Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

[xpress34]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Here's my .02 worth because (as some of you may know) I WAS in this situation last year...

On September 8th I was sitting in the Lower LF Pavilon at Coors Field when Eric Young Jr hit his 1st MLB homerun. As soon as the ball left his bat, I saw it was either going down the BIG tunnel (field access) or the SMALL tunnel (seat access)... as I turned the corner at the small tunnel, the ball came over my head, hit the concrete above the doorway that goes into the underground concourse area and bounced right back to me.

When Steve Burke (Head of Guest Relations for the Rockies) approached me, I already knew what I was going to do. I know Steve, so I wasn't going to be a pain in the ass, and I've met both EY and EY Jr on many occasions and they are both very down to earth people.

I traded the ball for a simple quick Meet and Great and an Auto'd GU ball from the game. I did ask Jr for a bat or batting gloves if he sees fit in the future (and to this point I haven't gotten either), but I'm not going to be a jerk about it either. It is what it is.

To that point though, I have gotten lines on two items - THE jersey EY Jr was wearing when he hit the HR (Thanks Milledge!!!) and the Batting Helmet he was wearing. The Helmet (along with a few other pieces) will be done this weekend... the jersey I'm still working on.

That all being said, I think alot of the thoughts here are a bit off unless it is a historically significant HR. If you ask for too much, I believe most players will tell you to enjoy the ball. Jerseys are owned by the TEAM, not the player for the most part.

Dinner or a meal? Again, I think that's a stretch. A bat, I can see asking for - they are owned by the players for the most part.

But - and this has been discussed before in another thread - asking for a DIFFERENT players items (i.e. asking for Jeter items for an A-Rod HR?) is not only rude, but insulting to the player who hit the homer no matter who it is besides the fact of why should another player give up his stuff for a ball hit by someone else??? It's like the like the jackass that caught Chris Coughlan's 1st HR last year and wanted $10,000... then he wanted Season Tickets... then he wanted Hanley Rameriz gear... I think he finally settled for an AU GU bat from Coughlan. He was shredded publicly other places and HERE on this board for doing exactly what some of you are suggesting.

Finally, the Thome issue for Dave... I have the same deal here in Denver with Helton. Todd is very nice, and I have gotten lots signed by him over the years, but in the last 3 years, he ahs avoided me like the plague. Whenever I am not out back, he signs... when he has stopped out back and I'm there, he stops when I get close, etc... I got him earlier this year at Fan Fest because my buddy gave me tickets to it and the auto tickets were for Helton. Maybe he thinks I sell, I don't know. He still waves and says hello to me, but I can't get a sig to save my life - and this started at Spring Training 2008... I had a 2007 WS ball for him, Tulo and Holliday. I went straight to Hi-Corbett when I got off the plane. Within 10 minutes of getting there, Todd comes to the auto cue... signing, signing, signing - gets to me and says, 'I already got you' and skips me! What am I going to do? Argue with him and get thrown out or possibly never get another auto from him (which I haven't since anyway)? Tulo and Holliday both come out, sign and were great (but Matty has always been good to me - another story). So maybe Thome has seen you alot and decided he's signed more than his fair share for you Dave or has it been since day 1?

Again, my .02 and if I upset anyone with my comments, I'm sorry - but these are MY opinions and what I DID do in the situation.

All the best -

Chris

[lambogreenjoeyb]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

I just went to a charity event in St. Louis last Friday, met hung out with Tony LaRussa, Adam Wainwright, Aaron Miles, and Jon Jay. All of the people there with backpacks on and 3 balls in there hand, and you could see Jon Jay getting pissed off, and I have hung out with him before and he is defintley NOT a negative person, so if he was getting mad, then there's something wrong with that situation.

[otismalibu]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Dave,

Do you sell the items you get signed at the ballpark?

[spartakid]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

No, not in the least.

Dave Miedema

So he just has seen you around a lot? You provided a lot of instances where he avoided you, so it doesn't seem coincidental. He must have some sort of reason if he's doing it on purpose.

[cliffjmp33]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

I saw this earlier and I did some thinking. I like a lot of different ideas from folks. Here is my though on what I would do.

1) If the homer is from a lesser younger player (say 50th/100th) or a very seasoned veteran and not HoFer, I'd probably offer to give him the ball in exchange for a signed jersey or bat and chance to meet the person to give it to him personally.

2) If the ball was from a possible HoFer, but not 500+ or a single-season record for that player, I'd likely offer it to the player. I'd ask for similar as before, but I'd like it to be game used from that day (I think having something specific from that game in return would be fair). Should it be a possible single-season.

3) If it were a mega milestone, 500, 600, 700, single-season MLB record, I'd fully be willing to offer it first to the player for money. My family's financial well being would be worth more than a player "respecting" or "thanking" me.

I'd want to talk to the person or his representative to say I'd be in touch after I got a few ideas how much it could make at auction. After figuring out what it could go for (generic say $100,000), I'd offer the ball to the player for somewhat less ($80,000) plus a possible signed item as in #2. If a player is hitting those milestones, they have made more money they know about and easily could afford it and additionally, most players have milestone kickers (AROD a million for 700 if I am correct) that would also pay for the ball.

Again this is all hypothetical as I have never even caught a foul ball or BP homer. Fun to dream though right?

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

I'm confused, does he know you personally?

No, not in the least.

Dave Miedema

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

My answer would be no matter the value that its his for a meal with him (his treat) and a game used and autographed jersey. This way I could spend a 1/2 hour chatting with a player and ask the questions I have always been curious about regarding big league baseball and the jersey would be a cool heirloom that would be special since unlike a jersey I bought it would be something specially given directly to me.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

We all have seen the scrambles and disputes over coveted home runs between fans over high-dollar homers from the likes of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and Sosa.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

My curiousity is about less heralded but still desirable milestone home runs...such as the Cardinals' Steven Hill, who hit his first yesterday, or the 300th HRs hit in the last two seasons by Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. In a situation like this, where the ball isn't gonna make you independently wealthy, but it's desirable enough that the player wants it back, what would you do?

In my own case, I have no one answer. My response would depend on who hit it and wants it back.

If it were a Cubs or White Sox player, a rookie, or a player I really liked, I'd probably make it easy on him (inscribed and signed bat and ball).

For a player, I'm ambivalent about, I'd probably turn it up a notch and seek a GU or GI jersey.

For a major, high-earning superstar (Man-Ram, Chipper Jones), I'd try for a payment that would equal one year's rent for the apartment my family and I reside in. If that fails, I'd probably consider the GU/GI jersey as plan B.

If it were a player who cheated me or treated me poorly on a memorabilia request/swap (Jason Giambi, Tim Redding or Matt Stairs), or if it were a player who just treated me poorly as a collecting fan in general (in my case, A-Rod or Jim Thome), I'd be on the phone to either Steve Mears or Huggins & Scott before the guy finished rounding the bases).

How would you deal with a moment like that?

Dave Miedema

You would call Steve Mears? He has not popped up on here lately (using those creative ids until they reban him) wonder if he is ok.

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Id probably keep it, i can buy game used stuff whenever i want, but ive never caught a homerun ball.

[spartakid]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

I'm confused, does he know you personally?

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.

Both A-Rod and Thome treat me like a leper when I ask for an autograph. A-Rod has NEVER ONCE signed for me in his entire career. It isn't that he won't sign; it's that he'll always ignore me and sign for the curtain-climbers instead.

While Thome is, as stated, a good guy normally, he has gone out of his way to not sign for me for nearly a decade. At the ballpark, now that he's with the Twins, he will not sign anywhere near me (though he does generally sign at least a few). When he was with the White Sox, anytime he saw me next to the dugout, he'd decline to acknowledge the fans and duck inside after BP. Even at spring training in Tucson, he'd avoid me like the plague. If he was going down the line signing, he'd nearly always stop before he got to me. The one time he came close to me, a fan behind me distracted me for a few seconds...Thome used the distraction to move past my spot and resume signing after me, ignoring my requests without a word. Thome may be a good guy with teammates, writers and most fans, but he seems to equate me with dog droppings he accidentally stepped in.

Dave Miedema

[joelsabi]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

We all have seen the scrambles and disputes over coveted home runs between fans over high-dollar homers from the likes of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire and Sosa.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

My curiousity is about less heralded but still desirable milestone home runs...such as the Cardinals' Steven Hill, who hit his first yesterday, or the 300th HRs hit in the last two seasons by Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. In a situation like this, where the ball isn't gonna make you independently wealthy, but it's desirable enough that the player wants it back, what would you do?

In my own case, I have no one answer. My response would depend on who hit it and wants it back.

If it were a Cubs or White Sox player, a rookie, or a player I really liked, I'd probably make it easy on him (inscribed and signed bat and ball).

For a player, I'm ambivalent about, I'd probably turn it up a notch and seek a GU or GI jersey.

For a major, high-earning superstar (Man-Ram, Chipper Jones), I'd try for a payment that would equal one year's rent for the apartment my family and I reside in. If that fails, I'd probably consider the GU/GI jersey as plan B.

If it were a player who cheated me or treated me poorly on a memorabilia request/swap (Jason Giambi, Tim Redding or Matt Stairs), or if it were a player who just treated me poorly as a collecting fan in general (in my case, A-Rod or Jim Thome), I'd be on the phone to either Steve Mears or Huggins & Scott before the guy finished rounding the bases).

How would you deal with a moment like that?

Dave Miedema

meet and greet with my family after the game if it's no one I would collect.

[joelsabi]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.

I had the same thought about ARod. Care to share.

[lakeerie92]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Great question. I would go big from the start. I wouldn't ask for money, but I would try to pick up several items. The worst they could say is no. I would try to pick up other players stuff probably. If I caught an Arod homer I would ask for a Jeter bat and jersey. It would also work to puttee other player on the spot to help out a teammate which would increase my odds of getting what I was asking

[spartakid]

Re: Player wants HR ball you just caught: what would you do?

Dave, just for my own curiosity, what was your bad experience with Thome? I've always heard he was a pretty good guy.