Phillies usher saves the day after father misses Schwarber home run ball
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An usher at Citizens Bank Park saved the day for one young Phillies fan after a missed opportunity during a home run on Thursday night.
Kyle Schwarber crushed a solo homer 423 feet into the upper deck in the 8th inning.
The ball was headed right to the Maloney family.
"I was right next to him. I was so embarrassed. I was like, 'Noooooo,'" recalled 9-year-old Jack Maloney after his dad dropped the ball into the stands below.
He was devastated and he let his dad know it.
"It just happened so fast, and I just really wanted to get it. I knew it was coming at us, and my wife was kind of blocking the kids because she didn't know if it was going to hit them, so she was covering them. And I tried, but I mean you could see it just went right through my fingers," said Jimmy Maloney, of Mullica Hill, NJ.
The whole world watched the drama unfold as the parents tried to console Jack and his younger 7-year-old brother Sammy.
Dad tried to make up for missing the catch, but it wasn't enough and the tears kept coming.
But the Phillies didn't want the family to leave the park on a sour note. That's when usher Rich Lewandowski came up big with a baseball in hand.
The boys went from tears to cheers and showed their gratitude to the usher.
"He told us he was going to go up there and give him a hug, and we're like, 'No, just stay here, Buddy. We can thank him later,'" said Jimmy.
"I ran up the stairs still and I gave the usher a hug," said Jack.
They never caught a homerun ball before, I guess they still haven't.
But this honestly might be better.
