I would want a picture with the player who hit it. I wouldn’t turn down free stuff, but at least I want to meet the player, shake his hand and then get my picture taken with him.

That being said, I have never caught a home run, foul ball or been given a ball by an outfielder as he left the field, so I might want to hold onto the ball as the first one I’ve ever caught.

Holding the ball captive seems shady and really low, so I feel for Coghlan because the way I read it, the guy came across as a jerk.

His post seemed whiny and entitled. If he was a one-time ball catcher who really didn’t want to give up the first home run ball he caught or something, I might feel for him. But when you’ve got hundreds or more, then you draw up a list of demands — probably where the “random” idea came into play — and you want memorabilia not from the guy who hit it, but from the team MVP, well forget you, buddy. He’s a jerk.

He’s a pro at collecting baseball memorabilia. If you put yourself in his shoes, he thought he was being reasonable. The organization could have handled it better and maybe they will after this.

I would have probably given it back to the player. But the organization should be prepared to give an autogrphed ball or bat from the player to the fan for a nice gesture.

I’d certainly give the ball back to the player, but ask for an autographed one back (and probably a picture). And I’d get it, too, because I’d tell the guy “You’ve got a great career ahead of you and someday I’d like to tell my grandchildren I caught your first homer.”

What ego could resist that? (Never mind that barring a little time travel back, I don’t have any grandchildren and never will)

I read the article after having read all the comments here. After every few sentences I tried to make arguments for both sides and determine who was right …now I only read the fan’s blog and not the reports, so you’d think I’d lean toward the fan’s side, but I just can’t.

This is a guy who is claiming to be the BIGGEST Brewers fan in the world and is an adult (married man), yet goes to the ball park with his buddy in custom made t-shirts with their gloves like a couple of kids, swap their hats to resemble the Brewers’ opposing team’s just to dupe their way into getting hundreds of balls. To me a reasonable die-hard baseball fan doesn’t do this. I don’t even see kid’s doing this. I’m big into getting balls and I would never stoop that low. He’s already being unreasonable and we haven’t even gotten to the milestone ball exchange. Might not be that big of a deal, but doesn’t help his case when trying to argue that he’s being a reasonable person by making a reasonable request.

My only problem with his requests is that he kept raising the stakes. It went from authentication to a couple bats, to meeting the guy, to a Hanley bat, to tickets to an entire series. I know he asked for one thing first, but when he was told he couldn’t get that then he upped his stakes. How is this a reasonable request? Even a homeless person knows that upping the ante on a request is not reasonable. You never hear a homeless guy around Comerica park asking for change and when you say you don’t have any subsequently ask for a five dollar bill. It’s just not reasonable. Asking for tickets to a game after being denied a bat that comes free to these players is not a reasonable request.

I agree with densogirl that an organization should be prepared to give out an authographed ball or bat from the player to the fan for a nice gesture, but Hanley Ramirez had nothing to do with this exchange. I realize he’s the star of the team and a Hanley bat is more valuable to him than some prospy who just hit his first big league home run, but asking for a bat from both might be asking a little much. After all, if the ball was so valuable to the person who caught it that it even calls for an exchange of goods, the bat of the prospect Coghlan should be sufficient.

I understand the thrill it is to get a ball from someone and say you caught a foul ball from them or they gave you a ball. Milestone balls are even more valuable. Personally, I get my rocks off on telling people the stories and having the personal memory. I don’t need the actual ball. You can freaking buy MLB balls and rub Mississippi mud on it to make it look game worn, so it’s not a huge deal to have one. ‘ve gotten three foul balls in my lifetime (Darrin Fletcher, Magglio Ordonez, and Curtis Granderson). I gave all three to my dad. One was actually after the long ass St. Louis rain delay last summer and you see me on TV reaching over a seat to snag Granderson’s foul ball before some middle aged man wearing a glove could and then handing it to my dad. If you have MLB.tv and remember that game you can go back and watch it, I think it happens in the 6th or 7th inning about 58 seconds into that inning. See, I don’t need the ball to tell the story and have the memory forever.

I would have absolutely no problem giving some MLB’er his first home run ball in exchange for the memory alone, but I think a picture and maybe a bat from that player would be a nice restitution for those who do have a problem with only having fond memories and a story to tell. I feel however, that going outside of that player and making ridiculous demands such as a Hanley bat (which would be sold on ebay for way more than that dude’s home run ball anyway) and tickets to a series is totally unreasonable.

When you demand tickets in exchange for it, that’s unreasonable. Just let him keep it and hit another sometime. Give the…person, because I won’t use the term fan for him(and person is being kind IMO), nothing because it’s not going to be of any value except to the player who hit it.

Coghlan and the Marlins should’ve handled it more professionally, but this “fan” is a turd. Who wouldn’t love to meet a major league player and hand him his first major league home run? To tell everyone that story is priceless.

In that’s guy’s position, I probably would have given the ball back, having snagged a dozen on the day already….

But if it were me at Milelr Park that day, and I caught the ball….for one thing, that would have been the first item I’ve ever caught at a ballpark, so I would have definitely asked for something in return. I mean, giving up my first ball caught, even if it’s a 1st homer….y’know?

But I wouldn’t have asked for Hanley Ramirez stuff, I would have gone for players I actually cared about….Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin!

(and yes, I know Maybin was sent down, and Miller’s hurt or something….)

The ball would never mean as much to me as it does to the player who actually hit it. They are always nice about stuff like that at the ballpark. I would settle for any of the game used balls with an autograph from the player who hit it and a photo. Like I was reading in the thread, milestones are important to these guys. Imagine if you got your first recognition award at your job and your employer gave it to some random person instead of you and you had to negotiate to get it, when deservedly it belonged to you. Well, this is the same principal (more or less).

I think we’ll see him more for those 2 inning outings but he’ll be like Zumaya was in 2006 in most cases, right? A 7th inning gap filler and then Zumaya will throw the 8th with Rodney closing the 9th?

Not that he doesn’t have the right to act like an idiot and demand Coghlan’s girlfriend for all I care, but come on….now he’s the victim….please.

On a brighter note, Glen Perkins just pulled his best Armando impersonation in NYC!

Yankees over Twins 6-2 bot 3rd
Jays over White Sox 3-2 Final