Cubs Fan Who Grabbed Foul Ball Meant For Kid Helped Him Get One Earlier

CHICAGO (CBS) -- One of the biggest thrills of going to a baseball game is getting a foul ball, but one fan is getting raked over the coals on social media for appearing to take a ball meant for a child, but it turns out he didn't deserve all that grief.

Cubs first base coach Will Venable tossed the foul ball to a boy in the first row, but it rolled under the seat, and the man sitting behind the boy grabbed it.

Instead of giving it to the boy, he gave it to the woman next to him. The Cubs quickly jumped in, and gave the boy a baseball signed by second baseman Javy Baez.

It turns out, what TV cameras didn't show was the same man had given that boy a foul ball earlier in the game, and had given a couple more away to other kids.

Photos attached to the Cubs' tweet show the boy holding two balls – the ball signed by Baez, and a foul ball from earlier in the game.

Other fans sitting nearby tweeted the guy got a ball for the kid before the televised incident, and also gave two more foul balls away to kids sitting next to his wife.

After the game, NBC Sports Chicago host David Kaplan confirmed the man had already helped the boy get a different foul ball earlier in the game.