US erupts over "douchebag" baseball fan's cruel act

It doesn't get much more cruel than this.

A baseball fan has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after he was the ultimate party-pooper at a Major League Baseball game.

A group of young kids were hoping to catch a free ball that a player threw at them during the Washington Nationals' game against the Oakland Athletics last week.

The youngsters were hovering next to the crowd fence and were excitedly about to catch the ball when a man leaned over and snatched it from their grasp with a baseball glove and walked away.

The kids couldn't believe it — and the man has been roasted on social media for committing a cardinal sin of baseball.

Former NBA player Rex Chapman tweeted: "What a d***. I mean come on. The one little girl jumping with excitement nearest the camera when she sees the ball thrown. Damn."

Journalist Chip Goines said: "I hope that man is fired, divorced, stripped of his kids, and banned from @mlb baseball for life, by the end of the week."

Host Lee Goldman posted: "Yet another L for the adults wearing a glove to baseball games crowd."

But there may well be a happy ending to the saga.

The mother of one of the girls posted the video of the incident to Twitter, asking the Washington Nationals if they could get first baseman and outfielder Joey Meneses to sign a ball and send it to her daughter.

The Nationals responded to the disappointed mum saying her request can be accommodated, which has somewhat restored our faith in humanity.

For the record, Washington won two out of their three matches against Oakland last week.

The Nationals are enduring a torrid season and are currently on the bottom of the National League standings with the worst win-loss record in the entire MLB.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission