Cubs fan who snagged a ball tossed to a young fan might not be a jerk after all

We all wanted to hate the Chicago Cubs fan we saw snag a ball meant for a cute kid in the stands, and then hand it to his wife instead.

Now it appears that there was more to the story than was seen in a 12-second video that was all over social media Sunday afternoon.

Check out the clip from the Cubs’ 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. In it, we see a ball tossed from the field toward a young fan but missing the kid’s glove and falling to the concrete. Then we see an adult fan one row up quickly reach down, grab the ball and present it to his wife.

Looks pretty bad, doesn’t it?

Plenty of folks on social media thought so. Some of them directed the video to the Cubs account and requested that the team somehow make it up to the young fan. The Cubs obliged, presenting the kid with a ball signed by infielder Javier Baez during the game.

But notice that the youngster is holding two balls in photos provided by the team. Turns out the man who many labeled as a jerk had assisted the same child in obtaining a ball earlier in the game, according to a couple of Twitter users who said they were sitting in the same area as those fans.

Balls are tossed to that part of the stands on a regular basis, Chuck Mycoff and Jeff Rose tweeted, and the man in question had given away two other balls to children before deciding to keep that one for his wife. And she ended up handing that ball to yet another young fan, according to Mycoff.

Upon closer viewing of the clip, the woman with the little boy appears to nod in approval after the man hands the ball to his wife. And the Cubs also confirmed that the man had helped the kid get a ball earlier in the game, according to Chicago radio and TV host David Kaplan.

So the guy definitely does not seem like a jerk — although maybe he could have handled the situation a little better, as some others on Twitter have pointed out.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii