Phillies dad a hit with parents all over

 

Little girl's foul toss makes dad a celebrity.

Steve Monforto has been coming to Phillies games since he was 3 years old, and after all that time, he finally caught his first foul ball on Tuesday night.
Then his 3-year-old daughter Emily threw it back.
It was more than just one of those many little moments in the course of a long baseball game when Jayson Werth fouled back a pitch during the bottom of the fifth inning in the Phillies' 5-0 win against Washington at Citizens Bank Park. This moment was truly Beyond Baseball.
It was the real glory of the game right there in front of you, a father hugging his little girl to assure her that she did nothing wrong, a public rite of passage to which so many parents can relate. And that is why the highlight is one of the hottest videos on MLB.com right now, and why the whole family will be on NBC's Today Show, where they will be presented with a surprise gift on Thursday morning.
"We have been inundated with calls from national and local media -- everyone wants the story because it's so heartwarming," said Bonnie Clark, the Phillies' vice president of communications, after talking today to Monforto. "The family is a great family. I talked briefly to the dad. He's been coming to Phillies games since he was 3, and now as a season-ticket holder, and he said he's never caught a foul ball. He just happened to get these seats at the last minute, took up a friend on his offer, so he sat in a different location.
"The rest is history. I told him to embrace his 15 minutes."
Watch the video, and you can see Monforto reach over the rail in the first row of 300 level seats to make nice two-handed grab. Other fans in his section were cheering. After trading fist bumps with nearby fans, Monforto high-fived Emily, who was clad in pink T-shirt and Phillies cap, and handed the ball to her. It was the natural thing for any Dad to do, right?