A Virginia girl will receive a gift in place of a baseball that was tossed to her but was snatched by another man in the crowd at a Nationals game last week.
Regina Hilliard was at a game against the Oakland Athletics with her daughter Avery of the Shenandoah Rec League Babe Ruth 10U All-Star Softball team at Nationals Park on Thursday, Youth Champions Day 2022. Before the ninth inning, outfielder Joey Meneses noticed Avery and her teammates waving to him and tossed a ball in their direction.
A video captured the interaction, showing a man in a Juan Soto jersey coming in from out of frame to catch the ball before the girls could.
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Grown man steals baseball from little girl. @Nationals can you get Joey Meneses to sign a baseball and send it to my daughter? ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/itcQFseOQO
— Gina Hilliard (@GinaHilliard33) September 2, 2022
“Grown man steals baseball from little girl,” Hilliard captioned the video she later posted to Twitter. “[Nationals] can you get Joey Meneses to sign a baseball and send it to my daughter?”
Hilliard’s tweet subsequently went viral, garnering a public reply from the Nationals’ Twitter account.
“Thank you [Nationals] for reaching out and apologizing to hear that our experience that night was negatively impacted,” Hilliard updated the story via a tweet later. “They are sending something our way and hope that this can serve as a symbol of a good experience at the park rather than a bad one!”
Reactions on the social media platform included a barrage of attacks on the anonymous man.
“This video is the perfect representation of men claiming to support equal pay,” videographer Reshma Gopaldas tweeted in response to the video.
This video is the perfect representation of men claiming to support equal pay.
— Reshma Gopaldas (@reshingbull) September 6, 2022
“What a jagoff,” writer Molly Cantrell-Kraig tweeted. “[Small d*** energy] for sure. What an a**hole.”
What a jagoff. SDE for sure. What an asshole. @Nationals I know you’ll make this right.
— Pumpkin Spice Cantrell-Kraig ??? (@mckra1g) September 6, 2022
“My faith in mankind, encapsulated in one tweet,” reporter Robert Lusetich wrote. “Douchebag with a beard steals a baseball thrown to little girls. Girl’s mother tags [the Nationals] and they’re going to send her kid something. It’s the little things that count. [Way to go], Nats.”
My faith in mankind, encapsulated in one tweet. Douchebag with a beard steals a baseball thrown to little girls. Girl’s mother tags @Nationals and they’re going to send her kid something.
It’s the little things that count. WTG, Nats. ?????? https://t.co/7n1ejRmUox
— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) September 6, 2022
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The Nationals won Thursday 7-5, ranking them fifth in the National League East.
