One of the weirdest ripples of the pandemic, in my opinion, using stand-ins, like cut-outs and stuffed animals, for fans in sports stadiums. The purpose is to give some sense of normalcy to — dare I say it — an "unprecedented" baseball season, but it has also made for some extremely bizarre moments.

Case in point: On Thursday, a foul ball collided with a giant stuffed teddy bear during a game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Oakland A's.

A teddy bear took a foul ball right off the head 😂 pic.twitter.com/fEYA7P1LOa — A's on NBCS () August 21, 2020

The incident was courtesy of Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte. Sports fans couldn't help but yuck it up with their "unbearable" puns after the hit.

Got the stuffing knocked out of him — Chris White () August 21, 2020

He was missing The ‘Bear’ Necessity: a baseball glove — epchihuahuas () August 21, 2020

Worried fans can rest easy — A's president Dave Kaval assured everyone that the bear will be able to keep the foul ball:

This teddy is really a metaphor for all of us in 2020: Routinely hit with pain (in the bear's case, a baseball), but having the resilience to pop right back up. Perhaps we're not as jovial as this bear right now, but his persistent grin makes this even more inspirational.

I salute you, bear, and hope the rest of the season brings fewer balls to the face.

Source: Mashable

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