Fan Who Caught Ohtani’s 1st HR Pressured to Give it Back

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by speedyjg13

What did the fan get?

A baseball signed by Ohtani

[badkarma318]

Typical classy doyers behavior.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by r338

Kidnapping?

Exactly.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by majestik101

A baseball signed by Ohtani

Are you sure?

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by oldgoldy97

Are you sure?

That's what Harper's interpreter said

[oldgoldy97]

With a pen still in hand, too.

[oldgoldy97]

I bet.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by majestik101

That's what Harper's interpreter said

HAHAHA

[panamamyers]

I've said this before in The Aaron Judge thread a few years back.
Once you have the ball in your possession, you are no longer being asked to give the ball back. You are being asked to donate $250,000 to Shohei Ohtani who already has thousands of times more money than this poor fan
If he wants the ball that bad, he can go and win the auction.
What's more fair a millionaire winning the auction or Joe Fan donating a $250,000 ball to a millionaire?

[spuds1961]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

I've said this before in The Aaron Judge thread a few years back.
Once you have the ball in your possession, you are no longer being asked to give the ball back. You are being asked to donate $250,000 to Shohei Ohtani who already has thousands of times more money than this poor fan
If he wants the ball that bad, he can go and win the auction.
What's more fair a millionaire winning the auction or Joe Fan donating a $250,000 ball to a millionaire?

Yep makes sense.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

I've said this before in The Aaron Judge thread a few years back.
Once you have the ball in your possession, you are no longer being asked to give the ball back. You are being asked to donate $250,000 to Shohei Ohtani who already has thousands of times more money than this poor fan
If he wants the ball that bad, he can go and win the auction.
What's more fair a millionaire winning the auction or Joe Fan donating a $250,000 ball to a millionaire?

bUt ItS hIs AcCoMpLiShMeNt

[majestik101]

Flashback to Ohtani's first HR in the Bigs back in 2018

My how times have changed in 6 years

So many great things in this story. Great PR and feel goods all around.

[rms13]

I'm sure there is a big time LA lawyer that will take this case and get a huge payday for the lady. She should really be involving law enforcement at this point because the Dodgers illegally detained her. She should have a legal and civil case out of this

[ottobord]

Originally Posted by majestik101

Flashback to Ohtani's first HR in the Bigs back in 2018

My how times have changed in 6 years

So many great things in this story. Great PR and feel goods all around.

The story I see is his parents made a huge mistake. It's a horrible story then and now. That ball is worth a fortune.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

I've said this before in The Aaron Judge thread a few years back.
Once you have the ball in your possession, you are no longer being asked to give the ball back. You are being asked to donate $250,000 to Shohei Ohtani who already has thousands of times more money than this poor fan
If he wants the ball that bad, he can go and win the auction.
What's more fair a millionaire winning the auction or Joe Fan donating a $250,000 ball to a millionaire?

That's true, but without authentication you're never getting anywhere closed to that, which is the crux of the problem. If MLB or whoever is doing the authentication weren't huge jerks they would authenticate it right off the bat and then negotiate for the ball, and leave the fan feeling like they hit the lottery vs feeling like they got screwed.

The kid who caught Elly de la Cruz's first HR got a photoshoot with Elly for him and his whole crew. So are the Reds staff just cooler than the Dodgers? Did that kid just drive a harder bargain? A little bit of both?

[hammertime]

I think people fail to take into account the emotions people are going through in this moment. Add onto that the fact that some people just naturally aren't confrontational. I could totally see myself accepting their first offer and maybe later regretting it. The teams should be aware of this and respect it and not make the fans feel like they're being interrogated by the Gestapo.

[dodgerfanjohn]

Originally Posted by hammertime

I think people fail to take into account the emotions people are going through in this moment. Add onto that the fact that some people just naturally aren't confrontational. I could totally see myself accepting their first offer and maybe later regretting it. The teams should be aware of this and respect it and not make the fans feel like they're being interrogated by the Gestapo.

We are now making excuses for the actions of adults?

Me in that position, I really didn't know that particular baseball is worth that much. So I really likely would have negotiated for a in person meet along with more auto'ed items(that I witnessed being signed) as I have a large number of co-workers and family members who are huge Dodgers fans, not to mention my friend's mom immigrated here from Japan in the 60's when she was 20 and her and her friends basically go ape for anything Ohtani.

Like would have tried to get dual signed Ohtani/Yamamoto items as well. I really don't think I'm asking too much.

That said, if I knew I was holding a $50-100K ball, I would be keeping it. Thats too much money for me to ignore. All the pressure in the world from attendants/security couldnt sway me.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by majestik101

A baseball signed by Ohtani

Didn’t his interpreter sign his cards as well ?

How about if the person with the baseball wants to give it away he can and if he doesn’t life still goes on?

[Trueblue]

I think the point is that not everyone that catches the ball is a hardened veteran and knows how to negotiate. Escorting someone away from the elation of the moment and immediately shaming them in a dimly lit concrete tunnel is a bush league move. That said, I think more than 50% of the average fans would cave, especially with authentication being held hostage.

[JustRachel]

Can someone answer whether or not catching a ball in an MLB ballpark means one becomes the owner of the ball?
I mean, as harsh as it probably sounds, from a legal standpoint was it ever her ball?

[JeremyNick]

It’s her ball. Decades of precedent would be hard to overcome.

If I were her I would have called their bluff. Sure don’t want to authenticate, fine. I’m leaving with a piece of history you seem very, very interested in keeping. Maybe I’ll throw it in the trash when I get home, since it will be unauthenticated.

These bully FO’s can go find someone else to try and intimidate.

I bet any number of hobby or mem companies would have been knocking down her door for it.

[Bcr]

Always bring a marker so when you catch the ball you can mark it immediately on camera.

Using authentication as blackmail should not be allowed.

[JustRachel]

That sounds right to me but I really don't know. It's been tradition, or a courtesy or whatever.

Regardless, I like the idea of telling them no and finding out how far they would actually go to get it back.

[ottobord]

Originally Posted by JustRachel

Can someone answer whether or not catching a ball in an MLB ballpark means one becomes the owner of the ball?
I mean, as harsh as it probably sounds, from a legal standpoint was it ever her ball?

Yes, they become owners. It was always announced before the games that all balls hit in the stands can be kept. I believe this is MLB's rule not individual stadiums.

[JustRachel]

Originally Posted by ottobord

Yes, they become owners. It was always announced before the games that all balls hit in the stands can be kept. I believe this is MLB's rule not individual stadiums.

Thanks, that makes sense.

Then this woman really did have the ability to flip the dodgers a big bird and walk out of there with the ball.