Tweet
In the Rangers game at Baltimore tonight Josh Hamilton had his bat slip out of his hand (again) and sail into the stands. A Baltimore fan with an Orioles jersey caught the bat (partly in self defense) and then gave it to a little boy sitting in front of him with his parents. When interviewed at the end of the inning he said that the little boy was a Josh Hamilton fan and he just wanted to give him the bat. Its one thing to give a a young kid a foul ball and its another to give a kid a game used (no question about it) bat from a star player. Its something that young boy will remember all his life.Thought that was really nice.
-
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
Thats great to hear, I honestly don't know if I woulda given up the bat.
Today on the 2nd or 3rd pitch of the game Rafael Furcal smoked a HR to the main concourse in CF vs the Dbacks. It drilled a little girl (about 7 or 8 years old) right in the leg just above the knee and rolled past my seat until some guy picked it up and started walking away. I looked over and the little girl was bawling in pain and security was calling EMS. I looked at the guy and said dude that girl got drilled by that ball you should give it to her. Much to my surprise he actually walked over and did. -
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
Similar thing happeded in last night's Cardinals game in Arizona. Tyler Greene let go of two bats during the game. The first was grabbed by a fan about 20-30 rows up. A kid from about 10 rows away ran right up to the guy that caught it and it was immediately handed the bat.Collecting Cardinals jerseys and bats, with a focus on Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, and Adam Wainwright.
Tyler
flotaboys@hotmail.comComment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
That is a nice gesture. But being a collector I would have kept the bat for myself.
It is NOT all about the kids all of the time. Adults are fans too. I have given balls to kids plenty of times too. But some of these kids seem to think they are more entitled to items than an adult.
If the bat was meant for a kid then that would be different. But the adult caught the bat fair & square.Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
Of course the fan who caught the bat had the right to keep it. And being a Josh Hamilton fan in all honesty I would almost certainly would have kept the bat. That being said, if the bat had come from an Orioles player and I knew some 6 or 8 year old kid in front of me was a big fan of his I hope I'd consider giving him the bat. And the kid did not ask for it. It was just a real nice gesture on the man's part.Comment
-
Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
The messed up thing is, let's say it's your favorite player, and you catch the bat. Next thing you know a kid runs up to you asking for it. Of course you don't give it to him. The next thing you know the entire stadium is booing you and you end up on the front page of yahoo....Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
Or, if the lucky fan who caught the bat has an ebay account, the fan could quickly list the bat using his iPhone while still out the park!
Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
Chances are the 6 year old has no clue of the value of the bat, nor would it mean much to him 10 mins later. Most would probably trade the bat to their dad for an ice cream cone on the way home.Buying game used helmets of Packers - all eras as well as game used helmets of HOFers or future HOFers.Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
When someone catches a foul ball or the much rarer bat it is theirs and they are under no obligation to give it to anybody. I said if I had caught Hamilton's bat I would have kept it. That said, why are people here complaining about the fan giving the bat to the kid. Its his choice and he did somethig nice. The fan gave the bat to not just anybody but a youngster who was a Hamilton fan. When I was a kid I would have loved to have had a Mickey Mantle or Yogi Berra bat and I damn well would not have traded the bat for an ice cream. And yes, I DO remember nice things people did for me when when I was a kid. The guy is an Orioles fan. He caught the bat fairly and could have kept it. He chose to give the bat to someone he thought would appreciate it. Its interesting. When a fan acts like an a--hole people complain about it. And when someone does something nice there is a CERTAIN KIND OF PERSON who complains about that too. Although we are not obligated to its always nice when someone goes out of their way to be kind.Comment
-
Re: Nice gesture by a fan
I don't disagree with your statement, but (and I have said this before) I do believe that PARENTS are raising their children to feel entitled. What I mean by that is that I have been going to baseball games for as long as I can remember and in the last few years, it has gotten really bad when an ADULT catches a foul ball or home run ball and is pressured by the fans (usually PARENTS) to give up the ball to a child (usually their's!).
I've been to well over 1,000 baseball games (not including Spring Training and Minor League) and in that time I have never had a bat come near me, I have retrieved ONE (1) Home Run ball and TWO (2) Foul Balls. In batting practice I have gotten maybe 50 balls over the years (just over a ball a year for the last 40 years) and NONE of those were 'given' to me when I was younger because I was a kid.
As I have explained to many players when getting autographs when they say 'I only sign for kids'... don't forget who paid for that $30, $40 etc $ box seat that the kids are sitting in. Many players respect that and then do sign.
But the autograph issue goes hand in hand with this issue - the 'entitlement' state of mind.
When graphing, I get to the park when the gates open, go get a spot on the wall and wait. It never fails how magically, just as the players show up, some PARENTS say. "Hey, you need to let the kids get up there. You guys should move for my child. Etc Etc Etc."
I'm sorry, lack of planning on your part does not constitute and emergency on mine.
Sorry for the rant, but my take is this:
You caught it it's yours. You keep it, I'm fine with that. You want to give it away, I'm fine with that too.
But when people play the 'remember the kids' card, that irks the living you know what out of me.
And for the record, I am a PARENT and I never played the BS for my son.
- SmittyComment
-
Comment