The Ohtani 50 50 ball -- lawsuit to stop Goldin Auction

[kcohen]

Originally Posted by Keith H. Thompson

"possession being 9/10 of the law?" I've always thought that strong arm methods, beating up small kids, and martial tactics are just part of the game. And you have to be there in person to appreciate it. One game at Fenway years ago vs the Yankees in the seventies, my small son, about 10 years ago, upon exiting via a rooftop spied a ball near the edge, perhaps a foul ignored during the game. As he literally had it in his hand, a grown man pushed him over on his head and took it away from him. It was dangerous. The man disappeared, but I was furious and complained to management by mail. They mailed me two baseballs for which we were grateful. I also recall that Phil Rizutto was an onlooker and sympathized with my son which took all of the sting out of it. It wasn't an official exit, sort of player's exit.

The reminded me of something like this I saw a few years back. Like most people would, I find an adult strong-arming a kid out of a ball beyond repugnant. I'm not a lawyer, but I think such an act would constitute battery. I was at a game in Baltimore sitting near first base, when this happened. Onlookers cussed the guy out but he didn't care. This was basically a mugging. The first base umpire, having caught the episode out of the corner of his eye, came over after the inning ended and handed a ball to the kid.

It restored my faith in umpires. Well sorta.

[D. Bergin]

Ok, I guess I'm going to be the one a*@hole to say this.

18 year-olds were drafted to go to Vietnam and I have a cousin who signed up for the Marines and was sent to Afghanistan at that age.

18 year-olds are playing Division 1 College Sports all over this country, and many are competing on a high level.

I've run into plenty of 18 year olds I would not want to get into a fist fight with because I would most assuredly lose.

Not sure if the guy doing the strong-arming for the lottery ticket randomly thrown into the crowd was supposed to check birth certificates before diving under bleacher seats for a ball.

I to have seen adults act like an ass at Minor League games chasing a worthless ball, although most will just turn around and hand it to the nearest kid anyways.

You can bet though, if that ball had a bank account number on it, which unlocked a key to a 7 figure payday, those adults wouldn't be so quick to hand the ball over to the nearest doe eyed kid they could find.

Maybe I was the only one thinking this throughout the course of this thread...or I'm the only one to admit it.

[packs]

I don't know how much age factors into other people's opinions on this behavior, but I tend to think if you have to rip something out of someone's hand to take possession of it, you didn't catch the baseball.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by packs

I don't know how much age factors into other people's opinions on this behavior, but I tend to think if you have to rip something out of someone's hand to take possession of it, you didn't catch the baseball.

I don't know. I watched the videos, but I didn't see ANYBODY "catch" a baseball.

Either two men come out of that scrum, one hand firmly planted on each side of the baseball, singing kumbaya, and pledging to split the proceeds of the windfall, while setting 10% aside to start a non-profit cat rescue...or one of them "rips" it out of the others hand, and claims singular ownership of the ball. Don't see how else that plays out.

Now, that said, my feeling is, they'll have to sell, and split the proceeds (with their lawyers) when it comes down to it.

The other guy who filed suit, is out of luck unless video surfaces that shows exactly what he claims happened, actually happened.

[packs]

I agree. I think the most likely outcome is split ownership and split proceeds.

The NFL says a man who goes down in possession of the ball is in possession of the ball regardless of who stands up with it.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by packs

I agree. I think the most likely outcome is split ownership and split proceeds.

The NFL says a man who goes down in possession of the ball is in possession of the ball regardless of who stands up with it.

Assuming they can actually tell who's in possession of it. Many a football has changed "ownership" at the bottom of a pile.

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Ok, I guess I'm going to be the one a*@hole to say this.

18 year-olds were drafted to go to Vietnam and I have a cousin who signed up for the Marines and was sent to Afghanistan at that age.

18 year-olds are playing Division 1 College Sports all over this country, and many are competing on a high level.

I've run into plenty of 18 year olds I would not want to get into a fist fight with because I would most assuredly lose.

Not sure if the guy doing the strong-arming for the lottery ticket randomly thrown into the crowd was supposed to check birth certificates before diving under bleacher seats for a ball.

I to have seen adults act like an ass at Minor League games chasing a worthless ball, although most will just turn around and hand it to the nearest kid anyways.

You can bet though, if that ball had a bank account number on it, which unlocked a key to a 7 figure payday, those adults wouldn't be so quick to hand the ball over to the nearest doe eyed kid they could find.

Maybe I was the only one thinking this throughout the course of this thread...or I'm the only one to admit it.

I'm gonna have to kinda agree with this. None of the videos I saw showed that the 18 year old ever even had a hand on the ball. For all we know the guy who ended up with the ball had it the whole time. People are acting like he straight up stole it from a 9 year old. To call this battery seems extreme, but if there is a video I'm missing please post it

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Ok, I guess I'm going to be the one a*@hole to say this.

18 year-olds were drafted to go to Vietnam and I have a cousin who signed up for the Marines and was sent to Afghanistan at that age.

18 year-olds are playing Division 1 College Sports all over this country, and many are competing on a high level.

I've run into plenty of 18 year olds I would not want to get into a fist fight with because I would most assuredly lose.

Not sure if the guy doing the strong-arming for the lottery ticket randomly thrown into the crowd was supposed to check birth certificates before diving under bleacher seats for a ball.

I to have seen adults act like an ass at Minor League games chasing a worthless ball, although most will just turn around and hand it to the nearest kid anyways.

You can bet though, if that ball had a bank account number on it, which unlocked a key to a 7 figure payday, those adults wouldn't be so quick to hand the ball over to the nearest doe eyed kid they could find.

Maybe I was the only one thinking this throughout the course of this thread...or I'm the only one to admit it.

Right but not really the point. The issue is whether the kid had possession or not. If he did, their ages, physiques, personality traits, etc. are irrelevant to his claim of ownership. That said, given the nature of a scrum for a loose ball, I'm not sure a split second grab is enough.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by kcohen

The reminded me of something like this I saw a few years back. Like most people would, I find an adult strong-arming a kid out of a ball beyond repugnant. I'm not a lawyer, but I think such an act would constitute battery. I was at a game in Baltimore sitting near first base, when this happened. Onlookers cussed the guy out but he didn't care. This was basically a mugging. The first base umpire, having caught the episode out of the corner of his eye, came over after the inning ended and handed a ball to the kid.

It restored my faith in umpires. Well sorta.

The complaint does contain a count for battery, related to trapping the kid's arm.

[Exhibitman]

I once caught the drumstick at a George Thorogood and the Destroyers concert and was in basically the same sort of scrum. I just went down and covered up like I had a fumble recovery and came away with the stick when the dust settled. I think I threw it away later, so there's that. Far more fun was being at the foot of the stage at the end of the show and getting to shake hands with the band.

The court will sort it out, but if it emerges that the guy pinned down the other guy's arm and pried the ball out of his hand, well, where I was born, we called that "getting mugged." I give the 18 y.o. credit for self-restraint. I know me at 18 would probably have ended up in cuffs for assault; I did once get into a fight in the street with a would-be mugger. 92nd Street between West End and Riverside in NYC. I was a kid. I got so mad when the bigger kid who was mugging me insisted that I turn out my pockets that I threw punches instead. I got the worst of it in the end, but I kept my money. Today, the old fart me would have been too busy ducking to avoid getting hit by the ball and the pouncing people to even get into the scrum. Young me, not so much.

How long will it be until two or three guys square up and really punch it out over a ball?

And while I am spewing random thoughts on this, a reason why 50 is better than 55 may be round number bias. It's the 50/50 club, not the 55/56 club.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I once caught the drumstick at a George Thorogood and the Destroyers concert and was in basically the same sort of scrum. I just went down and covered up like I had a fumble recovery and came away with the stick when the dust settled. I think I threw it away later, so there's that. Far more fun was being at the foot of the stage at the end of the show and getting to shake hands with the band.

The court will sort it out, but if it emerges that the guy pinned down the other guy's arm and pried the ball out of his hand, well, where I was born, we called that "getting mugged." I give the 18 y.o. credit for self-restraint. I know me at 18 would probably have ended up in cuffs for assault; I did once get into a fight in the street with a would-be mugger. 92nd Street between West End and Riverside in NYC. I was a kid. I got so mad when the bigger kid who was mugging me insisted that I turn out my pockets that I threw punches instead. I got the worst of it in the end, but I kept my money. Today, the old fart me would have been too busy ducking to avoid getting hit by the ball and the pouncing people to even get into the scrum. Young me, not so much.

How long will it be until two or three guys square up and really punch it out over a ball?

And while I am spewing random thoughts on this, a reason why 50 is better than 55 may be round number bias. It's the 50/50 club, not the 55/56 club.

Yeah, a scrum like that is no place for old men. In the end, unless this kid really wants the ball not the money, there's more than enough here that it would be rational to split it. The new claimant, the one smiling and high fiving Belanski at the end, fuck him.

[prestigecollectibles]

Second fan files lawsuit claiming ownership of Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 baseball
https://apnews.com/article/shohei-oh...8d7efb87319ad0

[Smarti5051]

Seems like with three individuals all claiming ownership of the baseball and no clear way to determine who actually possessed it first, the judge should ask for the ball to be tendered to the bailiff whereupon it will be cut into three equal pieces and 1/3rd distributed to each plaintiff. Or, better yet, have the bailiff throw the three pieces on the ground and they can reenact the wrestling match.

As an aside, I must be getting old, because watching the video of the kid with one hand uselessly gripping his phone while a $4 million ball is supposedly in his other hand is beyond stupid. Did you learn nothing in little league? When fielding a ball, ALWAYS use two hands! In addition, if I was 18 and a grown man was at my waste trying to wrestle my ball away, my "free" elbow is plowing into his nose. I can't think the medical bills plus pain and suffering would be more than the value of the ball, even if my defense of property and self failed in court.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Smarti5051

Seems like with three individuals all claiming ownership of the baseball and no clear way to determine who actually possessed it first, the judge should ask for the ball to be tendered to the bailiff whereupon it will be cut into three equal pieces and 1/3rd distributed to each plaintiff. Or, better yet, have the bailiff throw the three pieces on the ground and they can reenact the wrestling match.

As an aside, I must be getting old, because watching the video of the kid with one hand uselessly gripping his phone while a $4 million ball is supposedly in his other hand is beyond stupid. Did you learn nothing in little league? When fielding a ball, ALWAYS use two hands! In addition, if I was 18 and a grown man was at my waste trying to wrestle my ball away, my "free" elbow is plowing into his nose. I can't think the medical bills plus pain and suffering would be more than the value of the ball, even if my defense of property and self failed in court.

When is the last time you saw an 18 year old put down a device?