“I dropped the ball,” Emily Monforto confessed to a reporter. Yes she did.
The 3-year-old Laurel Springs, N.J. girl became famous overnight for throwing a foul ball back on to the field at Tuesday night's Phillies-Nationals game—a ball her father had just caught and given to her. Video of the hilarious toss spread across the internet and cable news networks on Wednesday.

Every parent enjoys when their kids do those priceless little things that will one day make great stories. The funny sayings and antics that become priceless memories are part of what makes parenting so fun! Well, one dad has a great story to tell his daughter someday - and any future boyfriends might want to take note!

At the Phillies game last night against the Washington Nationals, a foul ball from Jayson Werth flew up in"As the ball was coming up I was just thinking, 'Don’t drop it Steve -- or I'll have all of Citizens Bank Park booing me,'" said Monforto. Clearly overjoyed when he made the catch and proudly handed the trophy to his daughter Emily while fans watched and television cameras rolled. When the oblivious little girl threw the ball back onto the field, his initial shock soon gave way to a heartwarming paternal gesture that has gone viral.

Monforto couldn't believe what he had just seen but recovered quite well and pulled his daughter in for a hug while laughing. His wife had a good chuckle, too!

Monforto attended the Phillies-Nationals game with Emily, his wife Kathleen and their 15-month-old Cecelia. It was Emily’s sixth Phillies game.

Monforto had this to say about Emily's actions: "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,
"I think she was startled by the reaction of the fans around us -- there was a collective gasp," said Monforto, 32. "She was also startled by the look on my face. I just wanted to let her know it was OK -- that she didn’t do anything wrong.” he told 'Good Day Philadelphia.' That's a pretty cool move on Monforto's part, not many fans may have been able to keep their calm after that!

"We play catch all of the time," Monforto added. "I think she was thinking, 'Oh great I’m going to have a catch with dad -- Dad gave me a ball, let’s throw it!'"

She is just doing what she always sees them do, throw the ball back on the field... Whenever they (children) try to do that, the parent is never able to catch them before they end up doing it. Anyone who ever spent more than 30 seconds with a kid that age know that's just typical behavior.

Her dad had the perfect reaction!
This dad's paternal instinct toward his child is demonstrative of his love for her above a silly little ball of less significance. That’s better then just getting a ball. The look on the dad's face was classic, it was so great he didn't get upset, but hugged his daughter instead.

Dad's reaction: priceless. What a great dad to give her that huge bear hug!! What a great family and memory to share!

Jose Rizal once wrote to The Young Women of Malolos: “The people cannot expect honor nor prosperity so long as they will educate their children in a wrong way…awaken and prepare the will of our children towards all that is honorable, judged by proper standards, to all that is sincere and firm of purpose, clear judgment, clear procedure, honesty in act and deed, love for the fellowman and respect for God…Open your children’s eyes so that they may jealously guard their honor, love their fellowmen and their native land, and do their duty.

Monforto was compensated for the quirky, crowd-pleasing moment. “One of the Phillies representatives the next inning came up with a brand-new ball,” he says, though “I don't think it was the ball that she threw down.” Emily’s clutch performance has inspired kudos from fans upset by the Phillies' poor performance in late innings.

This has two happy endings: Monforto was brought a replacement ball as a souvenir and the Phillies won the game.
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