Cubs fan who was roasted for appearing to steal a ball from a child apparently not as bad as suspected

@Cut4 / Twitter

Video replay didn't do this Cubs fan any favors, but later reports suggest that the clip that went viral failed to tell the whole story.

• On Sunday a video of a Cubs fan appearing to steal a ball from a child went viral, prompting a cycle of outrage from baseball fans across Twitter.
• As it turns out, the man had already helped the boy to get a foul ball earlier in the game, making clear that the video did not tell the whole story of the situation.
• In the end, things worked out for all parties involved - the man was vindicated by his fellow fans, while the child left the game with two souvenirs, including a signed ball from Javier Baez.

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On Sunday one unlucky Chicago Cubs fan went viral after apparently stealing a foul ball from a child sitting in front of him during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Understandably, baseball fans reacted strongly, with the moment quickly earning scorn across Twitter from people disappointed in the man's actions.

The moment got so big that the Cubs sought to make things right, ensuring that the child left with a souvenir that was even more special - a ball signed by All Star second baseman Javier Baez.

It was a happy ending to what looked like a disappointing saga.

But as it turns out, the video clip that was so widely shared did not have show the whole story, and the person in question had apparently acted in proper adult-fan fashion throughout the game, according to many sitting next to him.

On Reddit, user btbrian collected a number of accounts from other Cubs fans close to the situation that gave a broader picture of how the scene, and the entirety of the game, played out. One defense came from Chuck Mycoff, who was apparently the man in blue sitting just next to the incident.

Jeff Rose, who was also close to the scene, told a similar story.

David Kaplan, who handles pre- and post-game hosting for NBC Sports Chicago, later confirmed this series of events with the team, and encouraged fans to lay off a bit.

It's difficult to fault those who had such strong initial reactions to the video as it first appeared - there's few things more universally loathed than an adult robbing a child of a baseball memory that will last a lifetime, and the guy goes for the ball rather aggressively after it rolls under the first row of seats.

But as is often the case, a bit of context changed the scene entirely, and as it turns out, the man in question appears to have been much more reasonable than the some of the worst-known cases of souvenir robbery.

Still, let this series of events be a lesson to anyone with good seats to an upcoming baseball game - the cameras are always rolling.