Fan gets to keep her ball, court says

[gingi79]

During this thread, things became heated over whether a bat that flew into the stands at Fenway was the players property or the fans, since it landed in said fans lap:
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ad.php?t=28566

Well, turns out in a related story (although a baseball is not a players property, still related as it is a Milestone ball) that the fan who caught Ryan Howard's 200th HR baseball (He is the fastest in MLB History to 200) had it taken from her via Phillies Representatives for signed ball and some Cotton Candy.

Well Mommy sued the Phillies

And the court made the Philles give it back to her.

Let this re-ignite the debates.

[gingi79]

Here is the link to the story:
http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/08/fans-wins-lawsuit-for-ryan-howards-200th-career-home-run-ball/?icid=main|main|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fbackporch.f anhouse.com%2F2009%2F10%2F08%2Ffans-wins-lawsuit-for-ryan-howards-200th-career-home-run-ball%2F

[Rob L]

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ad.php?t=29585

[Mat2786@aol.com]

They probably didn't give her the 200th ball back, just some random bp ball. I'm sure Howard has his 200th stored away.

Matt

[hiflyer56]

What do you think the balls worth? just wondering...

[godwulf]

The other day, at Wrigley, Justin Upton struck out during his last at-bat, and as he walked down the dugout steps, he handed his bat to a young lady sitting in the first row.

She and her boyfriend immediately began looking around nervously, like they knew that Security would have a problem with her having the bat there in the stands...sure enough, a few minutes later, an usher or Security type in suit and tie came and escorted her somewhere. Anybody have a clue what that could have been about? Is there a rule that you can't have a bat in the stands at Wrigley, even if a player hands it to you?

Actually, having had some contact with Cubs fans in the past, that would not entirely surprise me, come to think of it.

[sox83cubs84]

Godwulf, that is the rule...full-sized bats, even those given to a fan by a player at the Unfriendly Confines, have to be checked in the Guest Services office, and only claimed when the fan/owner is set to leave for the day/evening. I've had a few security types who know me let me keep it with me until BP is over, but that's as much of break as I've gotten.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[suicide_squeeze]

They probably didn't give her the 200th ball back, just some random bp ball. I'm sure Howard has his 200th stored away.

Matt

Matt......I commented on this on the thread listed above by Rob L.

gingi79 just missed the fact that this has already been started on this other thread.....no biggie.

The girl got THE ball......absolutely positively guaranteed. It even had an inscription placed on the sweet spot stating it was "Ryan Howard's 200th home run" ball.

If the Phillies passed off the ball they sent this girl as THE ball, and it was found out later it wasn't, they could be sued to high hell, and a jury would no doubt punish them heavily for trying to scam a young minor girl out of what was rightfully hers.

[suicide_squeeze]

What do you think the balls worth? just wondering...

Good question.....I could come up with a simple a-hole answer like "Whatever someone wanted to pay for it" which is true, but mindless in it's attempt to answer you.

Or I could tell you a wild guess based on my "fan-hood", but that would not be entirely accurate because of the built-in bias, be it positive or negative.

But as a home run ball collector, and one who has concentrated on the 500 home run club (which this guy will no-doubt be a member of barring some horrible career ending event before he reaches it), I'll give you an educated estimate of a range.....

$2,500 on a bad day.....

I could see it going for as much as $8,000 if it got into a good collector's back-n-forth auction battle. Anything higher than that would be pure frosting for the girl's family.

A realistic "value" for it?........probably around $3,500-$4,000 because it is a milestone. The fact that he was the youngest player in history to reach it (beating the record formerly held by A-Rod) add's the "premium bonus value" to the ball, and that's where it gets iffy. One never knows how high or low an item like this could go for in a heated battle between two collectors in an auction who "just have to have it".

That's why they "play the games".....

[allstarsplus]

They probably didn't give her the 200th ball back, just some random bp ball. I'm sure Howard has his 200th stored away.

Matt

Matt, I have thought the same possibility although it is remote, it is still possible. You know what, the chain of custody (legal speak) is weak as it went from the girl to a clubhouse attendent and then ended up with Ryan Howard and possibly other places in between before it was returned to the attorney.

That will always stick in your mind as a potential buyer that there is the possibility that it isn't the actual ball.

This isn't a 500 HR ball so it is pocket change for Ryan Howard to make a nice gesture and write the family a $10,000 check with a non-disclosure so nobody knows how much he paid and then he gets it back.