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

[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?

[Pat R]

I think any historic ball, puck, etc ... like this should go back to the player to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the charity of his/her choice and it would avoid all of this nonsense.

In the second video in Peters original post it clearly shows that although the 18 year old was the first person to run towards the ball the ball rolled away from him. You can see it rolling off the table diagonally towards the lower left hand corner in the video.