Do players still throw balls to fans?

[coxfan]

After the 1994 strike, it became customary for players to throw the last ball of a half-inning to fans (except for strikeouts). But in my visits to the Rangers this year in August and October, I saw little of this. Fewer g-u balls were thrown into the stands by players; or that what it seemed to me.

Maybe it's a safety concern, especially since the tragic fall earlier this year in Arlington. Or maybe it's related to more balls being authenticated. Both factors would apply to the Rangers. But have others noticed the same at other parks? Are players more reluctant to throw balls into the stands?

This is pertinent for those of us who buy authenticated balls, since such knowledge can help trace the history of those balls before being taken out of play where TV replays are inconclusive.

[NEFAN]

You still see the Ballboys/girls giving them to the fans, so i doubt it is an authenticating issue.

[xpress34]

You still see the Ballboys/girls giving them to the fans, so i doubt it is an authenticating issue.

I don't know about other parks, but at Coors Field when the Ball Boys/Girls give them to fans, it is ALWAYS children about 8 and under.

Even when I git tagged by a Larry Walker line drive foul in 2002 (I couldn't move back any more to make a catch and took the ball right off my watch strap - crushed the clasp, cut my wrist and made me bleed - and bounced back on the field - I was in front row down 3rd base line) the ball boy saw the blood, asked if I was okay, picked the ball up and gave it to a little kid about a section away from me...

I'm not opposed to teams giving balls to kids - but don't forget whose buying the tickets here! A 6 year old didn't pay $35-$45 bucks for that seat!

Also, every now and then, they do give balls to women - my boss' wife got nailed by a Cargo foul ball two years ago and no one could find the ball... the Rockies went out of their way to get her a GU ball for her 'inconvenience'...

Just my .02

- Smitty

[wsohlcano]

It may just be a Rangers thing after that guy was killed reaching for a ball thrown into the stands from the Outfield (Josh hamilton).

Other than that i always see them trowing the balls into the seats after the inning is over. especially Mark Tex & Swisher.

[frikativ54]

I believe it is a Rangers thing. At other stadiums, I've seen a lot of balls flipped into the stands when I went to a few games this past September.

[lakeerie92]

I normally sit behind the visitor's dugout at Petco and I normally got a game ball each game. I went to Braves, Rangers, Padres, Angels, and Dodgers home games this year and saw 3rd out baseballs tossed up to fans with regularity to each. The players in my experience will toss it to anyone (kids aren't to abundant near my seats), but the ball girls and boys down the lines always hand it to children.

[coxfan]

It may also be a postseason thing with the Rangers. There are 42 authenticated balls in the hologram sequence for ALCS game 2. When those are added to the ones hit into the stands, it's clear that not many were given to fans in that game. At the World Series game 4, I noticed that the ball girl near 1st base seemed to give her balls to a particular man in the front row. I assume he had some connection with the authenticator, but that's unclear since the Ranger authenticators I've seen have been in the camera well that's on the other side of the home dugout from this guy.

On TV, I noticed during the ALCS game 2 that players a couple of times seemed to be throwing the inning-ending balls into the camera well. Curiously, those balls weren't authenticated. Maybe the authenticator, if he got them, didn't think he could safely differentiate them from the practice balls flying out onto the field.

ln the Yankee Stadium ALDS game 5, however, I seemed to see more thrown into the stands. If anyone has any sense of how many balls other postseason clubs authenticated, it'd be interesting to compare.

[lakeerie92]

During events like to World Series or games like the All Star Game they normally have more authenticators at the game. The guy the ball girl was giving baseballs to was most likely a authenticator.

[sox83cubs84]

Not only do third outs get tossed over the dugout into the seats in Chicago, but coaches (both teams) toss foul balls to fans in the same area, and, more common at Wrigley Field, outfielders toss third outs and even pre-inning warmup baseballs to bleacher fans. And, while ball boys/girls and security guards at the Cell generally search out kids and the occasional female hottie for giveaways, I've gotten lucky a couple of times at the Cell, to the tune of a BP home run (late 1990s) and a David Ortiz game home run (early 2000s).
At Wrigley, security guards virtually never give foul balls or even BP baseballs to fans (although I've cracked this barrier as well on multiple occasions)...they usually give it to a bullpen pitcher or coach to pick out a recipient.

Dave Miedema

[warheel]

I'm not opposed to teams giving balls to kids - but don't forget whose buying the tickets here! A 6 year old didn't pay $35-$45 bucks for that seat!

My then 6 year old daughter was the lucky recipient (I paid through the nose for front row seats for a sold out Phillies/Rays spring training game the year after they played each other in the WS) and Ryan Howard fouled one off down the first base line..the ball girl picked it up and handed it to my daughter. It sits in a plastic cube in her room alongside a ball Joe Maddon gave her in 2008, among assorted dolls, and a bunch of other pink stuff....