Marlins Ball Boy Chucks Baseball Into Stands, Blissfully Unaware It Was a Fair Ball

The Miami Marlins ball boy made a highly unfortunate mistake during Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the Marlins.

In the hunt for a playoff berth, Miami played host to the Dodgers on Thursday night, hoping to gain ground in the National League wild-card chase. Instead, Los Angeles romped to a 10-0 win to pad its sizable lead atop the NL West.

Clearly, it was a forgettable evening for the Marlins, and one play in particular seemed to illustrate the futility.

In the top of the sixth inning, a Marlins ball boy committed an unfortunate gaffe by inadvertently fielding a fair ball—and then chucking said ball into the grandstands.

With one out and a runner on first, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman laced a shot down the right-field line. The ball boy, presumably thinking the ball was foul, then casually fielded the ball and threw it to some lucky fan.

All Miami right fielder Jesus Sanchez could do was stare in disbelief.

The Marlins ball boy didn’t know the ball was fair and just chucked it into the stands LMAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/vqzV3ZDJor

— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) September 8, 2023

In the clip below, you can see the ball boy’s sheepish chagrin after learning about the error he’d just committed. He appears to say, “My bad,” as umpires discuss how to rule on the play.

What kind of interview process do the marlins have for their ball boys pic.twitter.com/HW06JT0ppb

— Morgan Bagg (@MorganBagg) September 8, 2023

Freeman was awarded a ground-rule double and an RBI, making the score 4–0. The poor ball boy likely wanted to disappear, but it was hardly the only thing that went wrong for the Marlins on their way to a lopsided loss.