By now many of you will have already seen the replay that is in the iviewtube.com link above, the one of the Phillies’ father who grabs a foul ball, gives it to his daughter, only to have her throw it immediately back towards the field.

If you haven’t seen a replay of this yet, click here (or to the right of the picture above to see it for yourself). Note: MLB has claimed copyright issues and made YouTube remove the video, but they can’t ‘cover all bases,’ so to speak.

Now, yes it is true her dad quickly recovered from his dismay and gave her a big smile and a hug (the hug was certainly for her but was the smile for her too, a minor question?).

And every one is saying he’s the best dad in the world.

There have been stories and pictures of how he plays ball with her, teaches her to hit and throw. And so of course she was only doing what she was taught.

However, I wonder if there is more to this story than meets the eye, so to speak.

Could he possibly be the best dad in the world if he hasn’t also taught her about foul balls, souvenirs, etc.?  After all, isn’t she old enough to learn such important things? She didn’t even stop to consider that it was a Phillies’ foul ball, an important part of the whole situation.

(Who was it who said: “If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.”?)

Anyway, what do you think?

Am I being too hard on this Phillies’ fan? 

Seems to me he’s a very good dad.

But not beyond reproach.

What say you?