Girl hurls dad’s foul back, still gets a hug

A series of funny and yet tender moments happened at last night's Phillies game, when Steve Monforto of Laurel Springs reached over an upper-deck railing to snag a foul ball, then handed it to his daughter Emily.

The 3-year-old promptly reared her arm over her pink baseball cap and tossed the ball away.

No sooner had play-by-play man Tom McCarthy said, "Nice grab," than he was saying, "Whoop - there it goes!" during the TV broadcast.

"She's only doing what she sees them do all the time, and that is to throw the ball back," said commentator Gary Matthews.

Surprise came over the father's face, but then he laughed and gave Emily a happy hug.

Wife Kathleen, holding baby Cecilia, was shocked then laughing, too.

"See, when she first threw it over, you know, I kind of laughed and was like, 'Oh my gosh, there it goes.' But then the look on her face was that she may have done something wrong, so I wanted to let her know that ... she didn't do anything wrong," Steve Monforto told Fox29 this morning by phone.

"I've gotten a couple of texts about whether Emily's available to close or not," he added.

Videos of the fifth-inning catch - and release - have been getting lots of views online, including ones at www.mlb.com and www.thefightins.com. There was even some national attention from the likes of FoxNews.

Steve's aunt Debbie Monforto called to say the family has been besieged by media today, with TV crews camped out on the lawn.

By the way, the Monfortos were quickly given a new ball by Mike Stiles, senior vice president of administration and operations.

The Phillies also plan a surprise gift to the Monforto family tomorrow.