Tag: classy

Kyle Schwarber went out of his way to retrieve Matt Olson’s 50th HR ball in a super classy moment

That’s what sportsmanship is all about.

The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have one of the more underrated rivalries in the National League East, and we saw that play out in last season’s NLDS. But in some moments, that rivalry can wait.

That’s exactly what happened in Monday night’s Game 2 doubleheader between the two clubs.

Braves first baseman Matt Olson is chasing Andruw Jones’ franchise record of 51 home runs in a season, and he has an outside chance of becoming the first Braves player with 60 home runs. And in the sixth inning, Olson took Michael Lorenzen deep to the opposite field for his second home run of the game and the 50th homer of the season.

But keep an eye on what Kyle Schwarber did after the home run.

The Phillies left fielder went to get a new baseball and returned to the spot where Olson’s homer landed. And that was where Schwarber made a trade with the fan who caught Olson’s 50th home run ball in order to return the ball to the Braves dugout.

That’s something you don’t see from too many opposing players as stadium staff is often tasked with locating fans who catch meaningful home runs. But credit to Schwarber for making it happen right there on the field and getting the ball back to the Braves.

Fans certainly appreciated the gesture. That’s what baseball is all about.

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Oklahoma Little Leaguer consoles pitcher who had just hit him on the head in classy moment

Now, THAT is sportsmanship.

Tuesday’s Southwest Region Championship to qualify for the Little League World Series was going to be the end of the road for one of these teams from Pearland, Texas and Tulsa, Okla.

But regardless of the result, both teams had every reason to be proud of themselves for one of the best displays of sportsmanship we’ll see in any baseball game.

In the first inning with Tulsa’s Isaiah Jarvis at the plate, a pitch from Kaiden Shelton struck Jarvis on the side of the head. Jarvis went down, but would be OK to remain in the game — the ball thankfully hit his helmet. Shelton, though, was visibly shaken up on the mound, and Jarvis noticed that the opposing pitcher needed some help.

He called time and made his way to the mound to console Shelton.

What a moment.

We could hear Jarvis say to Shelton, “Hey, you’re doing just great.”

It doesn’t get much better than that, and baseball fans understandably appreciated the genuine moment of sportsmanship.