Erick Aybar didn't come up with a foul ball headed for the stands, so he hugged a young fan instead
When you're at the ballpark as a patron, you're constantly reminded to remain alert at all times -- and if you're sitting along the first-base or third-base lines, well, you have to really pay attention. You never know what might happen.
In the second game of Saturday's Dodgers-Padres doubleheader at Petco Park, third baseman
Maybe Aybar's momentum was carrying him toward the kid, or maybe he just wanted a hug. Everybody likes hugs, so this is one lucky kid. And in San Diego, where
A fun, wonderful thing.
After the game, Aybar had this to say of his hug, delivered through the team's interpreter to MLB.com's Nathan Ruiz:
"He was just a kid. I think it's a blessing. It's a blessing to have kids and to have that. It's the first time it's happened to me. As a baseball player, when you have fans there like that -- again, it's the first time it's happened -- but you have someone that close and did it, it's a blessing."