Washington Nationals Apologize For Ball-Stealing Man By Sending a Gift to Girl’s Family in a Heartwarming Gesture
After sending to a young fan a care package in response to another fan’s behavior at a recent game, the Washington Nationals may soon experience some positive karma.
Coming off the Labor Day holiday weekend, one of the more heartbreaking recent MLB tales had a happy conclusion. For their home game against the Oakland Athletics last Thursday, the Washington Nationals invited the Shenandoah Rec League Babe Ruth 10U All-Star Softball team to Nationals Park in honor of Youth Champions Day.

A 10-year-old girl was about to grab a baseball that Washington outfielder Joey Meneses tossed her during the game when a mature guy caught it and then refused to give it to her.
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Washington Nationals send gift to young fan
During the game, Washington outfielder Joey Meneses attempted to throw a ball to the team for one of the kids to keep as a memento, but another fan intercepted the throw and took the ball.
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
The mother of one of the children, Regina Hillard, saw the mature guy nonchalantly walking away after reaching in front of her daughter to catch the ball that was intended for the 10-year-old girl on camera. The 10-year-old girl who was waiting to catch the ball was obviously outraged by the guy’s behavior, and Regina Hilliard, her mother, subsequently asked the Nationals to put things right.
hey Gina! Mind giving us a follow and we'll send you a DM?
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 6, 2022
Since then, Hilliard has confirmed that the Nationals are sending the family a present as restitution for the man’s acts.
Thank you @Nationals for reaching out and apologizing to hear that our experience that night was negatively impacted. 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! ❤️⚾️
— Gina Hilliard (@GinaHilliard33) September 7, 2022
In the end, the Nationals defeated the As 7-5 in a barn-burner that took an extra inning. Interestingly enough, Meneses was the one who, in the bottom of the 10th, blasted the walk-off three-run home run to give Washington the win.
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