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McClouth vs. Guy in the 1st Row: A Fan ruins an out.


srock

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Any body who brings a table to a ballgame isn't there to watch IMO. If you paying attention to the game you will know it is an important possible out and you'd have to be on Thorazine, not to notice Nate and Manny running hell bent right at you. And the ball was in the field of play IMO. The guy was a jerk.

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I cant wait to get home from work to watch a replay of this on my DVR. This happened right down from me and I couldnt tell where the ball was landing, but I saw Nate staring the guy down with a look of death as he walked back out and figured it must have been catchable. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw this thread.

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If you sit in the first row and a pop up is coming your way, and the Orioles are in the field and a player is coming close, you get the hell out of the way. If not, you are not only a bad fan, but you have poor awareness. You either are one of those grown men that will trample a child to get to a ball or you really don't understand the difference between being aware of the game and surroundings versus getting a damn souvenir.

For the life of me I can't understand the fascination by some people in getting a foul ball. Some people go after them like they worth a million dollars. Who gives a crap. No one is going to be impressed by the foul ball you caught off some random major league ball players bat.

Couldn't agree more. When the O's are at bat and the other team has a play in the stands, you do everything you can to make sure they DON'T catch the ball.

Looked for the one where the mom dropped her son earlier this year

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I cant wait to get home from work to watch a replay of this on my DVR. This happened right down from me and I couldnt tell where the ball was landing, but I saw Nate staring the guy down with a look of death as he walked back out and figured it must have been catchable. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw this thread.

That is the fortunate nature of winning the game. But the way things were shaking out that inning, it sure looked like the MLB gods were setting the Yanks up to score a few and possibly take the lead. O'Day, IMO, was pitching well despite the walks. He was crafty, throwing borderline pitches - but close enough to be strikes. The 1st plate side of the plate suddenly got really small - as Kruk observed during the broadcast.

When the ball went into foul territory, you (or maybe just I) could sense the urgency by Machado and Mclouth to get there to shorten the inning. When that went awry, Mclouth had an angry and concerned reaction.

My point is... bad teams let that inning undo them. We have seen more than our share of blown leads late, so I was relieved to get out of that top half without giving up any runs.

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There are a lot of casual fans at the game who don't pay attention pitch to pitch. It annoys the hell out of me but it's their money and they have as much right to be there as I do. That being said the guy should be embarrassed. Not only did he hurt the O's, he looked like a big fat dork while doing so. I coach an adult team and I have two full buckets of balls. I always tell my sons, you see a line drive heading my way, don't expect me to stick my hand out. Break a hand over a $10 baseball? Nah, no thanks. Now a popup that can't be caught, I'll give it a shot...

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Some citizen in the vicinity should have been barking out some instruction. When chaos ensues like that, a lone voice saying "Don't touch it!" could have helped.

For shame, section 62. For shame.

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If you sit in the first row and a pop up is coming your way, and the Orioles are in the field and a player is coming close, you get the hell out of the way. If not, you are not only a bad fan, but you have poor awareness. You either are one of those grown men that will trample a child to get to a ball or you really don't understand the difference between being aware of the game and surroundings versus getting a damn souvenir.

For the life of me I can't understand the fascination by some people in getting a foul ball. Some people go after them like they worth a million dollars. Who gives a crap. No one is going to be impressed by the foul ball you caught off some random major league ball players bat.

Hell, if that's me in that seat, after the instinctive, "FLY BALL COMING RIGHT AT ME" leaves and I remember I'm not wearing a glove (because no grown man not on the 25-man roster should wear a glove to a baseball game), if the good guys are trying to catch the ball, I'm spreading my arms out to hold back whoever is on either side of me so they have a clear shot at a catch. I'd rather take credit for being a responsible 10th man than have a souvenir. I've got two sunflower seed buckets full of baseballs...I don't really need any more.

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There are a lot of casual fans at the game who don't pay attention pitch to pitch. It annoys the hell out of me but it's their money and they have as much right to be there as I do. That being said the guy should be embarrassed. Not only did he hurt the O's, he looked like a big fat dork while doing so. I coach an adult team and I have two full buckets of balls. I always tell my sons, you see a line drive heading my way, don't expect me to stick my hand out. Break a hand over a $10 baseball? Nah, no thanks. Now a popup that can't be caught, I'll give it a shot...

How do you know when a ball is not catchable? The Fan did not look like the athletic type.

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If I was in the front row, or close to it, I would make a habit of yelling something like "Give him space!" loud enough for fans and hopefully the ballplayer to hear. Make others aware, help the O's. On the other hand, if the opposing team is in the field, by all means stand on your seat and grab that sucker!

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So I was literally 4 seats to the right of this guy and one row behind him. The guy even asked Nate to pick it up afterwards (the audacity), Nate rightly snubbed the dude the umpire picked it up and gave it to him. It should be noted that was not his cell phone, but the guy that was next to him cell phone.

Let me say, the guy's intent was not malicious and the ball was pretty high off the bat, you could tell it was coming to our section. Being about 4 seats closer to home plate, it was fairly easy to track the ball to us, but the ball did cut back towards fair play it seemed. It looked like it was going to land in the 3rd or 4th row and then started to trail back in after a few sections in front of us. I think it's really important to note that from where we were sitting that ball looked to be more than foul from the start and I don't think any of us in the section thought it would be remotely playable.

Let me say this about the experience, because someone sent me a picture of me on TV, reaching out like a maniac to my left, I had no idea McLouth or Machado were there until after the ball came down. My eyes were locked up on the ball, tracking it and honest to god, I couldn't hear the guys coming in. I was farther away and you'd think the guy that actually interfered would have felt or seen McLouth would have had a better feel for it. But really the moment, did make me lose myself in what was going on. Again I wasn't in the first row...so that might be a different experience or feeling especially given the sound or feeling of the player up against you (I had people in front of me, so I didn't go from seeing grass to seeing jersey).

Anyway they hauled the guy away for about 1.5 innings it appeared they were going to kick him out, but he came back. Apparently he got reamed out by security and then he got an earful from a lot of fans, who deliberately came to the section just to the yell at the guy that didn't have seats there. Trust me, the guy felt like dirt and knew what he did was wrong.

I've probably been to over 200 Orioles games. I'd love to have a chance just to catch a foul ball. It's easy to get caught up in that moment. No offense Tony or Scottie, but you're way more connected to the game and these guys and the park and a whole series of things fans can't even imagine. I won't assume I know what catching a foul ball means to you, but it would mean a whole lot to me (especially given the investment I've made personally into the Orioles). I can't explain why it's something I care about but it is. I'd like to think I have more awareness than that goon if I was in his exact seat. But being about 15 feet away, I can testify to the fact that the moment in many ways does swallow you up.

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Take out the front row of seats and place a low plexi barrier in front of the second row (now front row) seats to prevent fans from reaching over it. Problem solved.

Also, those front row seats in Section 62 almost certainly belong to a season ticket holder. So unless the owner gave them to someone else for the Sunday night game, this guy was likely not what I would call a "casual fan" and should have known better.

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