C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

Three weeks removed from surgery on his right knee, Chris Smith still had a knee brace and crutches in his seat in section 134 when Chris Heisey's pop-up down first-base line came right toward him.

Armed with his glove, Smith was able to pop up and reach up -- not out over the field, but still within his seating area -- when he felt two pops, first the ball in his glove, and the second the glove of Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams, shoving the Colerain resident. Because he caught the ball without pressure on his right leg, Smith was off-balance and fell backwards into his seat.

Smith admits, he then got a little mad, and despite a singled raised finger, he wasn't telling Adams he was his No. 1 fan.

"He gave me a shove and I fell back," Smith said. "I'm pretty sensitive about my knee right now. I'm fresh out of surgery, it's nothing to joke around about."

Leaning over the tarp, Adams was in position to catch the ball, but Smith had his glove above Adams' glove and made the catch. A fan has the right to catch a ball if he doesn't go into the field of play, and replays showed Smith didn't.

"I didn't reach over, I stayed where I was, I couldn't reach out if I tried, because I can't hit my knee on anything," Smith said, pointing to the cup holder in front of him right at knee-level.

Smith and friend Kristen Kidd, who was sitting next to him, said there were no words exchanged between the two. Just the shove -- and the gesture that was caught live on TV.

"I wouldn't be mad if he wasn't hurt," Kidd said.

There is, of course, no way Adams could know Smith was hurt, but it was still her first reaction to look out for her friend.

"He didn't say anything," Smith said. "He just looked at me right in the face and walked away."

Adams was then told he did make contact with Smith.

"I'm not that type of guy to go after anybody," Adams said. "I was just trying to stop from going into the stands and stop from falling in there."

Matheny looked puzzled when asked about the incident, but then backed his player, saying he assumed it was Adams trying not to go "tail-over-tea kettle" into the stands.

Adams said he thought he'd make the catch if Smith didn't first.

"I think so, I was in line for it and then I hit the tarp," Adams said. "I heard it hit his glove and figured he caught it because I didn't feel it come into mine. I was just trying to stop from falling in there. They have some pretty good fans on that side -- and then that other guy caught a hot shot right behind the dugout."

Adams also said he didn't realize Smith gave him the finger, but was certainly told afterward.

"I heard the whole section was flipping me off," Adams said, "but I can't let that bother me."

Smith said he noticed Adams and the umpire talk, but nobody else -- the umpire or an usher -- had anything to say to him. Well, nobody official, of course. He and his friends' phones were working overtime as he was bombarded by calls and texts, and was even able to watch video of the incident right from his seat.

Here's a Vine of the incident from user Chris Looy, complete with the offending gesture: