Giants ball crew member may get nod for All-Star Game after fall goes viral

By Devin Fehely

A few months ago, a member of the San Francisco Giants ball crew took an embarrassing tumble on live TV. Now, a brief moment of embarrassment and online infamy has now turned into an amazing opportunity.

Barbara Hahn, a beloved local math teacher, grabbed a foul ball and then slipped on the grass. The video went viral.

“My right knee and my foot slipped. My right knee just sort of gave out,” Hahn told CBS News Bay Area.

This is not a story about falling down, we all fall down sometimes.

Hahn did on live TV, after shagging a foul ball as part of the Giants’ ball crew.

“Everybody trips or falls, everybody does. It’s just that I happened to do it in front of 40,000 people,” she said.

It’s also not the story of the unkind things people say from the comfort of a keyboard. That happened as well.

“Some people, who don’t know you, they’re kind of mean online, right? So, they see the clip of me falling and make some mean comments,” Hahn said.

It is the story of standing back up and how sometimes, people stand up for you, such as Hahn’s students past and present, did online.

“My students, current and former, see it and they get online and defend me,” she recalled.

That caught the attention of Major League Baseball, which has put her on the short list to work at the upcoming All-Star Game in Philadelphia, as part of the “All-Star Ball Crew.”

Fans are getting an opportunity to decide how Hahn’s story ends. Voting takes place from July 5 through 8:59 p.m. on July 7 on the MLB website.  

“It doesn’t have to be physically. Everyone falls. You just get up and keep going,” Hahn said.