WATCH: Grown Man Takes Baseball from Young Woman in Cubs' Bleachers
Hours after another video went viral of a grown man taking a ball from a young group of girls, we found another offender that belongs in ballpark prison.
Laura Vita, 23, was attending a game with her friends in the Wrigley Field bleachers Tuesday night. She was excited to watch former Chicago Cubs centerfielder Albert Almora Jr. play again.
Almora was a key member of the 2016 Cubs World Series team, and as the go-ahead runner in the top of the tenth inning of game seven of the World Series, he made one of the greatest baserunning plays in postseason history when he tagged up from first, advancing to second on a deep Kris Bryant flyout to centerfield, eventually scoring the go-ahead run.
Almora was not tendered a contract after the 2020 season, making him a free agent. He played 47 games for the New York Mets in 2021 and signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds for the 2022 season.
After starting the season in Triple-A Louisville, Almora has carved out a nice role for himself as a regular outfielder for the Reds' big league team.
Almora, in his return to Wrigley Field, received cheers from fans, including lifelong fan Laura Vita.
"As Chicagoans, we have always loved Almora," Vita said. "I was shocked that more people in the bleachers weren't cheering for him. I was the first one to recognize him. The entire game I was saying, 'Albert we miss you!"
Vita was able to get the attention of Almora, who attempted to throw her a ball after warming up in-between innings.
"He actually threw me two balls," Vita said. "The first, he overthrew and it went over my head. And he pointed to his bicep as if to say, 'Sorry, I overthrew it.'
"Then the next inning, he threw it to me but it was too short. It hit the outfield basket and he ran over and picked it up again and lobbed it to me, and the next thing I knew, the guy robbed it from me."
Earlier, Tuesday, a video went viral of a grown man taking a ball from a group of young girls. The Washington Nationals reached out to the fan's mother and rectified the situation. Here's to hoping the Cincinnati Reds and/or Chicago Cubs do the same.