Cubs Fan Keith Hartley Catches Foul Ball While Feeding Baby

It is impossible to say Wrigley Field and fan interference without seeing a Cubs fan shriek in pain. Who can forget Steve Bartman’s interference, which indirectly resulted in Chicago blowing a 3-0 lead in the 2003 NLCS?

But this time, the fan interference was in the middle of June and featured a spectacular feat, as a man feeding his seven-month-old reached over the railing and grabbed the foul ball bare-handed.

Cubs Fan Catches Foul Ball While Feeding Baby

The Cubs fan in question was Keith Hartley, who made the spectacular grab while somehow maintaining grip on his very small son Isaac. The play started when Chicago’s Jason Hammel fouled a pop-up down the first-base line. The new father was afraid the baseball was going to bounce off the railing and hit his son, so he reached over to grab the ball.

Unfortunately, he pretty much snagged it out of Adrian Gonzalez’s glove. Initially, it was ruled a foul ball, but, after Gonzalez asked for a review, it was deemed fan interference, which means an automatic out.

Now, Keith, who looked impressed with himself after the catch, could not believe the attention he was getting. “I saw Twitter,” he told ESPN. “My Twitter is going insane. A friend from work gave us these tickets as a gift, and I probably have 15 emails in the first ten, 15 minutes.”

In the end, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 1-0 in extra innings. But even after the game, the teams were still talking about the catch, with batter Jason Hammel jokingly calling it, “Best play of the night.”

Article by Anthony Falco