Catching a ball in the stands is fun when it’s a foul, but it’s amazing when it’s a home run. Getting your hands on one of those game balls is a souvenir that you can treasure for a lifetime. That is, unless you’re one of the people in this supercut of MLB fans snagging home run balls and then throwing them back on the field.
There’s a sort of unspoken home field rule in Chicago Cubs games that if the visiting team pops a dinger into the stands, it’s polite to throw it back onto the field. That has gotten fans in trouble in other places – in 2015, a man visiting San Francisco with his kids was kicked out of a Giants game for returning a home run ball to play. In general, most ballparks would prefer you not follow this tradition, but it still happens every once in a while.
This video features a variety of home run ball returns, from clueless kids caught up in the spirit of the moment to incensed fans trying to pull a fast one. It’s a funny illustration of how thin the barrier is between players and fans at sporting events. Maybe keep the next one you catch, though.
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