Ok, the baseball team gave him a nice gesture because it's the PC thing to do.
They wouldn't have done that had all that not happened.
Last year a similar thing happened, except the kid was a little older and pouted because he didn't catch the ball, guess what? He got a nice gesture as well.
Lesson learned...by all the little kiddies out there and their parents who are saying "Hey, look what THAT kid got when he had a meltdown.
" Seriously, I think there should be cameras constantly on every section of the stands, because God only knows how many upset kids there are during a game who never receive anything, and surely we don't want ANY child to go home have experienced
a disappointment.
I wouldn't have bought my son a seat if it wasn't required, because I know he wouldn't sit in it. 
I have two sons- almost 3, and 20 months. Neither would sit in their own seat if they had the chance to be in our lap. That said, if I had them both, I'd buy at least 1 seat for them for the crap I'd be hauling with me.
... As to the point of the thread, I don't think it's wrong that they didn't give him the ball.
As a parent of a child at a similar age I'd be most upset if the ball never got put away where my son wouldn't have to see it.
My ~3yr old would have moved on from that pretty quickly if the ball got put away and I distracted him with something else.
If they didn't put the ball away, I'd of probably asked, and if they didn't I'd just remove my son. I have no desire to deal with meltdowns and nothing (not even seeing a baseball game live) is worth dealing with it. I'd be irked with the people if they didn't at least try to hide the ball from him, especially after being asked.
Where do I start.
First, I don't know at what age a child can get into a game without a ticket. But a squirmy kid on someone's lap in one of those claustrophobic seats is annoying to the person sitting next to them. At least if there's a seat meant for the child, there's a buffer between the child sitting on the lap and the person one seat down from them.
I can't even begin to imagine asking an adult who is HOLDING something in their hands to put it away because it's upsetting my child.
What I do have an issue with is all the little darlings who get, at the minor league games we go to, souvenir baseball bats/balls/hats that they wave around and hit the back of my seat and/or my body with, which has more than once not stopped even when asked because I get that outraged "
He's just a KID!" look from the parents. Geez, I just don't get not simply and matter-of-factly teaching children to be considerate of those around them, that they can't have everything they want, that other people have things that they don't, and, oh yeah, get over it.
For arguments sake (I said I'd probably give him the ball) and because this kind of annoyed me....why would you even ask to put the ball away? If it's bothering your son and it's no one's fault, you move! Don't ask someone else to stop their enjoyment of something because it's bothering your child (and sadly I'll probably have to clarify - it's not harming your child). If another child had a toy and your son cried because he didnt' have it, would you ask the other child to not play with it?
Yep. and I'm a mom. Listen, it is my responsiblity for my childs welfare. whether she needs the ball or not is moot. why should she have to change her behavoiur for some one elses kid? God I hate that mentality. WE see it all the time at WDW when parents feel that because they've got a kid in a stroller, they get some type of priority at parades, etc. You want front row, get you patooie here early. don't get mad at me when you ask if your kid can stand in front of me and I say no.
~snipped~
So curse at me all you want. My ball and I'm allowed to celebrate a bit of good fortune. So no it would not be rude for you to ask but don't get mad when I politely turn down your request.
to the bolded. I agree with everything you posted, except that
I believe it IS rude to ask a person to put the ball away. Now if she was tossing it two rows back, or otherwise being physically annoying/dangerous with it, like I've seen kids do at games, then certainly, ask.
All the follow up and junk this kid got off of crying just annoys me to no end. I don't see that he was being a bat--he was just tired/sad/startled whatever and I do not see his parents trying to act entitled (in the video) and get him things--but now it HAS happened and the lesson to be learned, which can easily lead to acting like a brat and feeling entitled, is that crying will get you lots of stuff.
Me too.
I think the message is to us as a society, not to the parents or the boy or the Rangers employee(s). All these people/organizations stepping forward to give the boy things because he suffered a disappointment sends the wrong message not only to that little boy but to all other children. Life is full of disappointments, few of them so well publicized, and children need to learn coping skills to deal with them, not be showered with gifts to erase the disappointment.
Yes, and I think, as I said before, that it sends the wrong message to adults too. I got really aggravated in the last couple of days watching The Today Show (I record it and FF through most of the BS), seeing all the adults who do things to get on TV, because I don't believe for a minute that two recent stories...the mother who posted the X on her DD's picture on FB, and the guy who dressed like a masked robber and scared his GF and her friends...were "real" stories that just happen to end up on TV. I think all those involved planned it in the hopes of making the news, because there's this reality show mentality out there now. "Catch"
something on video, post it online, and voila!..."hey everybody, we're going to be on TV!" ugh. So teach your kid to have a hissy fit because it certainly worked for this little boy (NOT saying THIS situation was planned, or anything about it was fake...I believe 100% that it's something that just happened).
This gets better: The parents and the kid were on GMA and said the couple was very nice and didn't do anything intentionally. They also mentioned that they've sat in those seats once before and the kid got a ball then. Okay, I know he's only three. But fourth row from the field twice and two balls. That's more than most people will ever see. So shut up!!!!
And a perfect opportunity it was for the parents to, as they TRIED to do, tell him that he got a ball once before and he can't get one every time.
and to the PP, there were comments here (and i've seen comments under the news stories) about parents giving their kids everything and implying that these parents were doing that.
What I saw upthread was people discussing that people seem to have an entitlement attitude ABOUT children...the whole "give it to the kid!" attitude, from which children learn it, not that THAT child felt entitled.
Looking at the comments in some of the news articles there are calls for the couple to be beaten up, calls to burn their home down. His wife is called all sorts of foul names and assumed to be a gold digging mistress. Mind you its not helped when the headline is
Rangers fan steals ball from kid, gets called out on TV
Mitch Moreland tosses a ball toward a kid in the Rangers Ballpark stands. That guy snatches it away. The kid starts crying. That guy makes out with his girlfriend.
http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/article.jsp?content_id=29693172#
Unbelievable. That's disgusting. I know a few drama queens that they can hire to write the headlines. Oh wait...apparently, they already have enough of them.
Overall, it's a ball use in one of many baseball game. Big deal. I would give a ball to a kid and think nothing of it. More important things in life.
Kind of amazes me what THINGS we attach importance to.
Excellent lessons to teach a child.
