Here’s a scenario from this weekend: Cubs first base coach Will Venable tried to give a ball to a child sitting along the first-base line and, when the ball got away from the kid, a middle-aged man in the second row happily grabbed it. Instead of handing it back to the kid, the man gave it to the woman next to him.
The twist: It turns out this person is not terrible.
After the seemingly damning video went viral, with many vilifying this alleged ball thief, witnesses have come forward defending his honor.
According to users on Twitter, along with local radio host David Kaplan, the same man helped the kid get a ball a few innings earlier. And after the man gave the ball to his wife, she took a picture of it before giving it to another child, per a Twitter user who said he sat next to him.
“He had already helped that kid get a ball,” reported one fan in attendance. “He gave two more away to kids also. He was a great guy. TV got this all wrong.”
The Cubs got involved after the video went out. The kid got another baseball — signed by Javier Baez to boot.