A pretty shameful instance of an adult baseball fan deliberately taking a home run ball from a young girl at an MLB game has resulted in the girl's mother speaking up.
The incident occurred on Monday in a game between the Cleveland Guardians and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. In the fifth inning, Guardians slugger Daniel Schneemann his a home run into right field that bounced off the hands of a man and into the hands of a girl.
Despite the girl coming up with the ball, the man ripped the ball out of her hands.
The Mom Speaks
Nikki DeVore, the girl's mom, took to a Tampa Bay Rays fan page on Facebook afterwards and thanked the Tampa broadcast for showing exactly what the man did.
“Cleveland Mom Here,” DeVore wrote. “You all watched the man steal the ball from my daughter. You know my son went to ask him for the ball, which was so brave. I just have to say thank you to Tampa for broadcasting it, when the Cleveland broadcast cut to puppies rather than show the man stealing the ball from a child.
“I cannot thank Ryan [Bass] and Tampa enough for making things right. Thank you all for looking out for ALL young baseball fans. It is top notch sportsmanship. My daughter and I cried happy tears. I am so proud of my kids for how they handled tonight, and so proud of Tampa and its fans for standing up for my child.
“The pressure resulted in the man giving her the home run ball back 4-5 innings later towards the end of the game. It wasn’t the same, but we appreciated him doing the right thing… I may be Ohio Grown and forever Cleveland (Jose!!!!) but I will be a Tampa fan on principle alone.”
As for what happened to the ball, DeVore revealed that the man ultimately gave it back to her daughter at the final inning.
“Dude gave the home run ball back to her last inning,”
Tampa won the game 3-2.
