My first/only game at Wrigley, I got "Give it to the kid"

[GoTigers]

Little rant here.. Today was my first and only foreseeable game at Wrigley. The wife and I had dugout seats on the visitors side, and it was an awesome experience. I'm completely neutral when it comes to the two teams, but was cheering on the Padres bc I was in close proximity to the players.

We arrived two hours early, and the first thing I did was purchase a GU ball from yesterday's game.. Just $30 and from KB's first hit game.. Awesome. We get to our seats to watch BP and there are kids asking for autos. The wife asks why I'm not up there trying to get auto's, and I say it's exciting for the kids and let them have the interaction/experience .. I'm not into autos and I'm not going to go beg for them.

So, bottom of the 8th. Strikeout to end the inning.. Derrick Norris runs back to the dugout.. I'm cheering him on, and he rolls the strike-out ball directly to me across the dugout. Then, I start hearing "give it to the kid" chants.. I looked around bc I had an isle seat and there were no kids near me. And on top of that he rolled the ball to me.. He didn't throw it up in the crowd and I had to jump or dive or elbow to get it.. He rolled it to me.

Turns out a kid had run down from 4/5 rows back, decked out in Cubs gear. And was now standing next to me in the isle. So, I hand him the ball.. People cheer. I get fist bumps, and his mom comes to thank me. They couldn't have been nicer.

But.. Man that sucks. A once in a lifetime event for me, and I have to give it up bc I'm not 8? I did end up buying a gu ball from yesterday and today's game. Along with a 2014 ball with the 100yr Logo and a Castro bat. But, as we all know, items that are given to you are priceless. Especially fresh from the field.. And from Wrigley Field too. It was also the first gu ball I had recieved or caught at a game.

[R. C. Walker]

That's stinks. We should all start taking ratty backup baseballs to the games like this genius.

http://larrybrownsports.com/baseball...ches-it/238216

[camarokids]

I would have ignored the kid....

[sox83cubs84]

I ignore these idiots. If it's so important to "give it to the kid", let THEM catch one and gift it to them...why should they tell you how to dispose of an item that's yours, and not theirs?

Dave Miedema

[TigersCubs84]

Great call by SoxCubs83, ignore the "idiots". I usually ignore them, or go out to the concession till the heat is off.

[metsbats]

The one and only time I got a foul ball in 2009 i preempted any of that by loudly announcing I was giving the ball to my son when I got home. No hassles after that.

[metsbats]

Just a sad commentary on what people are teaching kids today by doing this. They grow up with a sense of entitlement and are spoiled brats.

[metsbats]

Here's an idea. Come to the next game with a ball you brought at the store. Rub it down with some mud and keep it in your pocket. Hand the kid the store ball and keep the one you caught.

[vince182]

ignore those fans. It took me 23 years to catch/get a gu ball at a game, the way i see it, those kids can wait just as long.......


besides, what fun is it/where is the appreciation for it, if you didnt get it for yourself?


now, whenever i go to any game, i bring a decoy ball, just in case (one: im at wrigley and catch a visiting teams ball (no wait im tossing ANY GU ball), or two: get the "give it to the kid" routine....... that kid will get a ball, it will just happen to say "little league approved" on it)

[godwulf]

When it comes to foul balls, I've given it "to the kid" exactly one time, a few years ago at a Fall League game. There were, as usual, gangs of eight or ten kids running around the ballpark screaming, fighting over foul balls, and I happen to pick a ball up that was hit to my section - I was the only one sitting there in right field - and in a moment of generosity and weakness I handed it to a blank-eyed little maggot, who turned away without a word of thanks or acknowledgment.

I keep track of when, where and by whom a foul ball was hit and try to get it signed by the batter involved, and then I put it in a labeled ball cube; few if any of them have any intrinsic value, of course, but it's a hobby I've come to enjoy and I think at 61 I'm entitled to that.