While Rafael Palmeiro is lying to the Senate and ruining whatever respect baseball players have left, the Cincinnati Reds offered a bit of an antidote, and raised my opinion of professional athletes substantially.

A young boy was taken to a Reds baseball game by his grandfather, during which, the grandfather collapsed of a heart-attack. Recognizing that paramedics attempting to resuscitate the man could be traumatic on the boy, a security officer took the boy to the Reds dugout, and apparently explained what was happening.

The boy spent the last two innings sitting on the bench, and the players spent their time celebrating their win with the boy. Even after the game was over, Ken Griffey Jr. stayed with the boy until his parents arrived to pick him up.

Clubhouse manager Rick Stowe said the Reds showered the boy with bats, wristbands, and autographed baseballs. Shortstop Felipe Lopez gave him the batting helmet, autographed, that Lopez wore in this year’s All-Star game.

Sadly, they were unable to revive the grandfather, who was pronounced dead at the hospital.

(via AP)