The Aaron Judge 62 Baseball

[WEDWDW]

I understand the Fan who caught it has been offered 2 million dollars.

I have never understood why Major League Baseball considers EVERY Baseball hit in the Stands to be the PROPERTY of the Fan who catches it instead of still MLB's property or the batter who hit it.

To me it should be at their discretion-the Baseballs should not automatically belong to the Fan that catches it.

Just a strange dynamic to me.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

MLB wouldn't use the ball again anyway. They use about 100 balls per game because they want the ball as true as possible. Pitch in the dirt. New Ball. Even if the pitcher is on and nothing happens, the ump will change out the ball frequently to prevent the pitcher from working it over. Home runs, foul balls, if you catch it, you get to keep it.

 

[Mysterian]

I'd take the two million. With that money, you could go back and live in the first home you ever lived in AND you could own a second home at the first place you've vacationed!

 

[Micca]

The guy is in the world of finance, he may be weighing selling it now vs. hanging on to it for a few years. OTOH if he's extremely successful, 2 million might not be a large amount of money to him.

As far as the ball ownership goes, I guess that's just a tradition from way back.

 

[BrianL]

It's just a tradition, but also how would they ever enforce re-collecting every ball that someone caught? It's just part of the game.

 

[Mysterian]

Just a strange dynamic to me.

Now, this to me is a strange dynamic.

I have no clue what's going on, and it's probably not something I can figure out with an abacus.

 

[WEDWDW]

MLB wouldn't use the ball again anyway. They use about 100 balls per game because they want the ball as true as possible. Pitch in the dirt. New Ball. Even if the pitcher is on and nothing happens, the ump will change out the ball frequently to prevent the pitcher from working it over. Home runs, foul balls, if you catch it, you get to keep it.

I understand about routine Baseballs.

But shouldn't a historic Baseball like this be returned directly to the Player?

Why don't they just go ahead and give a Fan the Bat as well?

 

[BrianL]

I understand about routine Baseballs.

But shouldn't a historic Baseball like this be returned directly to the Player?

Why don't they just go ahead and give a Fan the Bat as well?

It's just part of the game, part of the way they do business. Fans like the idea of catching balls hit by their favorite players. They like maybe catching a record-breaker too - it's part of the allure of going to the game.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Just a tradition. You don’t get to keep a soccer ball or basketball that goes into the stands at a game. Judge is about to get a multi year contract probably in excess of $300 million, so if he wants the ball for himself he can easily afford to buy it from the fan.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I understand about routine Baseballs.

But shouldn't a historic Baseball like this be returned directly to the Player?

Why don't they just go ahead and give a Fan the Bat as well?

Because the bat didn't fly into the stands.

 

[soccerdad72]

Because the bat didn't fly into the stands.

And actually, when bats would fly into the stands (before they extended the netting all the way down both base lines, fans would generally get to keep that as well (or trade for another bat from the dugout).

It's different from footballs or basketballs, as those don't tend to end up in the stands on a normal basis (and they cost a lot more per unit). It's more the equivalent of hockey pucks.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

And actually, when bats would fly into the stands (before they extended the netting all the way down both base lines, fans would generally get to keep that as well (or trade for another bat from the dugout).

It's different from footballs or basketballs, as those don't tend to end up in the stands on a normal basis (and they cost a lot more per unit). It's more the equivalent of hockey pucks.

It's also different at different levels of baseball. Would I expect to keep the ball at a high school game? Nope.

 

[AppleDumpling]

DH is a lifelong Yankee fan and we’ve been watching in anticipation of Judge’s accomplishment. I tend to agree with OP. It is a nice tradition for fans to keep balls hit into the stands, however seems like it should be handled differently in cases of special milestones. Just would seem more appropriate for the player to be able to keep it, not for financial gain, but just as a personal memento. Or otherwise have it go back to to the team or MLB. At the Baseball Hall of Fame (which I’ve been to a few times), there are many balls in exhibits behind glass that are part of baseball history.

I do wonder too, if Judge had hit #62 at Yankee Stadium, instead of in Texas, whether a Yankee fan would’ve returned it to him. The fan who caught #60, a young man who plays college baseball, did just that, got to meet Aaron, and got a few other autographed balls in its place, plus a bat. Same thing happened with the guy who caught the homerun ball that was Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit. (And both were mostly criticized for it).

 

[pens4821]

I don’t understand the hype around 62. Who cares if it’s the AL record? It’s MLB records not each league. And he’s what, 7th most in a season?

I can see the reasoning if you want to discredit bonds, McGwire, Sosa because of steroid use. But if you’re going to do that then you need to remove their names from the record books and say judge has the most Hr in a season.

Making such big hype and having a ball worth reportedly $2 million for the 7th most HR in a season in MLB history is just crazy to me.

 

[EveDallas]

I hope the person that caught it tells them to go pound sand. That ball is going to be worth a lot more than 2 million to the right person.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I don’t understand the hype around 62. Who cares if it’s the AL record? It’s MLB records not each league. And he’s what, 7th most in a season?

I can see the reasoning if you want to discredit bonds, McGwire, Sosa because of steroid use. But if you’re going to do that then you need to remove their names from the record books and say judge has the most Hr in a season.

Making such big hype and having a ball worth reportedly $2 million for the 7th most HR in a season in MLB history is just crazy to me.

He has the clean record. The others were cheaters.

 

[WEDWDW]

DH is a lifelong Yankee fan and we’ve been watching in anticipation of Judge’s accomplishment. I tend to agree with OP. It is a nice tradition for fans to keep balls hit into the stands, however seems like it should be handled differently in cases of special milestones. Just would seem more appropriate for the player to be able to keep it, not for financial gain, but just as a personal memento. Or otherwise have it go back to to the team or MLB. At the Baseball Hall of Fame (which I’ve been to a few times), there are many balls in exhibits behind glass that are part of baseball history.

I do wonder too, if Judge had hit #62 at Yankee Stadium, instead of in Texas, whether a Yankee fan would’ve returned it to him. The fan who caught #60, a young man who plays college baseball, did just that, got to meet Aaron, and got a few other autographed balls in its place, plus a bat. Same thing happened with the guy who caught the homerun ball that was Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit. (And both were mostly criticized for it).

Very well said.