Ballhawks - WSJ article

[Bikeage77]

I can totally see keeping the first ball you catch at a game, I've come close 3 or 4 times in my life, but never got one. On that note, I think it's hilarious that Ricky Henderson caught a foul ball once and kept it cuz he never caught one while seeing a game in the stands.

[FidoMcCokefiend]

...

 

That being said, I have 2 incredibly expensive hobbies/interests where it would be quite easy for most people to consider me insane for doing what I do to acquire these items or for paying as much as I do for these things... So to each his own I suppose as long as you don't hurt others in the process.

OK, now I'm intrigued...what are your incredibly expensive hobbies/interests?

Wine collecting. One of my first bosses introduced me to it, and he started me off with some really nice stuff. I'm up to ~1100 bottles.

Watches. I'm a complete sucker for Panerai and Omega Watches.

 

I have a small stock account that I day trade (not really but I trade often) that exists solely to support my watch and wine habits. I started off well shorting Rambus at 400 a few years back, so I had a good start on it.

[topper09er]

Well those seem like pretty adult thing to like, who cares what they are. No one is judging you. I dont think many children enjoy wine collecting and watches. Most kids today probably cant even tell time on non-digital clocks anyways...but getting emence joy from meaningless baseballs during batting practice seems pretty childish to me and something that mature people should eventaully outgrow, at least in their 30s.

[dadofandrew]

I would assume your collection may well have some value as well, at least more than a baseball that "supposedly" was used during BP. When you start trespassing and injuring people to get a bottle of red, get back to us. It's not my thing, but at least it's not immature and painfully self-important.

[Bikeage77]

.When you start trespassing and injuring people to get a bottle of red, get back to us. It's not my thing, but at least it's not immature and painfully self-important.

Usually that kinda thing happens AFTER the bottle of red.

[EinhornIsFinkle]

My wife was nearly ran over by a ballhawk in Cleveland and if he would have he would have had major issues. He already had 4 batting practice balls and still nearly took out my wife.

[The Truth]

Goofballs like that make me prefer to watch the Brewers on TV. Seriously

[RU Rah Rah]

I guess I don't begrudge people for diligently tracking down foul balls, etc. But, as has been mentioned previously, there have to be some boundaries. I just can't imagine saying to myself, "I have 392 of these balls in my basement, but I'm going to muscle out of the way a 10-year who probably would treasure this object for the rest of his childhood."

[kramnoj]

For those who have unfortunate encounters in the future, it would be interesting to see how the Brewers text message to security service responds.

[razzzorsharp]

Well those seem like pretty adult thing to like, who cares what they are. No one is judging you. I dont think many children enjoy wine collecting and watches. Most kids today probably cant even tell time on non-digital clocks anyways...but getting emence joy from meaningless baseballs during batting practice seems pretty childish to me and something that mature people should eventaully outgrow, at least in their 30s.

Gotta be tough to make those kinds of judgements while being so high up on that perch. Then again, I am sure many people would consider what we do on a Brewer message board childish and somethine that should be outgrown by the time we hit 30.

 

Also, I would have issues if a ballhawk pushed another person out of the way. That doesn't fly for me as well.

[Big Cat Dad]

I guarantee If I caught a milestone ball I'd hold in ransom, auction it off or just keep it. These punks became millionaires off people like me and they are by in large.....pretty thankless. I'm not going to feel sorry for a rich baseball player (who generally treat fans like pieces of meat or don't even acknowledge them) and give it to him for free to stick on his mantle. No way.