OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

The right arrow points to my head, partially obscured by the guy in the white shirt I'm not short, I'm sitting). You can even see my orange University of Texas baseball cap that was sitting on my knee. The other arrow points to my friend was was standing with program in one hand, pen in the other.

What's interesting is I don't collect game used baseballs, but I do collect news photos. As this AP photo was shot and distributed digitally, I have a genuine copy on my hard drive.

Pretty cool David...

You gave me an idea for another thread.

But DAVID......what about the beer question??? J.D. was looking awefully thirsty after chasing down that ball out of his reach....couldn't you have helped him out with a rain of golden beverage?

(Did I mention I've hated J.D. ever since he bailed on the Dodgers?)

[David]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

The right arrow points to my head, partially obscured by the guy in the white shirt I'm not short, I'm sitting). You can even see my orange University of Texas baseball cap that was sitting on my knee. The other arrow points to my friend was was standing with program in one hand, pen in the other.

What's interesting is I don't collect game used baseballs, but I do collect news photos. As this AP photo was shot and distributed digitally, I have a genuine copy on my hard drive.

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

He is trying to avoid the ebay and paypal fees so he didn't want to take that route

WAYYYY too funny!

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

The mentioned Ichiro home run ball had the added bonus of being photographed by an AP photographer and appeared on ESPN.com and Yahoo news. In fact I'm pictured in photo in the background.

David.....which guy is you??

And DAVID!!!.....You mean you passed up a PERFECT opportunity to throw your beer all over J.D. Drew??? What were you thinking?????

[AWA85]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

He should have just left with the ball, sold it on ebay (probably to Coghlan's parents) and bought a Hanley bat for $200.

He is trying to avoid the ebay and paypal fees so he didn't want to take that route

[emann]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

I would think as a teamate to this guy if I knew it was his first homerun and dude wanted a bat from me I'd do it... At the very least I'm making $250,000 a year (that is if I suck, and chances are if he wanted MY bat I must be a big deal such as Hanley is.) I would love to help out my teamate.... Guy asked for a bat that probably cost the team or player less than $100 bucks, Im not sure what bats cost for the player or team but I know its nothing thats going to break the bank of the team or the player who uses the bat....

If I was a well established player hitting a HR that is breaking a major record I'm sure I've got money that I could drop a million on a ball if I had to!

Yeah, but I don't think the Marlins management would even go ask Hanley since they probably saw it as a slap in the face to Coghlan. What would his response been if they said, "Why isn't a bat from Coghlan as good as Hanley's?"... Would he reply, "'cause Coghlan sucks."? It might be true but you just can't give off that sort of reply OR the vibe that the reason is that (which is what this guy did by asking for the bat of an obviously better player).

I think you need to have some measure of value when negotiating this sort of thing out. Since, he started it off on the wrong foot, he might has well have asked to knock up his girlfriend (as that other poster commented), this approach got him nowhere.

He should have just left with the ball, sold it on ebay (probably to Coghlan's parents) and bought a Hanley bat for $200.

[joelsabi]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

Now that is sweet!

Wouldn't it be great if all ballparks and management handled things that way?

In reality, they are preserving a little piece of "baseball history", which is a very respected move in our hobby.

I understand there are MLB authenticatorsat every game in every ballpark. Why won't they do this for every ball that ends up in the seats? Now, it appears they only do it if it's a MAJOR milestone homerun, or if it ends up in the bullpen or other area where someone in the organization gets ahold of it, who then has access to the MLB authenticator who placed the sticker on the ball. I for one would really like to see MLB step up their authentication of home run balls. They are an unimprovable achievement on an individual basis, representing a moment of "perfection" achieved by the player that also is a direct piece responsible for adding to his career stats. What more could a collector ask for in a game used item?

nice thoughts.

it would be great if every MLB authenticator was proactive in authenticating every homerun. people who caught the ball would be excited. hobbyist would be willing to pay more for such documented ball i assume. i think it would be a great for baseball to have this done.

[Sincityson]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

I thought the initial offer was kind enough. It's possibly likely that he wanted the Hanley Ramirez bat, to re-sell it.. Since Ramirez will go through several bats, you' d think a request of this nature would be workable. Either way, still seems a bit demanding.

[David]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

The mentioned Ichiro home run ball had the added bonus of being photographed by an AP photographer and appeared on ESPN.com and Yahoo news. In fact I'm pictured in photo in the background.

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

Suicide -

Here is the 'flip' side to your statement... while I agree that having MLB Authenticators on site to Certify each ball, it's not always an exact science... When a fan catches a ball, unless someone near him can verify that he did NOT switch it with a BP ball (not all BP balls are marked Practice - many are GU from the day before that got tossed out), then it is based on giving the fan who caught it the benefit of the doubt.

The other issue is balls hit into BullPen or Center Field areas, etc - depending on the ballpark. If no one is warming up in the BullPen, it's a 'best guess' as to which ball is THE ball when they recover it as other GU or Game Prepped balls may very well be laying around the BullPen.

As far as Center Field - and this is based on what ACTUALLY happened at Coors Field the other day - it is againa BEST GUESS as they do not 'clean out' the Center Field area after BP.

Chris Iannetta hit a Grand Slam into the Center Field 'forrest' at Coors Field and an usher I know was the one sent to recover it - he was even on TV for a few minutes looking for it. When I asked him the next day, HIS comments were - "I found 'a' ball after 5 minutes of digging around, but MLB Authenticated it as 'the' ball. After the game they pulled about 5 more balls out of the area."

So again, it's a BEST GUESS effort in most cases for the Authenticators - but I do like that they are there to at least try to get the right item each time...

As far as the Ichiro Ball, that's a cool story - too bad the Rox don't do that... at the Thursday afternoon game at Coors Field, Ivan Rodriguez lost his bat into the crowd on a swinging third strike and the ushers checked to make sure the fan was okay, but I never saw anyone else go to his seat. How about having that Authenticated ON THE SPOT?

Just my .02

All the best -

Chris

Chris,

Understood. But I've had this discussion before. Let me ask you this...

A guy in the outfield catches a homerun of, say, Albert Pujols. He knows he has the right ball, but he has another ball in his pocket that was launched into his section before the game begins and he ends up running it down. One home run ball, and one batting practice home run ball by a nobody player.

Here comes Mr. "Authenticator" from the bowels of the park, who can identify the fan who just caught Pujols home run ball because everyone saw in on instant replay three times on National TV. He is approaching the fan to ask him to present the ball so they can place the MLB Authentication sticker on it.

The guy who has the real Pujols home run ball and the batting practice ball gets a brainstorm idea: Give the guy the fake ball, and keep the Pujols homer for myself! Yeah....that's the ticket! Then I can sell the fake one for a heafty profit, and I'll have the real one!

Let me explain why there is nothing to gain with this argument, and it just doesn't make sense.

First off, no matter which ball he presents to the MLB Authenticator, if it ISN'T the correct ball, it will be identified and globally accepted to be the real ball from the moment the sticker is placed on it. EVEN if he keeps the real home run ball hit by Pujols, he would never be able to explain how he ended up with the correct one, being he had it (supposedly) to hand to the authenticator. In this ficticious example, his little plan would backfire in theory, and just doen't make any sense. Because if he tried to tell everyone what he did, who would believe he would be that stupid?

Furthermore, game-used baseballs are rubbed up with "Mississippi Mudd" before each game, and have a different appearance than batting practice baseballs. Yes some eventually get into the teams bags for B.P., and some eventually get into the hands of a fan, but by then are much more beat-up, scuffed up, have net marks on them, etc. Personally speaking, with a ton of experience in identifying and handling game-used baseballs, there is a significant difference in appearance that can be seen rather quickly. There is no way a major league pitcher is going to have a batting-practice type ball, scuffed and well used, with the labels all worn and badly beat up, and with unidentifyable markings on the ball not made while used during a regular ML baseball game.

In the other cases you mention Chris, if a home run ball goes into a part of the park where the "housekeeping" has been neglected in regards to retrieving BP baseballs, and it can't be positively determined which ball is which.....well, then I guess a piece of history is lost to the ages? You can't get em all, but one that goes directly into the hands of a fan, which is seen on National TV.....why not?

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

i was just going to say the same thing. Ramirez made $1,168,000 between 2006-2008. im not sure what kind of bat he uses, or the secondary market value, but lets assume this: BMH posted somewhere that Jeter pays $65 for each bat he orderes. If the same is true for Ramirez, and he can sell it for $300 on the secondary market, he is losing $235. If he is a good guy, and a good teammate, he takes the hit for another players first dinger. I would think Ramirez would like to have his forst home run ball as well, and the excitement for a guy on his club, why not?

Maybe it was out of line for the ballhawk to ask for the bat, but why not? hell, he can ask Ramirez to knock up his girlfriend if he wants . Then there is the comment of Coughlin, "so are you gonna give me MY ball or what"? At no point in time was the ball ever his. the chain of ownership is as follows: 1. Rawlings 2. MLB 3. ballhawk. so the player was asking for something he had no rights to (the HR ball), just as the ballhawk was asking for something he had no rights to (Ramirez bat).

just my take on this mess.

Mark

That's a pretty darn good take, Mark.

And after all, let's face it, the players don't order their bats with the intentions of "reselling" for a profit. They order them to hit baseballs all over hell and creation during their careers. They must know, going in, that these bats are going to end up in a LOT of different hands by the time their careers are over. So what's one or two, here and there, to serve a teammate a great purpose? Isn't that what a good fellow teammate is about?

Like I said before, the ballhawk who got that homerun had been around the block for quite awhile.....he knows the game. The rookie that hit the homerun......well, that's another story. Just a typical jock all messed up with misunderstandings about "entitlement".....like most of them. He should be seriously happy he got his ball......but even more proud (and understanding of how lucky he is) to be in the big leagues, and should act accordingly.

[markize]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

i was just going to say the same thing. Ramirez made $1,168,000 between 2006-2008. im not sure what kind of bat he uses, or the secondary market value, but lets assume this: BMH posted somewhere that Jeter pays $65 for each bat he orderes. If the same is true for Ramirez, and he can sell it for $300 on the secondary market, he is losing $235. If he is a good guy, and a good teammate, he takes the hit for another players first dinger. I would think Ramirez would like to have his forst home run ball as well, and the excitement for a guy on his club, why not?

Maybe it was out of line for the ballhawk to ask for the bat, but why not? hell, he can ask Ramirez to knock up his girlfriend if he wants . Then there is the comment of Coughlin, "so are you gonna give me MY ball or what"? At no point in time was the ball ever his. the chain of ownership is as follows: 1. Rawlings 2. MLB 3. ballhawk. so the player was asking for something he had no rights to (the HR ball), just as the ballhawk was asking for something he had no rights to (Ramirez bat).

just my take on this mess.

Mark

...sorry about the typos. my typing fingers (thats my 2 index fingers) get ahead of me. it should have been.... $65 for each bat he orders. in addition, its ....like to have his first home run, not frost home run ball.

mark

[markize]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

I would think as a teamate to this guy if I knew it was his first homerun and dude wanted a bat from me I'd do it... At the very least I'm making $250,000 a year (that is if I suck, and chances are if he wanted MY bat I must be a big deal such as Hanley is.) I would love to help out my teamate.... Guy asked for a bat that probably cost the team or player less than $100 bucks, Im not sure what bats cost for the player or team but I know its nothing thats going to break the bank of the team or the player who uses the bat....

If I was a well established player hitting a HR that is breaking a major record I'm sure I've got money that I could drop a million on a ball if I had to!

i was just going to say the same thing. Ramirez made $1,168,000 between 2006-2008. im not sure what kind of bat he uses, or the secondary market value, but lets assume this: BMH posted somewhere that Jeter pays $65 for each bat he orderes. If the same is true for Ramirez, and he can sell it for $300 on the secondary market, he is losing $235. If he is a good guy, and a good teammate, he takes the hit for another players first dinger. I would think Ramirez would like to have his forst home run ball as well, and the excitement for a guy on his club, why not?

Maybe it was out of line for the ballhawk to ask for the bat, but why not? hell, he can ask Ramirez to knock up his girlfriend if he wants . Then there is the comment of Coughlin, "so are you gonna give me MY ball or what"? At no point in time was the ball ever his. the chain of ownership is as follows: 1. Rawlings 2. MLB 3. ballhawk. so the player was asking for something he had no rights to (the HR ball), just as the ballhawk was asking for something he had no rights to (Ramirez bat).

just my take on this mess.

Mark

[xpress34]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

I understand there are MLB authenticatorsat every game in every ballpark. Why won't they do this for every ball that ends up in the seats? Now, it appears they only do it if it's a MAJOR milestone homerun, or if it ends up in the bullpen or other area where someone in the organization gets ahold of it, who then has access to the MLB authenticator who placed the sticker on the ball. I for one would really like to see MLB step up their authentication of home run balls. They are an unimprovable achievement on an individual basis, representing a moment of "perfection" achieved by the player that also is a direct piece responsible for adding to his career stats. What more could a collector ask for in a game used item?

Suicide -

Here is the 'flip' side to your statement... while I agree that having MLB Authenticators on site to Certify each ball, it's not always an exact science... When a fan catches a ball, unless someone near him can verify that he did NOT switch it with a BP ball (not all BP balls are marked Practice - many are GU from the day before that got tossed out), then it is based on giving the fan who caught it the benefit of the doubt.

The other issue is balls hit into BullPen or Center Field areas, etc - depending on the ballpark. If no one is warming up in the BullPen, it's a 'best guess' as to which ball is THE ball when they recover it as other GU or Game Prepped balls may very well be laying around the BullPen.

As far as Center Field - and this is based on what ACTUALLY happened at Coors Field the other day - it is againa BEST GUESS as they do not 'clean out' the Center Field area after BP.

Chris Iannetta hit a Grand Slam into the Center Field 'forrest' at Coors Field and an usher I know was the one sent to recover it - he was even on TV for a few minutes looking for it. When I asked him the next day, HIS comments were - "I found 'a' ball after 5 minutes of digging around, but MLB Authenticated it as 'the' ball. After the game they pulled about 5 more balls out of the area."

So again, it's a BEST GUESS effort in most cases for the Authenticators - but I do like that they are there to at least try to get the right item each time...

As far as the Ichiro Ball, that's a cool story - too bad the Rox don't do that... at the Thursday afternoon game at Coors Field, Ivan Rodriguez lost his bat into the crowd on a swinging third strike and the ushers checked to make sure the fan was okay, but I never saw anyone else go to his seat. How about having that Authenticated ON THE SPOT?

Just my .02

All the best -

Chris

[BergerKing22784]

Re: OT : Marlins rookie pays fan 'ransom' for HR ball

I would think as a teamate to this guy if I knew it was his first homerun and dude wanted a bat from me I'd do it... At the very least I'm making $250,000 a year (that is if I suck, and chances are if he wanted MY bat I must be a big deal such as Hanley is.) I would love to help out my teamate.... Guy asked for a bat that probably cost the team or player less than $100 bucks, Im not sure what bats cost for the player or team but I know its nothing thats going to break the bank of the team or the player who uses the bat....

If I was a well established player hitting a HR that is breaking a major record I'm sure I've got money that I could drop a million on a ball if I had to!