What to Know
Going home with a ball that was used in a baseball game is basically the dream of every kid who goes to one (and probably many adults, too). But how far is too far to go to make sure it happens? One dad literally dangled his stepson over a wall by his feet to try to catch a home run ball, and now that he’s speaking out, he’s somehow managing to dig himself into an even deeper hole in the court of public opinion.
The video of the moment is going viral.
Funny and diabolical moment from the Reds game earlier today.
— Reds Daily (@RedsDaily4) June 8, 2026
This kid wanted the ball so his dad held him by the feet to try to get it until security quickly said absolutely not.
🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/5MNma4cX5H
The scene played out on Sunday at the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. As The Daily Mail reported, after Cardinals player Bryan Torres hit a home run ball, a man named James Foreman saw his opportunity and took it. The ball was stuck between a stadium wall and a fence, so James did the only logical thing in that situation: Dangled his 8-year-old stepson by the feet over the side of the wall to grab the ball, of course.
The video that’s now circulating online shows James holding the kid over the side until a stadium employee put a stop to it before they were able to grab the ball.
Obviously, this is incredibly dangerous — imagine if he had dropped the boy from that height! It’s really not worth having the game ball to take home, no matter how cool that might be for a kid.
The dad’s excuse for putting his son in danger was probably the worst thing he could have said.
Following the incident, James spoke to Inside Edition, and it seems like he doesn’t know why people are making such a big deal about this.
“I felt like I had a good grip,” he said. “I’ve done it hundreds of times.”
Not only did they not get the ball, but the Reds lost the game, so all in all, it doesn’t sound like it was that great of a day at the ballpark for James and his stepson… but it probably would have been way worse if he’d gotten hurt, which he thankfully did not.
People are not going easy on him.
People have died falling over these walls. They were absolutely right trying to stop that idiot dad.
— Mike Hollister 🇺🇸 (@ModernTrailhead) June 8, 2026
While some people think the dad had a handle on the situation, others are making it quite clear they don’t believe there’s any reason to put a kid’s safety at risk, even if it’s something that Dad has done hundreds of times.
“There’s always a chance he could let go & a ball is not worth it,” one commenter on Instagram wrote. “He should be embarrassed & the mom should be furious.”
It is, in fact, a bad idea to dangle a child over any wall like this… and it seems like James won’t be living it down anytime soon now that the footage has gone viral.
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