The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

Ballhawking: Is It Playing Foul?

28 Comments

October 29, 2009 by Kathy McManus

When Florida Marlins rookie Chris Coghlan hit his first major league home run this season, the ball was caught by a fan—and caught in a standoff between ballpark rights and doing the right thing. 

After his victory lap, Coghlan requested that the milestone ball be returned for sentimental reasons. “I wanted to get it and give it to my mom,” he said. But the fan countered, “What’s the ball worth to you?” 

The fan, 30 year-old Nick Yohanek, was legally entitled to keep the ball, but as a professional “ballhawk,” his stance was criticized all the way from the local Palm Beach Post to the Wall Street Journal, which described the business of ballhawks as “grabbing any ball that goes in the stands, especially milestone home runs like a player’s first or 500th. Most then refuse to give them back to the player unless he coughs up something valuable in return, from a signed bat or jersey to up to $10,000.” 

A fan who caught and kept Ken Griffey’s 600th home run ball last year auctioned it for $42,000. And the man who refused to hand over Mark McGwire’s 70th homerun ball during the 1998 season later sold it for $3 million. 

Negotiations to free Chris Coghlan’s treasured piece of memorabilia soon involved the Marlins manager, coach, media relations head, and team psychologist, and focused on free tickets to future Marlins games, a photo op, a signed ball, and two signed bats, one which Yohanek wanted inscribed, “To Nick, thanks for catching my first home run!” 

Coghlan eventually got his ball back. “He wasn’t the most polite or respectful guy about the whole process,” Coghlan said, likening the ballhawk’s actions to holding balls “for ransom.” 

Yohanek disagreed. “It’s my hobby, people,” he wrote on his blog, along with this summation. “QUESTION: Is it okay to catch a historic milestone home run and sell it at auction for $1 million dollars? ANSWER: If that's what it's worth to someone, hell yeah it's okay.” 

Tell us what you think: Ballhawking is legal, so does it matter if it’s responsible or not? Does baseball need new rules for fans?

28 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• October 31, 2009 by David Farr

  I think its sad that someone would do that...Yohanek's question, is it okay to catch a historic ball and sell it for a million dollars? If someone will pay, hell yeah!.. Well, that shows his immaturity and self centered nature. You could ask...is it okay to kidnap a kid and ransom it back for a million dollars? If someone will pay... Its just flawed logic. I think that all balls should be returned to the park and players get first rights to it and then it goes on to a charitable auction of the players choosing. I am betting most players would give something to charity anyway, but this is anotehr way they could make a contribution beyond their sport.

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• November 10, 2009 by Kenneth

  Easy does it. The hostage analogy is going way too far. We must remember that the ball never belonged to Mr. Coghlan. It no more belonged to him than the stapler on my desk at work belongs to me. And the moment it went into the stands two things happened nearly simultaneously. Mr. Yohanek became the owner of the ball, and Mr. Coghlan developed a very strong sentimental attachment to this same ball. Mr. Coghlan was now in the awkward position of wanting -- very badly it seems -- someone else's property. Custom may dictate that the ball be "gifted" to the ballplayer, but the rookie seemed to feel entitled, even owed, this gift from a person he had never met, never served and whose trust he never earned. Sure Mr. Yohanek was a self-confessed ballhawk, but he was also a fan and in the end gave up the ball for mostly non-monetary compensation. Had the rookie acted like someone asking an underserved service from a stranger, he may have encountered less resistance.

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  • January 5, 2010 by Nathan

    Kenneth, I think you're on the right track here by asking why the ball player has a right to the ball over that of the fan in the stands, who by catching the ball now has legitimate ownership. I also liked how you asked the great economic question of why the ball player's handshake has dropped in value. Perhaps the Freakonomics team will write about this in their next edition?

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• November 10, 2009 by Kenneth Polsky

  It used to be that professional baseball players could recover "landmark balls" in exchange for little more than a handshake. We wonder about the increasing value of memorabilia that seems to have currupted fans. But what about the other side of this economic equation? Professional athletes might choose to ask themselves what has driven *down* the value of their handshakes.

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• November 14, 2009 by Ric McMillion

  Maybe it is good for business for fans to go to games ... David Farr above says it well ... catching a foul ball has always been a big attraction for a fan ... give me ?? get yours ?? How do we resolve our conflicts ?

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• November 16, 2009 by Sam Torke

  This is what we've come to? Arguing about a baseball when there are so many more important things occurring in the world? Is this a way for people to distract themselves from more significant things in order to allow themselves from having to responsible for doing something that would really matter? This is just a sad commentary on the state of American ignorance.

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• November 16, 2009 by Bill McDonald

  I have an idea, the teams should add "implied consent" to all ticket purchasers, that all foulballs, homeruns, etc must be surrendered to the ushers or team representatives! Then watch how the ticket sales decline. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? This souvenir baseball tradition has existed, probably, as long as there have been major leagues. This tradition is due in part because the baseball that has been impacted with home run force and out of the park is no longer suitable for use in major league play. I believe another reason is exactly what has occurred in this incident, an incentive that a fan will come away with a once in a lifetime memento. Our society seems to have a hunger for souvenirs or mementos, therefore some entrepeneurs will pay large sums a notable one. I recall many years ago when the Kansas City Athletics were our major leaguers. One of the kids in the neighborhood had been to an exciting visit to the old Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, and had managed to retrieve a foul ball. I remember the boy proudly showing it around the neighborhood with excitement emanating from all parts of his being. When I asked him the name of the player who had hit the ball, he proudly state "Larry Doby". I was not a great sports fan at the time so the name meant little to me. I later learned just how significant this Baseball star was to what we now know as modern major league baseball. Larry Doby was a native of Camden, South Carolina, he was the second black player to play in the modern major leagues and the first to do so in the American League. A center fielder, Doby appeared in seven All-Star games and finished second in the 1954 American League MVP voting. Appointed manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1978, Doby was the second African-American to lead a Major League club. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Hall's Veterans Committee. No one came forward to ask or demand for that kid to give back the baseball. I have lost touch with that kid over the years, but I think I could probably wager that he still has that baseball. The value of that ball to him, I am certain, is more than just a trading commodity would be to a "ballhawk".

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• November 16, 2009 by donna martin

  I can understand the part of the fun of the sport would be to catch a ball in the stands by a player. But a milestone ball should be graciously returned to the player for him to do what he wishes with it. I feel if he got an autographed picture with the player or a pic of the fan catching that ball, that should be sufficient. Players should not have to fight, nor pay to have milestone balls returned to them.

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• November 16, 2009 by tim jones

  i was surprised to see that i am the only one to see that holds the opinion that it is the fans ball. if the pro wants his first ball back he can ask but he can't insist. i don't know if chris coughlins mom will have one of his 4 lifetime homeruns or if it will be the first of 500 and the next mickey mantle. the world is full of people, some nice , some jerks and you can not impose moral judgement on those around you. if the baseball parks wants to implement a no jerks allowed rule yankee stadium would be empty.

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• November 16, 2009 by David M Myles

  When I was a kid I used to go to games with my dad and I would always bring my baseball MItt. I caught a foul ball once in Mets stadium. I kept it to this day. I would not expect to give it back, nor is the player who hit the ball entitled to it. If I could get a million for a ball off players who earn millions more than m,ost folks would earn in a lifetime, then more power to me. There is no marals to baseball, or do none of you remember the strike a few years back. To heck with 'em should have sold the bal;l back to him for half his first year salary.

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• November 16, 2009 by Staci Wilson

  The ball is undeniably the full property of the one who caught it, and being such, he can throw it back, keep it, give it to the player, sell it, wrap it up as a gift, whatever. I agree, most of these players make more money than we will see in a lifetime to play what is mostly thought of as a children's game, and I'd bet my life they are having the time of their life! It's fun, or it should be. Sure, they work hard at being good at what they do, but they're having fun. I'm a huge baseball fan, and in the 40 years of games I have seen, each time in the back of my mind is the thought that maybe I will get a ball THIS time. I never have, but it would be a dream come true, and if they want it, they should pay a respectable sum or make some other fair deal so both people are satisfied and happy, I mean, they are already living a life most of us can only dream of!!! Spread the happiness around a little.

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• November 16, 2009 by Kha-Mis Kanunname

  As a baseball fan and former (wannabe professional) I think the milestone balls should be treated the same as a players salary, negotiable. If players can hold fans, low-income concession employees, cleanup crews and the like 'hostage' , while they 'whine' about (millions) what the games is worth to them, with little regard for those who make this game profitable, then with the money that they are paid he should not have a problem understanding why people (ball hawks) are in the business. He was asked a fair question 'what's it worth to you'. Which is exactly what the players ask the owners. 'Fair exchange is not robbery', which is why it's legal. If baseballs starts to place restrictions on the fans - then why should we go. The restrictions should have been placed on the salaries of the players - it's rediculous.

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• November 16, 2009 by Liz Kruidenier

  As Shakespeare so skillfully entitled his play Much (A)dough About Nothing!

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