It's all about the Kids - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

aexchange · 06-14-2004, 11:45 AM

'It's all about the kids'
11:40 AM CDT on Monday, June 14, 2004

By KEVIN LONNQUIST / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON – Four-year-old Nick O'Brien proved why baseball will always be a kid's game.

The Plano resident, who was watching his first major league game with his parents, Edie and Jeff, became the sympathetic figure of fans when he was pushed aside in the scramble for a foul ball at Ameriquest Field in Arlington on Sunday.

But the ugliness had a happy ending. Nick went home with two big league bats and four baseballs. Two of the items came personally from St. Louis outfielder Reggie Sanders.

"I felt in my heart I should do something," Sanders said. "You gotta remember, it's all about the kids. As a player, we're able to reach out more."

In the bottom of the third inning of St. Louis' 13-2 victory, an unidentified fan crushed Nick on a foul ball hit by Gary Matthews Jr. in a section near the St. Louis dugout.

Witnesses said the stockily built fan, who appeared to be in his 30s, jumped over his row into O'Brien's. He then pinned Nick against the seats with his legs and grabbed the ball.

Mom, dad and other fans weren't happy. Edie scolded the fan. Nick didn't appear to be hurt but was shaken up.

"I couldn't believe someone would do something like that to a 4-year-old boy," Edie said. "He wasn't friendly."

It didn't take long for fans to respond. Mike Hall of Fort Worth, about 10 rows behind the incident, stood up and shouted, "Give him the ball!" The chant mushroomed to nearby sections. Even Rangers announcer Tom Grieve voiced his disapproval on TV. But the fan refused and was booed.

Eventually, the distraction reached the Texas and St. Louis dugouts. Sanders, who saw what happened on TV, went to the section and called Nick and Edie down to the rail to give them a bat and ball. The Rangers also gave Nick a bat from outfielder Kevin Mench. By the next inning, Nick had three more baseballs.

Asked on television what he thought about the whole thing, Nick said, "Cool."

The offending fan and his female companion left the game after the fourth inning.

"He's had a rough time," Edie said of Nick. "I think he thinks this is what is supposed to happen at every game."

aexchange · 06-14-2004, 11:50 AM

Cards Sanders goes to bat for Boy

ARLINGTON, Texas - Right fielder Reggie Sanders received the day off Sunday but still found time to touch the life of a small child in the Ameriquest Park crowd of 41,087.

Sanders delivered a game-used bat and a ball to a small boy after the child and his mother were knocked aside by a male fan in pursuit of a foul ball in the third inning.

The beefy fan leaped over seats into the family's row, bumping hard into the 4-year-old boy with his legs and into his mother with his upperbody as he reached for the souvenir.

Indignant fans chanted for the man to give up the ball, but he refused.

Rangers broadcast analyst Tom Grieve blasted the ball-hawking fan, calling him "the biggest jerk in the park," as a station reporter conducted an interview with the man. At one point, the fan lifted his arms as if to incite the crowd.

Many Cardinals, including Sanders, saw the incident on the clubhouse television while escaping the afternoon's oppressive heat.

"It's definitely an unfortunate situation," Sanders said. "I was just glad to help out."

Asked about the offender, Sanders said, "I don't want to talk about the guy. He's not worth talking about."

After the third inning, Sanders walked from the third-base dugout to the on-deck circle. An usher brought the boy, Nicholas O'Brien, and his mother, Edie, from 16 rows up to the rail. Sanders handed over the presents.

"He was shocked," Sanders said. "He didn't say anything. He was kind of shocked by the whole deal. But the mother thanked me."

The young fan, attending his first major league game, received two game bats and at least four baseballs, one of them signed by Nolan Ryan.

The offending fan left his seat after the fourth inning and apparently never received the Cardinals T-shirt sent from the visitors dugout.

The shirt bore a penned message: "Tough Guy. Ball Stealer." Steve Kline said he sent the T-shirt.

"The way the guy talked during the interview stirred it up," Kline said. "The guy was being a smart (aleck)."

reeds · 06-14-2004, 04:54 PM

Very classy of Reggie Sanders to do that...I cannot beleive that fat SOB would not give up the ball to a little kid....what an A hole

Smiles · 06-14-2004, 05:28 PM

If I was that mom, I would've "tripped", so that my knee smashed hard into the guys face while he was down there between my legs.

The maternal instinct rages at moments like that. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

EDIT: You're right. it's not a classy response. Can I get a pass on this one? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

mavsman55 · 06-14-2004, 06:56 PM

What a douche. He's lucky that kid didn't know martial arts.

Drbio · 06-14-2004, 09:32 PM

He's lucky I wasn't the kids' dad. I guarantee yo uhe would have been spittin' chicklets had I been there.

What a dipwad.

Caliente · 06-16-2004, 10:55 AM

Matt Starr.................you are the weakest link............

Jeremiah · 06-17-2004, 09:02 AM

Text

Rangers fan showered by others' good will

ARLINGTON, Texas -- 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 -- and now he'll get that ball, too.

Matt Starr, who was 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 Starr wouldn't give it up.

He changed his mind Wednesday.

Starr has also agreed to send a letter of apology to the family of Nick O'Brien and buy his family tickets to future Texas Rangers games, club official John Blake said Wednesday.

"The fan let it be known to us that he wanted to give the ball back, and we informed the family that it indeed is going to happen," said Blake, Rangers senior vice president.

Another club spokesman, Gregg Elkin, said the Rangers did not orchestrate Starr's decision.

"He did this on his own, through an intermediary," Elkin said. "Someone that knows him said, 'hey, he wants to do this, can you help him get it to the O'Briens,' and that's all we're doing."

O'Brien's mom was surprised by the behavior at the game.

"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 Starr 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 Starr dived across the boy's seat to grab the ball at Nick's feet. Starr'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 Starr "the biggest jerk in this park." Starr 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 Dallas Morning News identified 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.

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.