It was the wail heard 'round the stands.
Three-year-old Cameron Shores burst into tears when he narrowly lost out on catching a foul ball tossed into the stands to a couple sitting next to his family at a Texas Rangers-New York Yankees game. The couple, Shannon Moore and Sean Leonard, became instant viral video villains when the footage hit the 'net.
New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay gave voice to the crowd’s ire.
“Oh my God. They can’t give it to the kid? That’s awful,” he lamented, adding, “They’re rubbing it in the kid’s face,” when the couple posed happily with the ball for a photo as Cameron looked on.
But sometimes a picture isn’t worth a thousand words. Sometimes stories require context. The Shores told their tale of baseballs lost and baseballs gained on TODAY Friday.
“I felt sorry for Cameron and for the other couple because they were made out to be such horrible, cold-hearted people and I didn’t get that impression from them at all,” said Cameron’s mother, Crystal. “They were very sweet and they talked to Cameron a lot."
The couple was attending their first baseball game and are getting married Saturday. They actually offered the toddler the ball, but his parents turned down the gift.
“He’s three and we’re kind of at that stage where he thinks he gets everything and anything,” his mom explained.
And in baseball, much like in the game of life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
“I never once thought that they should have given him the ball,” said Crystal. “We’re trying to teach him he doesn’t get everything every time.”
And little Cameron ended up getting a baseball after all when someone from the Rangers tossed the tot a spare. That night, little Cameron curled up with his prize.
More: Video: Girl, 3, who threw back ball gets Phillies jersey
Give this kid an Oscar! Melodramatic toddler goes viral
Foul ball mommy in a league of her own
Oops! Dad drops daughter to catch foul ball
Does TMI apply when blogging about kids?
Hoda Kotb on her mom hero