During the Reds-Cardinals matinee earlier today St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams drifted over into foul territory and dove into the stands to try and catch the foul ball, only to be thwarted by a fan in the first row. Adams, whether he was just frustrated or whether he was just being playful, gave the Reds fan a light shove with his glove.
It seems that the fan didn’t take to kindly to Adams’ shove, push, nudge, or whatever you want to call it, telling the Cards infielder that he’s number one, or something like that.
Now you might think that the fan, one Chris Smith, is overreacting just a tad, but the Cincinnati Enquirer has his side of the story, which helps to explain why he flipped Adams off.
“He gave me a shove and I fell back,” Smith said. “I’m pretty sensitive about my knee right now. I’m fresh out of surgery, it’s nothing to joke around about.”
Leaning over the tarp, Adams was in position to catch the ball, but Smith had his glove above Adams’ glove and made the catch. A fan has the right to catch a ball if he doesn’t go into the field of play, and replays showed Smith didn’t.
“I didn’t reach over, I stayed where I was, I couldn’t reach out if I tried, because I can’t hit my knee on anything,” Smith said, pointing to the cup holder in front of him right at knee-level.
Smith and friend Kristen Kidd, who was sitting next to him, said there were no words exchanged between the two. Just the shove — and the gesture that was caught live on TV.
“I wouldn’t be mad if he wasn’t hurt,” Kidd said.
There is, of course, no way Adams could know Smith was hurt, but it was still her first reaction to look out for her friend.
“He didn’t say anything,” Smith said. “He just looked at me right in the face and walked away.”
No harm, no foul I say. The Cardinals ended up winning 7-6, taking two of the three games in the series.