Marlins HR balls

[mdube16]

I had a neat and interesting evening last night.

First to brag.....I caught Gaby Sanchez's home run in the 5th inning last night. Great event for my son and I. We bought seats in the front row in left field and wore gloves for this exact reason and it paid off.

Here is a video of the HR and catch...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=15791711&topic_id&c_id=mlb&tcid=fb_video_15791711

Now the interesting part. After the home run, an usher came to us and gave us the following voucher.



So my son and I are excited to go get the ball autographed and Im thinking maybe i can ask him to inscribe HR #11 and the date. Well in the end they actually take you to the locker room door and then you give the guard the ball and he takes it to be signed....you get the ball back signed but dont meet the player. Not an issue in this case and it was still cool to get the HR and have it signed but note the disclaimer on the certificate that reads..."If the home run ball is of historical significance (as determined solely by the Marlins) or of special value to the Marlins player, the Marlins shall have the right to offer you a different baseball autographed by the Marlins player who hit the home run in exchange for the home run ball you caught". To be clear I DID get the same ball back that I gave the guard, but I dont know how I would feel about doing that again. It does say "OFFER you another ball" but I wonder if they would offer or just give you back another one. You have to figure everyone who catches a ball takes them up on the offer to have the ball signed. Its just an interesting thought.

Lastly Gaby is doing a signing at a local Jiffy Lube next week so Ill probably be taking the ball to get that inscription anyway.

Thanks for reading!

[Dach0sen0ne]

Re: Marlins HR balls

AWESOME story!!! That is a memory you and your son will never forget.

[NeonStatus]

Re: Marlins HR balls

Congratulations on the home run catch! I like that they give you a voucher when catching a home run ball. You should go straight to the Jiffy Lube signing and get the ball signed and inscribed there. Maybe even get the voucher signed depending on the cost and amount of items you are allowed.

[mdube16]

Re: Marlins HR balls

Congratulations on the home run catch! I like that they give you a voucher when catching a home run ball. You should go straight to the Jiffy Lube signing and get the ball signed and inscribed there. Maybe even get the voucher signed depending on the cost and amount of items you are allowed.

Thanks....to be clear he did sign the ball in the locker room and they brought it out to me. It has a great sweet spot sig now. I would just go the the Jiffy Lube to add the inscription, but also getting the cert signed is a great idea. I happen to have a picture of Gaby with my son from an event earlier in this season (that is already signed) so a shadow box display is forthcoming!

[5toolplayer]

Re: Marlins HR balls

this is one of the coolest stories I've read on here. Not many clubs would offer the voucher thing but it would have been perfect if he would have came out to meet you both. Did anyone watch the Yankees-Indians game yesterday? A fan had a huge sign asking for a Paul O'Neill auto, so they sent down Kim Jones with an auto ball to give to him. Pretty cool memory for him. He was sitting front row, right field. Looks like these just might be the seats to get. Again, great story!

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Marlins HR balls

Nice work...my first (Andre Dawson #396 in 1992) was a great memory and story as well. Best of all, your kid was part of it, too.

Dave Miedema

[camarokids]

Re: Marlins HR balls

The Devil Rays did this in 1998 & 1999. I do not know when they stopped doing this.

[MLB~NUT]

Re: Marlins HR balls

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[MLB~NUT]

Re: Marlins HR balls

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That is really cool. congrats on the HR ball and the autograph

[mlupo]

Re: Marlins HR balls

Great story....It would be nice if every park would have the MLB authenticator put a hologram on all HR balls caught by fans.....obviously this would never happen because it would take away from the money they make from selling the few HR's that end up in the bullpens and other areas where they can fetch them.

[coxfan]

Re: Marlins HR balls

When watching a Braves vs Marlins game recently on TV, I saw an usher approach a fan who'd gotten a HR ball. It's good now to know what they were doing; they had me worried.

At the NCAA Regional Tournament recently in Columbia, I saw a "yellow-jacket" usher (as we call them, due to their yellow jackets), approach every fan who got a foul or HR. I was alarmed: were they trying to recover the balls? But then I asked a "yellow jacket" what was occurring. He said they were ordered by the NCAA Committee onsite to check with each fan to be sure they weren't injured, even when the fan was dancing around showing off the ball. They got to keep the balls.