Moral Quandary

slidekellyslide · #1 03-04-2010, 01:19 PM

In the general sense I believe historical artifacts like this "belong" to the family and thus it may not really be a "moral quandary", but in my head it is. I have offered it to them at my cost...I kinda hope that it is more than they want to pay. If not I'll let it go.

About 5 or 6 years ago when the Matty McIntyre photos got removed from the album and sold as single photos a few of them were sold as "unknowns" and I picked them up knowing that I could eventually identify them....one of them I thought looked strikingly like Sam Thompson, I posted my thoughts about the photo on the old Net54 site and Joe G emailed me to tell me that he knows the family of Big Sam and that I should contact them to see if they think it is him...well I did and I forged a friendship with Keith Thompson (Sam's great-nephew) who told me that it was indeed Big Sam and that photos of him were very rare...He wanted to purchase it, but I didn't want to sell it...he never once pressured me and I made a really nice copy and sent it to him...well for a couple of years whenever I looked at it, it kind of ate away at me so finally I just contacted him and asked him if he wanted to purchase it for my cost and he did...it did make me feel better. I know that every time I look at the bat I will get this same feeling.

Leon · #2 03-04-2010, 01:37 PM

Dan- You are a good man. Not that we are alike but I would have done the exact same thing. At the end of the day, and when any of us are on our last leg, it won't be about what we "have", but about what we have "done." I truly feel this way. I did mean it though when I said I wouldn't feel any differently about you regardless....but your actions make me know that I had my thinking of you in the right place. I am sure you will never regret the decision or offer you made. I know I wouldn't. take care

ps...it was ironic that he found that post about the bat from the old Network54 board and emailed me that way. He and I even spoke on the phone and I told him you would be easy to get a hold of. I said I thought I could help in that matter

. Since he is with a Sheriff's dept I thought it might have something to do with something legal, but alas it was personal

.

drc · #3 03-04-2010, 01:50 PM

If it was a purple heart of love letters to his wife, I would say the family might have special rights. But, in the scheme of things, it's just a baseball bat.

Realize, fathers will their stamp or or rare book collection to a neighbor's son because he knows the kid appreciated and would enjoy the collection more than his kids would. Upon retirement, a man may give his high end brief case to a co worker. So there's no automatic familial moral right to everything someone had. The player may have never owned the bat, or gave it to his teammate or even a fan-- it was never intended for family. If he gave it to the family and the family wanted it, then why don't they still have it?

If I met a old co-worker of my dad, and he showed me a fancy paperweight of my dad's and that my dad gave to him, I would be beyond rude to say "He was my dad. Give it to me." In reality, I would be impressed this guy still had and and used the paperweight and would count him as the rightful owner. I may be my dad's only son, but that doesn't mean I have moral rights to everything that was ever in his office. In fact, the stuff he gave to co-workers I clearly would not have claims to.

In short, I wouldn't buy an argument that anything and everything that ever belonged to a ball player belongs to the family, legally or morally. If you want me to pick the moral owner of that paper weight, I would pick the co-worker.

In fact, if the player knew what an avid collector and historian of Nebraska baseball you are, there would be very good chance that he would give the bat to you. Would he be glad to learn that a Nebraska superfan owns his bat in the 21st century? I would assume so.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Ridiculous hypothetical quandary of the day!	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	39	12-20-2007 06:49 AM
Graded Card Moral and Ethical Issue	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	53	09-25-2006 10:07 PM
I find myself in a bit of a quandary	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	17	09-10-2004 10:51 AM
Moral Question	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	46	07-17-2004 02:07 PM
moral question	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	27	11-26-2001 09:42 PM