Quick-reacting Cubs fan stops young son from throwing back foul ball (Video)

We've seen this scenario play out a time or two before. It's the one where a parent, sibling or all-around good citizen catches a foul ball and then hands it to a young child only to watch the prized new possession get launched back on to the field or on to the heads of fans seated below.

That is always how it ends, too. Always. And it never stops being funny, because the kids don't know any better and their elders never seem to learn from past mistakes of others. Kids like to throw things. When you hand them something they can throw, like a baseball, for example, they're going to throw it every single time.

We saw it again at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon during the Cubs victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. On this occasion, a really cool fan seated in the upper deck caught a foul ball and without hesitation decided to give it to the young boy a couple rows away who excitedly brought his glove to the ballpark. Terrific gesture, no doubt. But poor, poor execution, because the young fan's first instinct was to fire up his right arm and toss it down below.

This kid was really ready to let loose, too. He brought the arm all the way back and started to come forward with some serious velocity. However, thanks to the quick reaction of his father, the plan was foiled. He literally reached out and snatched the ball at the precise right moment, which seemed to startle the youngster into an adorably priceless look of astonishment and then amusement.

The father, on the other hand, was a mixture of stunned and relieved. So naturally he hands the ball right back to his son, but this time it was mom with the quick save before he could even start the windup. She then confiscates the ball for safekeeping, and I would hope we have a happy ending here unless Junior tossed it out the window on the drive home.

I'm not ruling that out, by the way. I wouldn't trust him.

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