An American dad has gone viral after a remarkable effort in the stands at a Major League Baseball game, juggling ball, beer and baby to take a breathtaking catch.
The incident came during yesterday's game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants.
The man's efforts and the amazed reactions of those around him were all captured on camera - and his antics have left fans divided.
As the ball flew toward him at high speed, our flawed hero made a split-second decision.
He reached up with his left hand, plucking the ball from the sky as his precious daughter briefly went into freefall.
In his right hand, a beer.
With his prize secure, he dropped his arm and scooped up his daughter before she hit the deck, leaving behind only a few drops of the amber nectar that spilled from his cup,
When the footage went online, it is fair to say that opinions were divided, with some saying the man was an "amazing dad" and others arguing that he showed a shocking lack of care for his offspring.
This is the most amazing dad shit I’ve ever seen. Dude let the baby go, caught the ball, recovered the baby mid air, only spilled a drop of beer and the baby didn’t drop the bottle. Legendary! pic.twitter.com/b25m1gNX5v
"Lemme find out my man almost drop our baby cus he wanna catch a ball! A BALL!? Over the human being I carried for 9 months?" one outraged woman wrote.
"I don't give a damn bout no reflexes ... next thing we carrying is a casket cus uh uh."
"I'm not sure letting go of your kid to catch a ball is "elite dad" status", argued one man, "regardless if you catch your kid again or not."
One woman insisted that the man's action were worthy of divorce.
"The minute I see my husband almost dropping our child trying to catch a BALL is the very same minute im going to start filing for divorce with full custody," she wrote.
One fan noted that this is the "face of a man who had just seen his king". Photo / Supplied
The old campaigner:
Wiser heads took a different view. Photo / Supplied
The woman reassessing her views on the male gender:
This photo has not been colour-corrected. She really went that pale. Photo / Supplied
One key factor in the dad's successful catch was missed by many but pointed out by an eagle-eyed viewer and student of biology.
"Totally missed in the comments, this is also why we develop the "Dad bod". Poor baby goes straight to the ground if pops has washboard abs," our wise correspondent noted.
"The gut provides the slope/friction to hold a toddler in place for precious seconds, as shown in video. It's evolution really."
