The Happy Youngster Strikes Again? Coghlan's Home Run Ball Held for Ransom

[TooLiveBrew]

Any way you can post a bigger version of that pic? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[billyhallfan]

i can't figure out how to make it smaller?

 

could you please use your jedi powers to fix it?

[1992casey]

Has anyone considered the fact Happy is a member here and that maybe this situation could be treated with a bit of tact?

 

billyhallfan, the best thing to do with that picture is to reduce its size in a graphics program, upload it to your Yuku image storage or to Photobucket, and repost it. As you and TooLive have each noticed, 4 MB and 3600x2700 pixels wide graphic is massive. I'd recommend a width of 460 pixels. The height will take care of itself.

[yount19.u]

If this jackal was such a die hard Brewer fan, he would have thrown the ball back on the field.

 

Edit: Member or not, if he's got the nerve to act like that, we've got the right to call him out.

[hawing]

HY has no business being in any type of Brewer Fan Hall of Fame.

If anybody has an email where i can reach the folk in charge of this, i will send them an email explaining why he doesn't deserve such an honor.

I think JJHardy7 may be referring to this thread from about a month ago, where Brian speculated on possible candidates for a possible "fan legends" section on Brewerfan.net. Nothing is set in stone re: whether a fan legends page will exist on this site, and/or who might be included if it comes to be.

 

So, no need to email us about it. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

i can't figure out how to make it smaller?

 

could you please use your jedi powers to fix it?

I wish... the Sith have too strong a presence on the interwebs... my ability to use the Force is diminished.

[JJHardy7]

Edit: Member or not, if he's got the nerve to act like that, we've got the right to call him out.

 

Agreed. This is not 'pretend you're a Brewer fan and switch the jersey go gain things'.net.

 

I think it's a flat out joke. First you ask for the moon...why? You fake being a fan? Can't even say the name right? Why?

 

And on top of that...for whatever reason people want to put you in Brewer Fan HOF...and you do this?

[PeaveyFury]

Yeah, on top of giving a guy a hard time on his first MLB homer ball, you ask for a different player's autograph?

 

By his own admission, after catching Jenkins' 200th HR ball, he asked for bats from four different Brewer players in return (none of them were Jenkins).

 

Please keep in mind that while people are free to voice their opinion on the situation, that our rules regarding name calling are still in force.

[TheCrew]

I'd just be happy to meet the guy personally..... but that's just me.

 

To me, your not a brewer fan if you were other teams gear at the game - regardless of the reason.

[bullox]

Whatever makes you 'Happy' I guess. As long as you can live with yourself.

[DHonks]

Some speculate that Scott Boras, the Yankees, or Bud Selig represent all that is bad with baseball. I have no problem with them. However, the Happy Youngster represents what is wrong in America (not just baseball). The Brewers should find a way to consider him a legally hostile fan and ban him from all future sporting events. He is the sports fan equivalent of an ambulance chasing lawyer--that is that he makes the rest of those around him ashamed of his actions. At this point he sounds like a drug addict that NEEDS his fix for free crap. Of course, all of this free stuff comes at the expense of the ballplayers that earned momentos and kids that he shoves to the concrete. The next time he gets a ball, I hope fans boo him more mercilessly than Wes Helms and Gary Sheffield combined!

[Iron Chef Napalm]

I can't speak to his ball hawking exploits at games, but Nick (Happy Youngster) has been a member of the Brewerfan.net softball for a couple of years. During that time he has been a great teammate and a nice guy. We did not go into details at tonight's game and I don't know enough to defend him by refuting all the claims, but his side of the story was significantly different than the Marlins.

[jhart05]

Edit: Member or not, if he's got the nerve to act like that, we've got the right to call him out.

 

I'm with you man. This is nuts.

 

I'll never understand the people who stand up and act like idiots for a $5 T-shirt, or the 30+ year old men diving on the ground for a stupid baseball.

 

It's just a ball people.

[TooLiveBrew]

Given Iron Chef's comments, we might do well to stop speculating & trusting that everything that's been reported is accurate.

[jjkoestler]

I was just checking out HY's blog and webpage, and I saw that he seat hops throughout the ballpark (I really don't care about that). It made me think about the legal issues involved though. If he or someone else catches a milestone ball in a seat that they didn't pay to sit in, do they still have the right to the ball, bat, etc. Any lawyers here?

[azcheesehead]

I agree with most of the sentiment on this board. I live in Phoenix, hence the name and go to quite a bit of games at Chase Field. For the record, I have over 30 baseballs this year, mainly from BP, but do have 7 game balls and have collected them ALL wearing a Brewers cap and a Braun T Shirt jersey. Who's a true fan, Happy?

[jlau20]

There's a guy that is at every single game I've ever been to at MP and he stands by the visiting bullpen wearing the opposing team's hat and sometimes a shirt, always trying to get balls from the bullpen. That's not the HY is it?

[jeffy]

Edit: Member or not, if he's got the nerve to act like that, we've got the right to call him out.

 

I'm with you man. This is nuts.

 

I'll never understand the people who stand up and act like idiots for a $5 T-shirt, or the 30+ year old men diving on the ground for a stupid baseball.

 

It's just a ball people.

 

Same here. "Ball hawk" really???...seems like an odd hobby for an adult. This is about as odd as the guy who showed up in a full Brewers uniform in Minn. I think it is funny when adults sit in the ball park with a glove on...really, getting a ball is that important to you? I've never gotten a ball in my life, but I stopped really caring about it when I was maybe 15.

[lcbj68c]

I may be in the minority, but I'll go ahead and stand up for Nick to some extent here. I met Nick about two years ago and still maintain contact with him despite the fact that I recently moved back to Florida. I have not spoken to Nick about the Coghlen home run ball, so I haven't heard his side of the story. I've sat next to Nick at over 20 ballgames and have observed him on over a hundred occassions as a former MBBC employee. I have never once observed him "run over" or "push" any children, senior citizens, or otherwise out of the way to get a ball. I've also observed him on a few occassions while he was on-duty (yes, he's a real cop, not a mall cop as someone suggested) and he was nothing but professional in those instances.

 

In this particular instance, I think you have to step outside the box a little bit and not think of the ball as you would think of it, as many of you stated it would have no value to you. As a collector of home run balls, this ball has "value" to Nick and likewise it obviously had "value" to Coghlen. If not, Coghlen wouldn't have asked for it back. I personally was watching the FSN Florida feed last night and they interviewed Nick around the 6th inning and asked him what it would take to get the ball back and Nick replied that he was "waiting for the authenticator to come down and authenticate the ball". Nick then stated that all he wanted was a Hanley Ramirez game used bat.

 

I don't know what transpired afterwards, but I'll admit if the Miami Herald article is accurate, that's not a very heartwarming story, friend or not. But I don't think a Ramirez game used bat is all that much to ask for in return for a home run ball. It's simple supply and demand, if Coghlen doesn't want to bother to pester Ramirez for one of his two dozen game used bats at the moment, then apparently the value isn't worth it to him. I'm sure Nick would have been more than happy to just hang onto the ball and keep it next to his other 40+ balls on the shelf. But apparently, Coghlen and the Marlins officials could not let it go and kept pestering him. Similiar to the Jenkins situation in which Brewers officials kept pestering Nick despite repeated attempts of Nick telling them he would just keep the ball and go home.

 

I don't fault Nick for asking of something in value in return for a home run ball. A picture of Coghlen? An autographed ball of Coghlen? I'm not a huge collector of things, but if I was, I don't think those things would be very enticing. All I want is a game used Ramirez bat doesn't seem like an out of this world request.

 

But I must add Nick, should you be reading this, that I beg of you to stop wearing the paraphernalia of other teams. Stick with what you do best in catching home run balls. Getting 10 balls tossed to you by the bullpen catcher from Florida is lame.

[TheCrew07]

I knew he was a member of the forum, and I knew he was a member of the bf.net softball team, but why isn't okay to call a spade a spade?

 

If it was one incident fine, but he's done this same thing in the past and even went so far as to write a letter to the MJS why he was "within his rights" to demand memorabilia from a player other than the one that hit the ball. I see it as borderline extortion on HY's part, it's deplorable behavior in my opinion, and I don't think it reflects well on bf.net at all.

 

I had forgotten about him until this winter when out of blue he PM'd me about a post I had made 2 years ago that mentioned him, and then I wanted to say something when he was nominated for the fan hall of fame but didn't. I'm not going to debate someone's sense of entitlement with them, it's pointless, it doesn't matter if he's a member of the forum and softball team or not.

 

It certainly shouldn't be a stretch to see why people have issue with this, and I'm "happy" they are standing their ground.

[JJHardy7]

In this particular instance, I think you have to step outside the box a little bit and not think of the ball as you would think of it, as many of you stated it would have no value to you. As a collector of home run balls, this ball has "value" to Nick and likewise it obviously had "value" to Coghlen.

 

Why does it have value to a true 'Brewer fan'? Collector or not...there's no way that ball has any value to you unless you're a Marlin fan or trying to make a quick buck.

 

Nick then stated that all he wanted was a Hanley Ramirez game used bat.

 

So he caught a ball from another player HR and he can pick what player does what for him? That's a joke and it's being selfish and greedy. I really, really hope other Brewer fans are better fans than that. I personally would've given the ball back for next to nothing since I don't know the guy that hit it that well, but I would admit I'd be down with the player that HIT the HR giving me a ball and a bat that is signed. And based on Coghlen's quotes...is Coghlen a liar? The Marlins organization a liar? I mean come on now.

 

Coghlen and the Marlins officials could not let it go and kept pestering him.

 

Well 'Nick' was a 'Marlins' fan. He should've helped his team. The thing besides the crazy team hopping thing is...why would you not give the ball back to the guy? I don't know much at all about the guy that hit. I will try to compare though. The Brewers and Marlins really don't have any type of rivalry. So let's say Brad Nelson crushes/crushed his first HR in Florida...and a Florida 'fan' wears Brewer gear and won't give the ball up unless he gets some Braun stuff, tickets, and other stuff. We'd all be pretty upset at said fan. It's a baseball. I understand trying to get something for it, but there comes a point and time where you should realize it's a baseball. The guy that hit it worked a hell of a lot harder to get where he is than any person that caught it. If it has zero meaning to the person that has it (which in this case it does), one would think you'd be willing to hand over for a few things that most fans never get...especially if you sport their gear.

[dadofandrew]

I think his behavior speaks for itself. He's not out drinking and driving or beating his wife, but needless to say, most regular folks would be embarrassed to act like that or see their kids acting like that. My son found something out on our lawn the other day and went right over to the neighbor's house and gave it back to the 5 year-old who left it there. He easily could have kept it, neither my wife or I ever would have known. I always let him pick out 1 or 2 things at the dollar store, we can't keep track of his cheap crap.

 

He didn't even ask for an autograph or another toy in trade.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[jhart05]

"I think it is funny when adults sit in the ball park with a glove on"

Now, not all the time thou. I do bring my glove if I sit down in the expensive seats, down in those first couple of rows, if I'm not behind the screen.

 

Purely for protection purposes only.

[lukevan]

The question is what happens if Coghlen swallows his pride, goes to Ramirez and asks for a bat and Hanley refuses? Then the guy is out his first HR ball in the majors just because some guy wants to cash in on memorbilia. But somehow that's all fair game? Seems to widen the schism between fan and player.

[PKBadger]

Anyone ever see that movie "8MM" with Nicolas Cage? I suddenly feel a lot like Cage's character after reading all of this stuff about "ballhawking" (particularly, Zack Hample's blog)...I've been sucked into a seedy, underground world that I didn't know existed, and each step I take leaves me a little more disgusted.