Man who stole baseball from teen at Royals game last year speaks out about incident

Royals fan Bruce Williams thought he had a great memento from a game last year at Kauffman Stadium.

Instead, it was stolen from him in the blink of an eye.

Williams, who lives in Stockton, Missouri, caught a home-run ball off the bat of Padres star Juan Soto, beating a spectator named Mark Kirsch to the ball. Kirsch then snatched the ball out of Williams’ glove

Kirsch tried to give Williams a jersey of former Royals pitcher Sam Gaviglio for taking the ball, but Williams declined the offer. Williams, who was 17 at the time, wanted the ball, but Kirsch kept it and quickly left the Pepsi Porch area.

Video of Kirsch’s brazen thievery went viral last year. Chris Kirschner wrote a profile of Kirsch for The Athletic and asked about pilfering from a teen.

Kirsch said he has no remorse about his actions.

“It was two guys trying to make a play. I obviously didn’t know he was a teen at the time. Not that (it) matters,” Kirsch said. “It was the heat of the moment. You don’t feel anything when it’s that big of a stage. It’s Aaron Judge. It’s Juan Soto. It’s hard to describe. I thought it was in my glove. You look and it’s not there. I regret that I had a bad glove that day. It wasn’t the best glove. I had to upgrade.

“Bill Buckner, the ball goes through his legs but the guy got to 2,500 hits. It’s the one error that he’s remembered for. Since then, I’ve realized how I needed to be better but mindful of everyone who’s around me.”

Yep, Kirsch’s biggest regret seems to be that he didn’t have a better glove.

The Royals tried to make amends and gave Williams some bobbleheads and a baseball signed by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.