Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

[sportsnbikes]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

I have been thrown over 50 balls at major league games. I have right around 40 right now. Sometimes I'll give the balls to my kids to get autographs on. I have never caught or been given a foul ball or any other ball from a game. If the ball is thrown directly to me because I am calling for it, I usually keep it. But if it is thrown in my general direction and there is a kid there, if I catch it, I'll give it to him or her every time.

[gingi79]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

Nope, never. Next season will be my 30th watching live games. In all those seasons, I have paid thousands of dollars to see these events and expected nothing more than some fine athletic competition. That being said, the idea of catching a foul ball is just as appealing now as it was in 1985. If the opportunity to catch one came along, it would be a nice added thrill to seeing the game, one that is 30 years in the making.

I find it ironic the same people who complain (rightfully in my humble opinion) that kids today have an attitude of entitlement and just expect things to be given to them without effort are the same who whine at games that we should "give the ball to the kid."

Let him wait 30 years like I did.

[ivo610]

Re: Are the Cubs REALLY that greedy?

The only reason I still try to get one is because I have a total of zero ever. I don't see what the difference is...one of these days I am going to body slam a Miller Park Ballhawk for one(watch out).

If that happens can the two of you discuss it over the forum afterwards?

(One of our members is a Brewers fan and I think holds the world record for balls caught at mlb games)

[johnsontravis@ymail.com]

Re: Are the Cubs REALLY that greedy?

If that happens can the two of you discuss it over the forum afterwards?

(One of our members is a Brewers fan and I think holds the world record for balls caught at mlb games)

I know who you are talking about but I actually have never seen him at a game. Miller Park has quite a few professional ballhawks. I am just not as determined as some of them. Screaming at the top of your lungs and flapping your arms seems to work, but around kids and parents I would rather not go that route.

[beachpetrol]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

Reminds me of when that father went to catch a ball for his son at a Rangers game a few years ago. What a horrible incident that was. Now that the stadiums sell the gameused balls, it will hopefully alleviate the need for bumping and shoving for a foul ball.

[stasman]

Re: Are the Cubs REALLY that greedy?

Never came close to catching a foul ball, although I did catch a puck at a Devils game, my hand was sore for a week

Yep. When I caught the homer, my hand had an instant huge black and blue mark. I took a photo of the bruising. Looks great with the ball. Haha

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

While I won't say I NEVER give kids baseballs, I consider three groups of people at least as worthy as kids, if not more so:

***Senior Citizens
***Disabled Fans
***Military Personnel

Taking care of the kids has turned me off somewhat for three reasons:

Kids unsupervised too often
Kids screaming and acting like maniacs
Sense of entitlement from kids and their parents.

I did give one of the two I grabbed Saturday night to a kid, and felt happy about it for 3 reasons:

***The kid was well behaved.
***His father was with him and was giving him good advice on how to ask for one.
***There were no adults screaming at me to give one away.

If every kid I encountered was as decent as this one (and his dad) were, I'd probably let the young'uns have more of my catches.

Dave M.

[xsentrixsupra]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

While I won't say I NEVER give kids baseballs, I consider three groups of people at least as worthy as kids, if not more so:

***Senior Citizens
***Disabled Fans
***Military Personnel

Taking care of the kids has turned me off somewhat for three reasons:

Kids unsupervised too often
Kids screaming and acting like maniacs
Sense of entitlement from kids and their parents.

I did give one of the two I grabbed Saturday night to a kid, and felt happy about it for 3 reasons:

***The kid was well behaved.
***His father was with him and was giving him good advice on how to ask for one.
***There were no adults screaming at me to give one away.

If every kid I encountered was as decent as this one (and his dad) were, I'd probably let the young'uns have more of my catches.

Dave M.

Disabled fans for me would be the one I'd probably instantly give it up for. Senior citizens at least had the chance when they were younger to catch a ball on their own, the disabled individual will probably never have that chance. Never thought of military personnel, I guess that opporunity hasn't come up. That is probably the good thing to do though!

[johnsontravis@ymail.com]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

I was always turned off from the whole giving kids a ball because a lot of them walk out of BP with their pockets stuffed. I don't get how a 12 year old is entitled to 3+, but I don't get one.

[Sotystl]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

Ive caught two balls, and gave them both away.

First was a foul ball, and gave it to the disabled kid a few seats down from me.

Second one another foul ball i caught that had homerun distance but down the RF line, hurt like hell to catch lol. I gave it to the kid in front of me who was at his first game with his mom. Something about seeing a 5-6 yr old kid there with his glove wide eyed just to be there takes me back.

The satisfaction i got from the reaction from the two people i gave them to was far more awesome then taking it home and have it sitting on my mantle, or in my man cave.

Albeit these were only foul balls, had i caught a HR ball or something of the sort i may be a little less apt to give it away.

[mbenga28]

Re: Have you ever caught a MLB foul ball? Would you "give to the kid?

While it's altruistic to give up a ball you caught to someone else, what satisfaction does the recipient get from it? They didn't catch the ball themselves, it wasn't as if a player gave it to them to make it a special keepsake, there's no MLB authentication sticker to prove they got it from the game they attended.