My God, I love this so much. In the second inning in Anaheim last night, Albert Pujols hit a home run to left-center field that did not quite make it to the stands. The ball landed in an area of grass in front of the fence that serves as a sort of buffer. Our Hero Dad, however, was close enough and with his glove was able to get some leather on it. The only problem was that he was holding a tiny little girl in his right arm. As he reached for the ball he almost went tumbling over the fence. His baby's head almost surely would have gone right into the ground.He was able to steady himself, though, but lost the ball, which harmlessly rolled out of his reach. The way he slumps his shoulders and says "awww" as it happens—man, it is just so great. He's so disappointed in himself because the usher has to come get the ball for him. This is where things gets really good.
The usher straight up refuses to give the guy the ball. He's the only one with a rightful claim to it—as far as claims to home run balls can be rightful, anyway—and yet the usher decided to just toss it over to some other people in a different section.Two great things here: look at the usher throwing the ball with that exaggerated form. He looks like a home plate umpire showing off with his throw back to the pitcher. The follow-through recoil of his arm just kills me. The second great thing here is the dad's face. The way he watches the ball fly away as he continues to reach out for it—and then immediately looks back at the usher like what in the fuck was that, man??—it just makes this the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. The dad and his family eventually did get a ball sent to them from the booth, but jeez, that usher's kind of dick, right? The guy's right there, and he has a little kid. Brutal.[MLB]
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