Man seen taking baseball from 10-year-old fan — so a Nationals player sent her a surprise
_fitted.png "Nationals player Joey Meneses sent a signed ball to a young fan.")
Avery Hilliard was at a recent Washington Nationals baseball game when her mom captured a now viral video of a man jumping in front of her and stealing a ball thrown from a player.
After seeing the video on Twitter, the Nationals have responded with a personalized surprise for the 10-year-old.
“Hi Avery,” the team said in a Sept. 13 tweet. “We have something coming for you”
Attached is a picture of a signed ball and a personalized card from Joey Meneses, the player who threw the stolen ball in Hilliard’s video.
“Avery, I’m sorry you didn’t get the ball I threw to you. I wanted to make sure you got one, so I hope this signed game ball makes up for it! Hope to see you at a game soon! Your friend, Joey,” the card reads.
In the video, Hilliard and her teammates are standing against a fence as Meneses throws a ball toward them. Just before Hilliard catches the ball, a man steps in front of her and grabs it from the air with his glove.
The video has garnered over 5.6 million views on Twitter as of Sept. 14.
Hilliard was at the Sept. 1 game with her softball team. The Nationals invited the Shenandoah Rec League team to be recognized for their state title, according to a post on the league’s Facebook page.
