It’s not only millionaire tennis fans who get to be jerks.
As revealed in a viral video originally recorded late last month, two New York Mets fans were seen nearly coming to blows over a foul ball at Citi Field on August 29.
‘Guys fighting over the ball, come on now,’ former Mets first baseman and current SNY analyst Keith Hernandez said as New York was on its way to a 19-9 blowout of the visiting Miami Marlins.
‘Give it to a kid,’ play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen followed before noting the younger fan: ‘Took it away from an old guy.’
The footage was even more troubling than the description from Cohen and Hernandez.
Both men were seated along the stairs with the younger fan perched behind his older rival as the ball arrived. But even though the older of the two clearly had the ball in his hands first, the younger fan managed to lunge forward and pull it away before gleefully returning to his seat.
The older fan, in blue, and the younger fan, in white, are seen scrambling for the ball
The fan in white smugly shows his prize as the older fan and his companion try to ignore him
The older man’s companion, a brunette woman, was clearly annoyed by incident and begged him to take his seat. However, he first shared a few words with the younger bearded fan, who remained smiling throughout the exchange.
Ultimately the older fan turned his back on his younger rival, all while his female companion pleaded with him to remain seated.
Neither fan has been identified publicly.
The incident is reminiscent of a similar situation at the ongoing US Open on the opposite side of the Mets-Willets Point subway stop.
It was there that Piotr Szczerek, a Polish millionaire and tennis fan, snatched a hat from Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak that was being given to a young boy, who quickly became upset.
Internet sleuths unmasked the millionaire businessman behind Polish paving company Drogbruk in the following days, leading Szczerek to formally apologize.
Kamil Majchrzak tried to give his cap to Brock, but Szczerek snatched it away quickly
That left the youngster looking crestfallen and asking Szczerek: ‘What are you doing?’
Posted on his company’s Instagram account, Szczerek said in a lengthy statement he made ‘a huge mistake’ and revealed he has since given the hat back to Brock, the intended recipient of the hat.
Szczerek, who has turned off comments on the post ‘out of concern for my family’, wrote: ‘Due to the situation that occurred during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologize to the injured boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself.
‘I made a grave mistake. In the midst of emotion, amidst the crowd’s celebration after the victory, I was convinced that the tennis player was passing the cap to me – for my sons, who had previously asked for autographs. This mistaken belief caused me to instinctively reach out.
‘Today I know that I did something that looked like I deliberately took a souvenir from a child. It wasn’t my intention, but that doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.
‘The cap was given to the boy, and an apology is due to the family. I hope that I have at least partially repaired the harm.’
