Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

[sox83cubs84]

We all have seen the scrambles and disputes over coveted home runs between fans over high-dollar homers from the likes of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and Sosa.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

My curiousity is about less heralded but still desirable milestone home runs...such as the Cardinals' Steven Hill, who hit his first yesterday, or the 300th HRs hit in the last two seasons by Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. In a situation like this, where the ball isn't gonna make you independently wealthy, but it's desirable enough that the player wants it back, what would you do?

In my own case, I have no one answer. My response would depend on who hit it and wants it back.

If it were a Cubs or White Sox player, a rookie, or a player I really liked, I'd probably make it easy on him (inscribed and signed bat and ball).

For a player, I'm ambivalent about, I'd probably turn it up a notch and seek a GU or GI jersey.

For a major, high-earning superstar (Man-Ram, Chipper Jones), I'd try for a payment that would equal one year's rent for the apartment my family and I reside in. If that fails, I'd probably consider the GU/GI jersey as plan B.

If it were a player who cheated me or treated me poorly on a memorabilia request/swap (Jason Giambi, Tim Redding or Matt Stairs), or if it were a player who just treated me poorly as a collecting fan in general (in my case, A-Rod or Jim Thome), I'd be on the phone to either Steve Mears or Huggins & Scott before the guy finished rounding the bases).

How would you deal with a moment like that?

Dave Miedema

[spartakid]

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.

[lakeerie92]

Great question. I would go big from the start. I wouldn't ask for money, but I would try to pick up several items. The worst they could say is no. I would try to pick up other players stuff probably. If I caught an Arod homer I would ask for a Jeter bat and jersey. It would also work to puttee other player on the spot to help out a teammate which would increase my odds of getting what I was asking

[joelsabi]

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.

I had the same thought about ARod. Care to share.

[joelsabi]

We all have seen the scrambles and disputes over coveted home runs between fans over high-dollar homers from the likes of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and Sosa.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

My curiousity is about less heralded but still desirable milestone home runs...such as the Cardinals' Steven Hill, who hit his first yesterday, or the 300th HRs hit in the last two seasons by Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. In a situation like this, where the ball isn't gonna make you independently wealthy, but it's desirable enough that the player wants it back, what would you do?

In my own case, I have no one answer. My response would depend on who hit it and wants it back.

If it were a Cubs or White Sox player, a rookie, or a player I really liked, I'd probably make it easy on him (inscribed and signed bat and ball).

For a player, I'm ambivalent about, I'd probably turn it up a notch and seek a GU or GI jersey.

For a major, high-earning superstar (Man-Ram, Chipper Jones), I'd try for a payment that would equal one year's rent for the apartment my family and I reside in. If that fails, I'd probably consider the GU/GI jersey as plan B.

If it were a player who cheated me or treated me poorly on a memorabilia request/swap (Jason Giambi, Tim Redding or Matt Stairs), or if it were a player who just treated me poorly as a collecting fan in general (in my case, A-Rod or Jim Thome), I'd be on the phone to either Steve Mears or Huggins & Scott before the guy finished rounding the bases).

How would you deal with a moment like that?

Dave Miedema

meet and greet with my family after the game if it's no one I would collect.

[sox83cubs84]

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.

Both A-Rod and Thome treat me like a leper when I ask for an autograph. A-Rod has NEVER ONCE signed for me in his entire career. It isn't that he won't sign; it's that he'll always ignore me and sign for the curtain-climbers instead.

While Thome is, as stated, a good guy normally, he has gone out of his way to not sign for me for nearly a decade. At the ballpark, now that he's with the Twins, he will not sign anywhere near me (though he does generally sign at least a few). When he was with the White Sox, anytime he saw me next to the dugout, he'd decline to acknowledge the fans and duck inside after BP. Even at spring training in Tucson, he'd avoid me like the plague. If he was going down the line signing, he'd nearly always stop before he got to me. The one time he came close to me, a fan behind me distracted me for a few seconds...Thome used the distraction to move past my spot and resume signing after me, ignoring my requests without a word. Thome may be a good guy with teammates, writers and most fans, but he seems to equate me with dog droppings he accidentally stepped in.

Dave Miedema

[spartakid]

I'm confused, does he know you personally?

[Fnazxc0114]

Id probably keep it, i can buy game used stuff whenever i want, but ive never caught a homerun ball.

[legaleagle92481]

We all have seen the scrambles and disputes over coveted home runs between fans over high-dollar homers from the likes of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and Sosa.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

My curiousity is about less heralded but still desirable milestone home runs...such as the Cardinals' Steven Hill, who hit his first yesterday, or the 300th HRs hit in the last two seasons by Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. In a situation like this, where the ball isn't gonna make you independently wealthy, but it's desirable enough that the player wants it back, what would you do?

In my own case, I have no one answer. My response would depend on who hit it and wants it back.

If it were a Cubs or White Sox player, a rookie, or a player I really liked, I'd probably make it easy on him (inscribed and signed bat and ball).

For a player, I'm ambivalent about, I'd probably turn it up a notch and seek a GU or GI jersey.

For a major, high-earning superstar (Man-Ram, Chipper Jones), I'd try for a payment that would equal one year's rent for the apartment my family and I reside in. If that fails, I'd probably consider the GU/GI jersey as plan B.

If it were a player who cheated me or treated me poorly on a memorabilia request/swap (Jason Giambi, Tim Redding or Matt Stairs), or if it were a player who just treated me poorly as a collecting fan in general (in my case, A-Rod or Jim Thome), I'd be on the phone to either Steve Mears or Huggins & Scott before the guy finished rounding the bases).

How would you deal with a moment like that?

Dave Miedema

You would call Steve Mears? He has not popped up on here lately (using those creative ids until they reban him) wonder if he is ok.

[legaleagle92481]

My answer would be no matter the value that its his for a meal with him (his treat) and a game used and autographed jersey. This way I could spend a 1/2 hour chatting with a player and ask the questions I have always been curious about regarding big league baseball and the jersey would be a cool heirloom that would be special since unlike a jersey I bought it would be something specially given directly to me.