Posted on 03/09/2016 7:38:39 AM PST by heartwood
A father stops a flying baseball bat that was inches away from hitting his sons face. A photographer captures the moment. You can guess what happens next.
Its been crazy, said Shaun Cunningham, 37, the father from Ocala, Fla., who has been declared a hero in several headlines. The last 24 hours have been out of control.
The near-hit happened on Saturday while Cunningham and his 8-year-old son, Landon, were cheering on the Atlanta Braves in a spring training game in Orlando against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Christopher Horner, a photographer for The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, took the photo that has ricocheted around the Internet. He was positioned on the third-base line, across from where Cunningham and his son were sitting, when he saw the bat come out of the hands of Danny Ortiz, a Pirates outfielder.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good job, Dad.
And no, the boy was not on the phone the whole time. He had borrowed his dad's phone to text a picture of the batter to his mother.
That’s what real Dads do protect their young.
Dad did a good job, but Dad needs to instruct his son to pay attention. The “good” seats are also dangerous seats.
I’ll buy dad a beer. Good job.
super dad!
(I bet that smarted, by the way!)
His instincts are incredible - he looks calm and natural like this is what he does....
The bat just started flying!
I watched a news segment on the dad last night. He has a strong baseball background, so plenty of baseball instinct. Still, an amazing moment and picture.
Dude in the front row hung em out to dry.
Excellent :). Saw it on news. Looks like the guy in the red shirt behind him was going to go all Kung Fo on the bat.
“oh the bat’s in the cradle....etc.”
Irresponsible play... there’s no good reason for a bat to fly into the stands.
Great job dad! Great father.
Good man! And that’s what a REAL MAN looks like!!!
I'm sure that would give him great comfort on the way to the hospital.
ping
Did he get to keep the bat?
If you blow it up you can see that the guy with the camera to the right of the boy may have had the bat knock off his ball cap by hitting his head as it came at the boy with it’s main mass.
The guy in the orange ordered the bat to STOP!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.