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

[Fatter than Joey]

I don't understand the opinion that a home run ball should ever be just simply returned to the batter who hit it. Once it makes the seats and ends up in a fan's hands, to me that just seems like the end of the story. Done deal. Transaction complete.

 

I don't agree with this. The ball is clearly property of the home team. In the NBA, if the ball goes into the crowd -- it comes back out. If a MLB player loses his hat in the crowd going after a foul ball, it is not lost. Your ticket allows you to watch the game, and I think that is pretty much it. MLB allows a lot of fans to keep balls hit out of play, but I certainly don't think they relinquish ownership of an item once it leaves the playing field. One of the lawyer types could certainly correct me if I am off-base.

 

Just curious as to why this thread isn't locked yet, with people making blatant personal attacks on a BF.netter and posting ridiculous speculations without any basis or factual information.

 

This story has been on ESPN, and picked up by the AP -- it is hardly void of factual information.

 

You can't tell me that they couldn't part with a Ramirez bat

 

Hanley needs something to hit with -- The Marlins are on the road, It's not like they brought Ramirez souvenir bats on the road trip with them. I think it is very reasonable for the Marlins to deny a specific bat request when they are on the road. Balls are one thing, bats/gloves/jerseys -- that's a whole other series of considerations.

 

I don't think just being a member of this site precludes you from any discussion or criticism of you actions - especially something like this that is getting a lot of media attention

 

Agreed -- I think that the HY is certainly trying to embrace his "celebrity" status. If you are going to give interviews that get published by the AP and end up on Sportcenter, then you probably need to ensure you are not coming off like a total dipwad and embarrassing your fellow fans.

 

I can't help but think that his story couldn't come at a much worse time for Milwaukee and the Brewers.

 

Yeah, regardless of who said what, I think public opinion is not going to judge Milwaukee well. I am almost certain, not a lot of people are going to sympathize with a "ball hawk".

 

I think the sad thing to me, is that if you read both accounts, it seems like both sides agree that the incident got ugly. It is unfortunate that a night at the ballpark and what should have been an exciting event for both the fan and player turned so sour.

[Fatter than Joey]

Well then, he should be more than willing to pony up for it. What's the minimum wage for a MLB player now? $400,000?

 

Hanley still needs a bat to hit with.

[Legacy25GT]

I think what rubs people the wrong way in this, isn't that he's a memorabelia hound, but the extents that he'll go to expand his collection. I personally think its a bit low to trick players into thinking you're a fan of a certain team in order to get a favor. If these players knew the whole story behind who they're giving the ball to, HY would never get another ball tossed to him by a player or coach ever again.

 

I'm not sure if the demands are of a huge concern for me, since HY is approaching it as a memorabelia dealer would, and not as a fan, which I don't have a problem with. If its me personally, maybe I'd settle for a signed bat and meeting Coghlin on the field, and I'd be the happiest guy in Milwaukee. What I'm more curious about than anything, is how he actually got the ball, because from the replay ( http://florida.marlins.ml...tent_id=4541473&c_id=fla ) its obvious that HY was not the guy who caught the ball in the Tundra Territory. If he bought it off of a guy who didn't know it was the player's first HR for $20 or whatever, then maybe I'd have a problem with HY making the demands he did.

[TheCrew07]

I think the sad thing to me, is that if you read both accounts, it seems like both sides agree that the incident got ugly. It is unfortunate that a night at the ballpark and what should have been an exciting event for both the fan and player turned so sour.

I'm not a big fan of one line posts but that was very well said.

[Invader3K]

What I'm more curious about than anything, is how he actually got the ball, because from the replay ( http://florida.marlins.ml...tent_id=4541473&c_id=fla ) its obvious that HY was not the guy who caught the ball in the Tundra Territory. If he bought it off of a guy who didn't know it was the player's first HR for $20 or whatever, then maybe I'd have a problem with HY making the demands he did.

I think it is him catching it...I think he threw on his yellow shirt and Marlins hat after the fact.

[Patrick425]

If I understand correctly, HY ended up getting tickets to the Brewers/Marlins series in Miami, a bat with an inscription, and a photo with Coghlan. Did he ask for more? Yes. Did he settle for less? Yes. Again, it wasn't like he was asking for $1,000 and season tickets or anything completely unreasonable. He owns the ball (regardless of FTJ's comments. I don't think the home team or MLB has ownership of it. Otherwise, we wouldn't see these Bond's balls going up for auction and MLB taking such careful action to mark the balls to secure authenticity for the lucky owner). He has the right to ask for something in return for it without being viewed as being evil. If Hanely Ramirez runs out of bats because of this, he can use someone else's bat on the road trip. It happens all the time.

Regardless of "sentimental value", there is a price to pay for every thing. When I take a picture with my camera, the picture has sentimental value to me, but Walgreens still wants my money if I want to order a print from them. If you want something that someone else owns (regardless of how much it means to you), you should expect to pay for it.

As far as the ball thing is concerned, people could still keep the majority of balls hit into the stands, but were there to be one of special significance, ML could claim that ball (and probably have some universal gift (non-negotiable) to any such fan who would catch said ball).

I would hope that this non-negotiable universal gift would be, at the very least, what HY got fo the ball. I really don't think that what he received was that much. I'm not understanding all the fuss at all.

[Fatter than Joey]

I read this from HY's blog -

 

...some people choose to sell drugs to kids. Some people choose to abuse drugs, themselves. Some people choose to get all liquored up and drive their vehicles. Some people choose to be abusive to their wives and kids. Some people choose to rob, steal and cheat. Some people take the lives of others.

 

His pretense is that some people are ballhawks, and then other people abuse drugs, their spouses, etc.

 

Of course this is pure self-serving drivel. Some posters have raised their eyebrows at a hobby that entails fooling bullpen coaches into throwing them up baseballs, but no one has remotely classified this guy or his actions as criminal.

 

The flip-side of this coin, is that while the Happy Youngster is deceiving visiting ball teams -- other people are donating their time to coach little league, delivering meals to the elderly, tutoring students that need extra help -- and doing a lot of other things that benefit their community.

 

At the end of the day I am just glad that the HY is ball-hawking instead of committing murder, drunk-driving, and beating up women and children that he could otherwise engage in.

[Invader3K]

At the end of the day I am just glad that the HY is ball-hawking instead of committing murder, drunk-driving, and beating up women and children that he could otherwise engage in.

Especially since he's also a cop. Or didn't you hear him say that already?

[giffted1]

The flip-side of this coin, is that while the Happy Youngster is deceiving visiting ball teams -- other people are donating their time to coach little league, delivering meals to the elderly, tutoring students that need extra help -- and doing a lot of other things that benefit their community.

And we're all posting on an internet message board when we could be helping the community.

[bigredrobbo]

It's times like these that make me almost pine for the ridiculous Cubfan habit of throwing back opposing HR balls. Think of how much less debate about Milwaukee "classiness" would be going on right about now.

[Fatter than Joey]

And we're all posting on an internet message board when we could be helping the community.

 

Absolutely. You are 100% correct.

 

However, the difference you fail to note, is that none of us here are justifying how we spend our free time by stating: "Some people post on message boards, other people take other peoples lives".

[Invader3K]

It's times like these that make me almost pine for the ridiculous Cubfan habit of throwing back opposing HR balls. Think of how much less debate about Milwaukee "classiness" would be going on right about now.

Actually, I noticed glancing at HY's blog he'll sometimes catch a ball, then throw another ball out marked "Cubs suck" or whatever. So that way he can both keep the memento and please the fans at Miller Parks. Basically he gets to profiteer and look like a real fan at the same time.

[Fatter than Joey]

Think of how much less debate about Milwaukee "classiness" would be going on right about now.

 

For what it is worth -- I did a quick Google search, for "home run ownership" -- and this situation is getting blogged about by just about every MLB fansite -- and regardless if it fair or not, our fanbase is not looking real good.

[Fatter than Joey]

regardless of FTJ's comments. I don't think the home team or MLB has ownership of it. Otherwise, we wouldn't see these Bond's balls going up for auction and MLB taking such careful action to mark the balls to secure authenticity for the lucky owner

 

Again, I would love to hear a lawyer's opinion on all of this... It is not as if the playing field is the boundary of the team's property -- if a ball is hit out of a stadium, that probably is different.

 

The reason that MLB began marking balls though -- was not really primarily an ownership issue -- they were trying to prevent all sorts of fraud from happening, they would have had a publicity nightmare, even if ownership was not an issue. -- There are other reasons for authenticating as well... the ball may end up at Cooperstown, etc....

[Invader3K]

Reading up on a couple cases really briefly, I believe once a ball is hit out, it's considered "abandoned property" since MLB hasn't generally made it a priority to recover them.

 

Even so, I don't think the ownership of the ball is really the issue here. It's the tact used in giving it back to a player that it genuinely means something to.

[Brewer Fever]

I've heard and read both sides of this story and what really tipped the scales for me was that picture Coghlan took with HY. That says it all right there. The ballplayer clearly was acting like a jag. Like many here he must think HY's hobby is strange. And from the look of that picture Goghlan no doubt had zero intention of making a gracious exchange. The guy couldn't put on a straight face for two secounds to take a damn picture even after he got his ball back.

 

I'm sure these players have heard of stranger requests. I tend to think once they learned that HY was somewhat of a pro at this that's when they let their judgements of how worthy a human being he was get in the way of making a cordial trade.

[Invader3K]

I've heard and read both sides of this story and what really tipped the scales for me was that picture Coghlan took with HY. That says it all right there. The ballplayer clearly was acting like a jag.

I thought the picture looked like he was in the middle of saying something. Otherwise it's a pretty weird expression.

[Patrick425]

You may be right FTJ. But, if so, I'm very suprised that MLB has not stepped in and tried to claim ownership of baseballs in certain cases (Bonds, etc). I'm guessing that it might be because they don't think they have a legal let to stand on. I'm not an attorney either (nor did I stay at a Holiday express last night), but my guess is that the court would rule something along the lines that baseball has allowed the practice of fans keeping the ball for so long, that they could not step in at this point and suddenly claim ownership of a specific baseball. I think baseball would specifically have to institute this policy and make it public if they wanted to protect their ownership of baseballs going forward.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

I've heard and read both sides of this story and what really tipped the scales for me was that picture Coghlan took with HY. That says it all right there. The ballplayer clearly was acting like a jag.

What does this shot say then?

 

http://thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com/assets_c/2009/05/5_13_09%20Marlins%20vs%20Brewers%20@%20Miller%20Park%20059-thumb-450x337-1155671.jpg

 

Can't we just come to grips that both sides handled this wrong?

[Brewer Fever]

The picture with HY and Coghlan is a posed shot. He was being a ham.

[gypcasino]

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.

Yeah, I'm totally amazed. I had no idea. I just read Hample's blog entry from when he was here for the game on 4-27. He got 12 balls!

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I'm sure Coughlin wasn't too happy by the time he got out there after hearing from various Marlins staff members their side of the story. Like most things, I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between.

[LS Brewer]

While I don't care for Happy Youngster's hobby, it is crazy what others are making up about him. Take a look at this posting from NBC Washington "Marlins Rookie the Victim of the Homer Hostage Taker" which essentially defames HY for no reason.

Negotiations have been rumored to start at the player's first born, but the fan seems to be able to be talked down to a new Lamborghini or a beach house in exchange for the home run ball.

What? You would think that the facts speak for themselves without lying about what happened.

[sgtcluels]

The kid just totally gave us bad Karma. Great to see the media paying attention to this instead of our hot streak.

 

Remember Gamels up, and he'll connect on one with a 50% chance of being on the road. I'm sure their fans will remember what you did sir, and probably ask for Ueckers jock strap signed by the entire 1982 Brewers and Hank Aaron. I don't care if he's a real nice guy, he acted out of place and should called out for it. The best person in the world can make mistake and obviously he did.

[Legacy25GT]

What I'm more curious about than anything, is how he actually got the ball, because from the replay ( http://florida.marlins.ml...tent_id=4541473&c_id=fla ) its obvious that HY was not the guy who caught the ball in the Tundra Territory. If he bought it off of a guy who didn't know it was the player's first HR for $20 or whatever, then maybe I'd have a problem with HY making the demands he did.

I think it is him catching it...I think he threw on his yellow shirt and Marlins hat after the fact.

 

Sorry about that... You are right... I guess I just expected to see him with a ball cap on... They zoom in on him later in the replay (here's a section of the screenshot next to the pic posted earlier):

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/HY.jpghttp://thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com/Happy%20Shawn%20%26%20Zack%20on%20Pittsburgh%20TV.JPG