If you caught a famous ball, what would you do?

[paul253]

Now I will pretense this by saying that I will not, and I hope nobody else will judge anyone who answers this. I also hope people can be honest and not answer based on what they think sounds good because it'll likely never happen.

 

I read an article that the guy who caught Jeter's 3000th hit would have given it back for nothing, but the Yankees gave him a nice little package anyway. One estimate was that the ball could have fetched up to $250,000. If you caught this ball, or someone else's 3000th hit, or maybe a record Home Run ball, and you were offered $250,000 for it, what would you do? Would you take the money, or would you give it back?

 

I personally would have a very, very hard time not selling it. At the risk of sounding selfish, I do have a house to pay off. And paying it off now would potentially save me $50k-$75k in interest payments over the course of my 30 year loan. I can just imagine how nice it would be not to have to take that huge chunk of change out of my accounts every month to pay the mortgage. I also have a car with 87,000 miles that needs to be replaced soon. I do think the athlete, Jeter in this case, should have the first opportunity to buy it from me. And let's face it, $250k is chump change to someone like him. He made like $30 million last year alone in salary and endorsements. 250k is not even 1% of that. Any baseball player whose ball is worth that much money is more than likely taking in a huge yearly salary. I'd love to say I was the guy who'd be unselfish enough to just give the ball back, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, like winning the lottery, that I just couldn't pass up.

[dlk9s]

If it is not earth shattering money like what the McGwire homer was going for, I'd probably give it to the player and not ask for anything except maybe a handshake and photo op. I will say if I caught the Jeter ball and knew immediately that it was worth about $250K, I would consider keeping it, but I still think I'd give it to him.

[PKBadger]

A huge milestone ball like Jeter's 3000, there's no question I'm selling it to the highest bidder. The opportunity cost is just too much. I could do a lot with $250K.

 

A smaller milestone - say, Fielder's 200 HR - I would probably take a package from the team...some nice tickets, memorabilia, etc.

[MillerParkSouth]

apparently the guy got 4 suite tickets for every remaining home game, 3 signed jerseys, 3 signed balls and 3 signed bats. I think he did ok for himself.

[PKBadger]

apparently the guy got 4 suite tickets for every remaining home game, 3 signed jerseys, 3 signed balls and 3 signed bats. I think he did ok for himself.

Pretty good haul.

 

Still think I would take the money, and then buy 4 suite tickets for every remaining home game, 3 signed jerseys, 3 signed balls and 3 signed bats. And a boat. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[hawing]

For me it would make a difference what player was involved, and how big the milestone. I'd probably be kinder to a Brewer than someone from another team.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Hand it over personally...get a handshake. I'll take the good karma.

[pebadger]

He also got a secret notation in his IRS file.

[RockCoCougars]

It would be consigned to an auction house and would be sold to the highest bidder, if the player truly wanted it they would be welcome to bid, I'd assume they'd have the money. As the players say, 'it's a business'.

[DHonks]

hopefully the guy isn't forced to pay taxes on the benefits from the ball.

 

I think it would depend on who it was. For most guys, I'd give it back for something simple like a handshake, round of golf together, or signed baseball. But if it were a personal favorite, like Vladimir Guerrero, I'd love to keep it on my shelf in a display case.

[The Truth]

It would be consigned to an auction house and would be sold to the highest bidder, if the player truly wanted it they would be welcome to bid, I'd assume they'd have the money. As the players say, 'it's a business'.

Love it

 

Absolutely. I'd sell it to the highest bidder

[Mr QL]

A big milestone ball I'm selling for sure. Being a good guy is nice and all but you don't get 250k dropped into your lap everyday. If it was something minor like someones 1st home run or whatever where it isn't worth a life changing amount of money, I'd prob just ask for a signed ball and a picture.

[TracyThom]

He also got a secret notation in his IRS file.

I would like to believe that I would simply give it back to the ballplayer without asking for anything in return. However, I read that the guy who caught Bonds' record breaking* home run ball was forced to sell it because of taxes. As soon as he caught Bonds' record breaking* home run ball, it was the same as winning the lottery.

 

What's 20% of 200-250k? That's a huge price to pay for doing the right thing.

 

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20186528/

 

 

[DuWayne Steurer]

Depends on the nature of the ball. Geoff Jenkins 200th homer? I'd offer to trade it in and ask for a little kick back. I wouldn't be specific, and I wouldn't hold the ball hostage. If they offered me a bat, I'd take it, tickets, I'd take them. Nothing, heck, I'd take that too.

 

A pricey ball? I'd have to sell it. Like others, I have debts, and a boon like that would certainly help.

 

Derek Jeter doesn't need my charity. If I caught his 3000th hit, I'd auction it, and he'd have a chance to bid, like anyone else.

[carniesandrubes]

I'd give it back and hope (as the Yankees & Jeter did) that they do a little something in return. I'm doing alright for myself, but if I were in another position financially I could see how someone would try to extract as much $ out of it as possible and I wouldn't think less of them for it.

[TheCrew07]

As that old article points out, I'm not sure the IRS could force someone to pay taxes on a ball they caught, more likely only play taxes on it's sale.

 

I'd negotiate with the player for some reasonable memorabelia which I wouldn't keep, I'd donate to it charity auctions for our sports programs at school, I'm just not into that sort of thing, not a collector by any stretch. If they wanted to do the suites thing like with Jeter I really couldn't even take advantage being over 2 hours away, I'm sure I'd have a lot of new friend who wanted to use the suites...

[docduany]

As others have said, if it's a small milestone, just a little swag would be nice. But if we're talking Jeter 3,000 hit ball, I'll be getting the top dollar I can. I'll not try to be a jerk, but my family will always be #1.

[LouisEly]

Like others have said, it depends on the nature of the ball. If it's one of my favorite players/a Brewer I treat it differently than someone else. Like the Bonds home run - not one of my favorite players, not a Brewer, so that ball goes to the auction house. Likely the same with Jeter, but I think I'd give him a chance to buy it first. A milestone HR for a Brewer - I give it back to the player and hope they/the team takes care of me. In general, memorabilia doesn't mean much to me unless it is personalized. It would be hard to sell an autographed bat/ball for much because it would be hard to prove they signed it. But if I couldn't or didn't sell the ball, I would want something that has future value or reduces my future costs like tickets.

 

In general, if it were a Brewers player I would want a jersey signed and personalized to me ("Thanks for catching my ________, blah, blah...") and some photos. Then I'd give my name/number/email to the player and the team representatives and say, "It would be great if there were tickets waiting for me for any game I wanted to attend", and leave it up to them. I assume baseball is like football where the team/players are allocated tickets for every game, and thus the player could leave me tickets to any game and it would cost the player little if anything. Then I wouldn't have to pay for tickets in the future, which is like receiving indirect compensation (and hard for the IRS to track).

[pebadger]

No, you wouldn't pay taxes just on the ball. But if you sell it, that's income. The stuff he got in trade is income, though it might be hard to put a solid value on it. Of course, if he turns around and sells some of the signed items the valuation problem goes away. Not saying they'll go after him, but they may keep an eye on things. They certainly would if he just sold it at auction. Why should breaking the transaction down into multiple income-generating opportunities make it any different?

[NeedMoreFans]

I have thought about this a few times (I was sitting in the front row of the bleachers during the series where Bonds was sitting at 599* home runs, and he hit a very long out right at me...a few more feet, I would have had it). I think in nearly every situation, I would just ask for an autograph, photo op, some merchandise and probably some tickets or something. If that Bonds ball went a little further, I would have held it hostage for as long as I could have to see how much I could get for it. There aren't many other players I would do that to, though.

[twobrewers]

The IRS would never get you on taxes for giving the ball back. I DOUBT they could do anything until you sell the ball - especially since the ball doesn't have a "value" until it is sold. So we can pretty much take that out of the argument.

 

I'd give it back, with the caveat that I want something equally awesome in return. I will give back the 3,000 hit ball - but I would want the bat that hit the ball signed with something along the lines of "3000th hit". If Jeter wants the ball - that is fine. But I want SOME part of the history, such as the jersey he was wearing or the bat that hit the ball.

 

In my opinion at least, the act of the 3000th hit creates the value. If Jeter has the ball - no one else has any piece of the memoribilia. So I would think an authenticated item from Jeter indicating the 3000th hit would fetch a similar price at auction.

[Hofbraunhaus]

I agree with several others here that it would depend on the player and the milestone. With a Brewers player, I would definitely test the waters to see what I can get but in the end, he is getting that ball. Any other player I would really depend on the milestone. If it is just some opposing teams rookie's first career HR, an autograph from a player or tickets to a game would be all I need. A milestone like Jeter's 3000th hit and I would probably need to see a nicely sized check.

 

I am curious if it has ever been discussed (or even possible) among major league teams to put in the terms and conditions of a ticket purchase that the teams reserve the right to get back any ball without compensation. I'm sure most teams would give compensation anyway but this would make it much easier for them to prevent people from holding out for huge money.

[joepepsi]

I would seel it to the highest bidder. If the Yankees or Jeter wanted to bid, I might give them a discount, but it would still need to be a substantial amount of money. That ball belongs to whoever caught it, not Jeter. As every major league player in the game has taught us, you have to think about yourself and your family first.

[logan82]

I would ask to get a picture with myself and the player, have him sign it then a signed bat and ball. Put it all in a display at home. That is unless I would get a good amount of money for the ball. It would be irresponsible to not take the opportunity to improve the quality of living for my family provided what I was doing was legal.

[bani1717]

If the Yankees or Jeter wanted to bid, I might give them a discount

 

After they signed CC Sabathia by outbidding us and then outbidding themselves, there is no way I'd give the Yankees a discount.

 

Like many others, I'd sell the ball for any kind of large amount of money if it's a huge deal. For a lesser milestone, I'd either keep it or trade it for memorabilia/pictures/tickets (in that order).