It turns out that a Minnesota baseball fan’s claim that he badly injured his hand when he tried to catch a Home Run Derby ball was a hoax.
Jordan Jacobson, 19, had tweeted a photo of his reportedly injured hand to Miami Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton after Monday night’s All-Star Game Home Run Derby, falsely claiming that Stanton’s ball had been the source of the injury.
Stanton responded on Twitter, promising to send Jacobson, a former Lakeville North High School left-handed pitcher, his glove and a ball:
https://twitter.com/Giancarlo818/status/489512595263467521
But the Star Tribune says Jacobson confessed Thursday to making up the story in the Twitter post.
https://twitter.com/JJacobson13/status/489763562093428736
The teen’s father, Jeff Jacobson, told the Star Tribune the appearance of his son’s hand is actually from a birth defect, and that he’s “learning that social media is not necessarily the venue to use to make fun of situations.”
Stanton’s tweet to Jordan Jacobson quickly caught fire on social media and retweeted by sports news website Deadspin, and stories were picked up by the likes of SB Nation, Bleacher Report and Yahoo! Sports.
Until his confession Thursday, Jacobson kept contributing to the tall tale, telling Page Q Sports, “It was extremely painful at first, then went numb after about 15 minutes. It probably would have felt better if I would have gotten the ball.”
After talking with Page Q Sports Wednesday, Jacobson started declining interview requests, claiming he had gotten enough publicity about the tweet.
@kare11 I respectfully decline the opportunity to talk on tv as I don't want anymore publicity than I already got. Thanks
— Turd “Todd” Fergusin (@TurdFergusin69) July 16, 2014
