Phillies sued to hand over Howard home run ball

[pretendastronaut]

With all the hub-bub that went down this year over Happy Youngster and Chris Coghlan, I found this story interesting;

Who would have imagined that a home run by Phillies slugger Ryan Howard would turn into a legal tug of war with a 12-year-old kid from Miami?

But that's exactly what unfolded in the 2 ½ months since Howard's 200th career home run ended up in the hands of Jennifer Valdivia at Land Shark Stadium.

After catching the ball, Jennifer was escorted alone to the Phillies clubhouse, where they talked her into exchanging it for an autographed baseball, worth substantially less, said her Fort Lauderdale attorney and memorabilia enthusiast Norm Kent.

Realizing the mistake, Jennifer's family asked Kent to get the ball back. He sued the Phillies on Monday. By day's end, the little girl had her ball.

Historic baseball safe at home in Miami girl's hands

Now, the situations are different, and I'm curious about the Phillies supposedly taking a 12 year old girl to their clubhouse without her parents and how that actually went down. Regardless of all of that, it's a bitter irony I think that this went down in Florida, and that the Miami Herald, the same media outlet that broke the HY story, sings an entirely different tune here. Granted the articles aren't by the same people, but it's interesting to note all the same I think.

[trwi7]

That's pretty low of the Phillies to take her to the clubhouse without her parents, but it's also pretty stupid of the parents to allow them to do it.

[berniebrewer4life]

That's pretty low of the Phillies to take her to the clubhouse without her parents, but it's also pretty stupid of the parents to allow them to do it.

Agreed. EXTREMELY underhanded by the phillies, but if i was a parent, there is no way i let my 12 year old leave my care with total strangers to a place i cannot go to, in ANY situation. In my opinion, that's dumb as heck. For all the parents know, those people could be posing as Phillies employees and could kidnap the daughter(very unlikely i know, but still a risk i would not want to take).

[thablingster]

You have to wonder as this type of thing continues to grow and grow in baseball, will baseball at some point feel they need to take a stand to avoid some of these types of situations from occurring in the future. I can see it getting to a point where teams, players, etc. getting sued or raked over the coals to get a ball or other piece of memorabilia back could at some point force the league to put some type of fine print in ticket sales stating that all bats, baseballs, and any other player memorabilia used during the game is property of major league baseball and can be recalled at any time for any reason, just to avoid lawsuits such as this one. It is kind of sad, but that is what our society has come to.

[Invader3K]

It seems that way. It used to be that a ball or other piece of equipment would be a valued souvenir for the lucky fan who ended up with it. Now it seems like they're viewed as some sort of cash windfall.

[Bikeage77]

I personally put all the blame on the Marlins. If they had figured out a way to have better attendance, there's no way some 12 year old girl woulda ever caught it, and all this could've been avoided.

[RockCoCougars]

Here we go again. These players and teams make millions of dollars a year. If the guy wants the ball, he should pay off for it either through memorabilia, tickets, or.... gasp.... cash. It's OK for Ryan Howard to go to a card show or something and charge $80 to sign his name, but it's not OK for someone who catches a home run ball to ask for something. I guess they should just hand it over with a handshake and a smile....Get real, the players and the teams are the ones who milk the fans 99.999999% of the time.

 

Tricking the kid without the parents and exchanging an autograph ball doesn't seem to be fair to me at any rate.

[JoeHova]

How much would Ryan Howard's 200th home run ball be worth? A couple thousand bucks maybe? It doesn't seem worth it to hire an attorney over something like that. However, if they were upset not so much about the monetary aspect but about their 12 year old being pressured into doing something she didn't want to do, I support them in their efforts at redress.

[mtrebs]

I wonder if the girl actually got Howard's 200th ball back, or if the Phillies just gave her a different ball...she'd never know the difference and Howard could have his milestone keepsake.

[nodakfan17]

The impression that I got after reading two different articles on the story was that the girl was at the ballpark with her 15-year-old brother (and not her parents). Did anyone else hear differently? If that's the case, her parents are lucky that the worst thing that happened to their daughter at the game that day was that she received free cotton candy and an autographed Ryan Howard ball. They shouldn't use ballpark ushers to babysit their children. Regardless of whether or not the ball belongs to the girl, this wouldn't be an issue if the parents took the time to take their own children to the game. You can't put all of the blame on the Marlins and Phillies.

 

*Please disregard my rant if it turns out that either parent was at the game. I'm just a big advocate for personal responsibility.

[Bikeage77]

If she went with her brother only, who cares? My friends and I rode our bikes to games when we were 12. I don't think for a second that it was irresponsible for her parents to let her and her 15 year old brother go to a game on their own.

 

Back to what this thread is really about, I'd imagine the ball is worth about 10 grand, but it could easily be worth more if he gets to 500. Good point on the Phillies changing the ball, they stamped it and everything. It could very easily be a BP ball, though I'd like to think the Phillies aren't that dishonest.

[bucks2281]

When I was 14, I went to games with my 12 y/o brother by myself, and we were more than fine. I think the ballpark is generally a safe place, but it really depends on the kid.

 

I'd imagine the ball is worth about 10 grand, but it could easily be worth more if he gets to 500.

 

Agreed, I think the ball is worth suing for because there's a good chance he'll reach 500. If he does, somebody will put down some big bucks for that ball.

[nodakfan17]

If she went with her brother only, who cares? My friends and I rode our bikes to games when we were 12. I don't think .or a second that it was irresponsible for her parents to let her and her 15 year old brother go to a game on their own.

 

The fact that the kids were only 12 and 15 years old doesn't bother me. I'm sure plenty of responsible children attend MLB games by themselves. What troubles me is the fact that the mother made comments along the lines of "my daughter shouldn't have been allowed to trade the ball without a parent or guardian there." OK, that's probably true. So where were you? Where was her brother? She is only piping up because it is financially convenient. I'm also bothered by the fact that the girl stated that it is "her ball" and that she wants to keep it in her room. I think we all know where this ball will end up.

 

I don't doubt the fact that the ball belongs to the girl. She is within her legal right to keep it (and sell it). However, in my opinion, she received fair compensation for it. Suppose that Howard hit his 200th home run in Milwaukee during a day game while you were at work, but your child was lucky enough to be be at Miller Park and catch the ball. Would you be upset if he/she got to visit the clubhouse of the defending World Series champs, give the ball back to a former MVP, and take home an autographed Ryan Howard baseball?

 

edit: The cotton candy is just a delicious bonus!

[CheezWizHed]

However, in my opinion, she received fair compensation for it. Suppose that Howard hit his 200th home run in Milwaukee during a day game while you were at work, but your child was lucky enough to be be at Miller Park and catch the ball. Would you be upset if he/she got to visit the clubhouse of the defending World Series champs, give the ball back to a former MVP, and take home an autographed Ryan Howard baseball?

 

If its worth $10k, yes, I would be upset about it.

 

My business law classes were too long ago to remember the proper terms, but there are laws in place to prevent lop-sided contracts from happening, especially when one side of the contract doesn't understand the value of what they are giving up. And I highly doubt a 12 year old girl understood that.

 

Its a very simple case. That is why the ball in back in her hands.

[whizkid]

The girl was at the game with her brother, another kid and her 69 year old grandfather, a Cuban immigrant who doesn't speak English. Minors can't sign contracts or do other binding business transations. The Phillies should have known this and worked something out. She says they told her Howard was going to sign it and then she'd get it back. In any event, they took advantage of a minor.

[Unstable]

Slightly more info: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/63737127.html Looks pretty sleazy to me. Oh well, on to Los Angeles.

[nodakfan17]

According to that last article, she didn't even have the opportunity to give the ball back to Ryan Howard herself. Now I'm convinced - that was a ripoff.

[Roderick]

I wonder if the girl actually got Howard's 200th ball back, or if the Phillies just gave her a different ball...she'd never know the difference and Howard could have his milestone keepsake.

Yes, but only Howard and a few Phillies employees would know that and it couldn't be publicly acknowledged or they would be sued by whichever party would currently own the supposedly "official" ball. So Howard would have the real ball if he wants it for his shelf (but not to sell), and the other party has the ball they could sell.

[temke]

both sides seem to be at fault.

 

it seems pretty obvious to me as a baseball fan that if i catch a memorable ball and the team asks me to give it over that they are keeping it and i an getting something in return. unfortunately in this situation the girl didnt know that. kind of surprising that the older brother didnt know this either.

 

the phillies did seem kind of shady and it kind of stinks that howard didnt meet the girl after the game.

 

in the end it sounds like the team was ready to compensate her more than accordingly. the story i heard included some memorabilia as well as some VIP tickets to a phillies-marlins game next year.

 

that would be enough for me...but only if i eventually got the promised meeting with howard.

[jjkoestler]

the story i heard included some memorabilia as well as some VIP tickets to a phillies-marlins game next year.

 

Is there a Hanley Ramírez bat involved too?