Moral Quandary

Wite3 · #1 03-03-2010, 10:00 PM

Does Louisville Slugger still do custom jobs...let the family have pics of the bat and let them do a reproduction of your original. Maybe take some very nice pics for them and have them framed for them. Just some ideas...

Joshua

drc · #2 03-03-2010, 11:40 PM

I don't think it's a moral question.

Leon · #3 03-04-2010, 11:23 AM

As you know I have some inside scoop on this situation. That being said I don't think you are morally obligated to do anything at all. It's is yours and only you can decide if you want it more than they are willing to pay for it. I don't think they will go long and deep on value but I don't know for sure. Heck, I have no idea, at all, of the value of the bat.

For me...and this is only me. If I am not attached to something I usually try to work something out in order to get the item to someone that it would be so dear to. At some point it comes down to what you do in life and what kind of person you are. Please don't take this the wrong way. Even if you keep it I wouldn't think any less of you one tiny bit. At the same time I would very much respect and applaud you if you do make it available, IF IT'S not so dear to you. If it is so dear to you then by all means I would keep it. I also like the idea of loaning/renting it as that might be an option. I know you are a good guy so have full trust you will make the right decision for yourself. I think we would all be interested in what you do when you make that decision. Let me restate one thing....if it is really dear and important to you then I see no reason not to keep it in your collection. There are certain cards I would probably keep regardless of the situation. take care

canjond · #4 03-04-2010, 11:51 AM

Dan - one other suggestion... Not sure of your own family situation, but upon your passing, you could bequeath the bat back to the family. Assuming the value isn't such that it is a cornerstone of your collection, you could enjoy the bat now, and the family can also know that someday they will have the bat.

sayhey24 · #5 03-04-2010, 11:54 AM

I'm going to disagree with most of the posters so far (although I just read that Leon is doing the same).
Whenever faced with a tough decision, I ask myself what would I teach my young children to do in a similar situation. In this case, the decision suddenly becomes easy. The bat has meaning, perhaps even deep meaning, to the collector, but has an even more powerful emotional tie to the family. The collector will in the long run be far richer (and I don't mean financially) by seeing to it that the bat gets to the family.
Here's one more criteria you can use -- something I picked up from one of my favorite authors years ago and has served me well over the years. Whenever faced with a tough decision, invariably the tougher choice is the right choice.
In this case the easiest thing to do would be to keep the bat and forget about it -- the tougher choice for the collector is giving up the bat, but it's the right choice.

Greg

whitehse · #6 03-04-2010, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sayhey24

I'm going to disagree with most of the posters so far (although I just read that Leon is doing the same).
Whenever faced with a tough decision, I ask myself what would I teach my young children to do in a similar situation. In this case, the decision suddenly becomes easy. The bat has meaning, perhaps even deep meaning, to the collector, but has an even more powerful emotional tie to the family. The collector will in the long run be far richer (and I don't mean financially) by seeing to it that the bat gets to the family.
Here's one more criteria you can use -- something I picked up from one of my favorite authors years ago and has served me well over the years. Whenever faced with a tough decision, invariably the tougher choice is the right choice.
In this case the easiest thing to do would be to keep the bat and forget about it -- the tougher choice for the collector is giving up the bat, but it's the right choice.

Greg

I am more inclined to think along these lines as well. I know if my dad played minor league ball and he didnt have any saved items from that time in his life and a bat from his playing days showed up on the internet, I would do all I can to obtain that item. I am sure the emotional attachment to that bat is far greater to the family than it is to the collector. I totally understand how a collector would want to keep this item in their collection but if it was me, I would make the bat available to the family provided they could show me evidence that the bat is indeed once used by their family member.

As to Leons post about not feeling bad for not making this item available to the family, I fully agree since the bat is yours and you can do what you will with it....but if its me the family would be owning it for the cost I paid for it!!

Kawika · #7 03-04-2010, 12:43 PM

Cut up the bat for relic cards. Everyone's a winner!
Nah, nah, jus' kiddin'.
It's a tough quandary alright, moral or otherwise. You've gotten good advice across the spectrum already. What I would do falls somewhere in there. We're not taking a vote here so I won't weigh in with my two cents. Sleep on it a day or two and the right answer will manifest itself.
(Was just about to press "Submit Reply" and saw Barry's post. He made a good point. Nobility can turn around and kick you in the derriere. Have you considered relic cards?)

barrysloate · #8 03-04-2010, 12:24 PM

Sayhey- I'm going to disagree. Giving up the bat is a noble choice, and a nice gesture. But Dan has no obligation to do so, and is no worse a person for deciding to keep it.

I'm going to tell a story without naming names, but for many it will be obvious who I am talking about. A very prominent collector amassed a world class collection partly by endearing himself to the widows and families of deceased ballplayers. He always told them that he would cherish all the keepsakes that they ultimately gave him for free, and that he hoped to one day build a museum to preserve them forever.

When many years later he sold his collection and kept all the proceeds, I heard that many of these families were quite upset. The point of the story is you don't know what the family will do with Dan's bat. Today it is something they would love to own. Five years from now they might decide they want to sell it. So why should Dan feel obligated to offer it to complete strangers? He might say to them if I ever decide to sell it I will contact you first, and that would certainly be the proper thing to do. But I am suspicious by nature, and wouldn't automatically assume that parting with the bat is the noble gesture. It's his bat to do as he thinks best.

I'm editing this to add I know my example isn't exactly comparable to Dan's, it's just that once you part with the bat you have absolutely no idea what will become of it. Maybe the family will be offered a great sum for it and decide to sell it themselves. You don't know, and it happens all the time.

sayhey24 · #9 03-04-2010, 12:44 PM

Barry --

I totally agree that Dan is not obligated to sell the bat. All he is obligated to do is make a choice. Since he asked, I offered my opinion on the decision making process, and what I would do in this situation. I only know Dan through a few things I've bought from him, but he's always struck me as one of the nicest guys on here. I think he's been offered a lot of thoughtful advice here, and my opinion of him will remain the same regardless of what he decides to do with the bat.

Greg

barrysloate · #10 03-04-2010, 12:56 PM

That's fair Greg, and the one thing we don't know is just how important the piece is to Dan. We all have favorites, and is this a can't-live-without-it piece, or simply a nice piece in his collection? He did say he couldn't replace it, so I guess to him it is pretty high up there.

Every Sunday the New York Times Magazine section has a column written by Randy Cohen called The Ethicist. People write him letters dealing with these kinds of ethical dilemmas, and he explains what he feels is the right thing to do. I bet he would have an opinion here, as we do.

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