
“Look at that. She looks emotional with the sunglasses on,” Freed continued. “Mom giving a hug. What a swet moment. Way to go, Ryan.”
“That’s phenomenal,” Anderson said.
“They didn’t show it, because we had gone to break,” Freed explained. “The boy, who I imagine is her brother, had gone up to that fan. And it looked like he was asking the fan, ‘Can we reconsider?'”
“It was an interaction that was uncomfortable to watch,” Anderson added. “You felt embarrassed for the guy.”
“It was,” Freed agreed. “And, look, the brother’s happy. He gets to hold the baseball. And she’s overcome. And who can blame her? So, it went from a bad moment to, I think, a pretty happy memory.”
Very well done by Bass.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.