What would you trade for ...

[Dach0sen0ne]

Cool article about trading milestone items to teams.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

[OaklandAsFan]

if you ask me those media relations people came across and a bunch of a#$holes. Makes me not want to deal with them at all should I end up with a HR ball that they want back.

[tigerdale]

That is a pretty cool article.........interesting.

[marino13]

The worst tactic I have seen - Alex Rodriguez' security.

During the chase of 600th HR, Alex wanted back all the HR baseball from 590-599. When it happened at Yankee stadium, stadium security would get the fan aside. Next came, two GIANT who represent Alex's security team.

At first, they would be nice about the pending trade - "Alex want this ball back. He is willing to trade a couple signed baseball and so forth for it."

A couple of them liked the trade and a couple of them didnt.

To those who didnt like the trade and demand for something else - here is the exact quote (I was there when one of my buddy got the baseball)

"This ball will have no value whatsoever once it leaves the stadium. So you can get something for it or you have nothing of value in your hands."

[yankees506]

Last year in April I was at a yankee game when robinson cano came up to ba t late in the game having already hit one home run in the game. I was just about to leave when they announced him due to bat, I walked to behind the rf stands on the field level and bang! The ball lands ten rows in front of where im standing and hits a man right in the mouth off of a bounce. After the paramedics check him out I became part of my own search and rescue, I offered him $200 and I now own robbie cano's 124th carrer hr. I have a video that shows the man celibrating with his wife with ball in hand and a photo I took with him shortly there after. In this case the ball was worth more to me than robbie

[emann]

if you ask me those media relations people came across and a bunch of a#$holes. Makes me not want to deal with them at all should I end up with a HR ball that they want back.

Agreed.

I was also surprised by this quote "Major League Baseball will authenticate a ball only if it returns to the team's possession."

Isn't the rule they always go by is that they need to see the item "used by the player" before they will authenticate it? So, they won't holo a ball when caught by a fan, but will holo it an hour later when a team rep successfully pries it away from the fan.

[xpress34]

What a DOUCHE BAG this guy sounds like:

"It's just a plain ball to any fan, but to the player, it means a lot more," said Indians guest services supervisor Rik Danburg, who serves as Cleveland's chief negotiator. "When you don't get the ball, then you start making them feel guilty and say, 'It's a shame that Jim Thome will have every ball except No. 603. It's a shame that he won't be able to show his grandchildren that ball and it'll be in [your house] instead of in his trophy case.' Then they start feeling guilty and they give it up to me."

In other words, the fans have NO appreciation for the ball and I'm such a shit heal, I'll just Guilt them out of it.

His statements give me NO desire to EVER go to see Cleveland at home.

The Reds don't sound much better:

"It's not the fan's baseball," said Reds director of media relations Rob Butcher, who handles Cincinnati's negotiations. "That's how we look at it, at least. It has all the value in the world to the player who hit it. Most people are really good about it and give it back for an autographed ball or bat. But some fans think they're going to become famous and they hold these guys hostage."

Doesn't EVERY team announce that balls leaving the playing field DO become the property of the fan who retrieves it? I do agree with his comment that some people think they just hit the Lotto though.

If their comments are indicative of the attitude of most MLB teams to their fans - and what they think of their fans appreciation for the game, then they can go screw.

I don't think the article painted MLB or the teams in a very good light when it comes to retrieving items from fans or (as stated earlier) the authentication process - the comment about not authenticating when a fan has the item, but as soon as it becomes the teams property it gets authenticated. That's BS and it also derails the whole idea of MLB Authentication and their process.

Just my .02

- Smitty

[OaklandAsFan]

honestly it makes me want to spend time and try and catch a milestone baseball in Cincy or Cleveland and have another GU ball in my pocket and switch it out and make a deal while videotaping the whole thing then expose the truth after they think they got what they want.

[jppopma]

Really shows how much these teams care about their fans. Sickening.

[xpress34]

Really shows how much these teams care about their fans. Sickening.

They don't care about the fans... it's about the $$$ so they can continue to pay these outrageous contracts they keep offering...