Philadelphia Ballpark's 'Dad of the Year' Really Does Showcase Humanity's Good Side

Rarely does a video meriting the title "Internet Sensation" highlight what Abraham Lincoln would call "The better angels of our nature." Usually it's a dog skateboarding, a cat playing the piano, or various nut-shots. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- the anticipation of the denouement of an America's Funniest Home Videos clip featuring anyone working on a roof is one of life's true joys. And any attempt by the media -- or the unreconstructed hams selecting  the fare at the aforementioned America's Funniest -- to label something as "feel-good" or "uplifting" comes off as saccharine.

So I was expecting a dose of the sickly sweet when I viewed the "Internet Sensation" clip of lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan Steve Monforto making a truly sweet catch of a foul pop at a recent game, whooping it up, and handing the ball to his pixyish toddler, Emily -- who promptly tosses it over the upper-deck railing.

What a pleasant surprise. While Philly fans famously booed Santa Claus and pelted Father Christmas with icy detritus -- and the city actually installed a courtroom in Veteran's Stadium to adjudicate disorderly conduct cases -- Monforto's reaction to his daughter's impromptu toss really is heart-warming. Not for a nanosecond does any shock, anger, or disappointment register on his face. He immediately smiles and engulfs his little girl in a big hug, lest the crowd's gasps of disbelief lead her to feel she'd done something horrible. I've watched this clip again and again, and if Monforto ever displays anything other than bemusement, I'm not seeing it. That kind of restraint is truly amazing -- and a sharp contrast to the behavior I've seen here in San Francisco and everywhere else when it comes to foul balls. 

The phenomenon of grown men fighting like junkyard dogs for a $3 baseball is a quotidian occurrence at ballparks around the nation. Every day one can be forgiven for surmising that we really haven't advanced all that far from the ape-men beating each other with animal bones from the opening stanza of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  

In fact, your humble narrator had the joy of bleeding from the forehead several years back at AT&T Park when a stranger jumped on my back and attempted to use a Ronnie Lott-approved hack to separate the batting practice home run ball I'd caught from my body. In doing so, my cranium became closely acquainted with the metal bleachers in left field.

Later, after he'd calmed down, the man apologized and explained he only wanted to get that ball for his daughter. What would have happened if that girl had tossed the ball over the railing is a hypothetical that, gladly, remains untested.