An official Major League baseball weighs about 5¼ ounces, measures 9¼ inches in circumference, costs teams about $7 each — and judging by the actions of young and old fans alike at Great American Ball Park is the most precious possession in all the world. Fans will knock each other down to get foul balls. They will fall down steps chasing them. They will spill beer and nacho cheese dip in pursuit. They will sacrifice fingers trying to catch them. They will pester players and coaches from the first pitch to the last, even in the middle of the game, all in the name of going home with the small, white sphere. The One Ring wasn’t any more prized by Gollum and Frodo than an official Rawlings baseball, preferably one held or batted or thrown seconds earlier by a real Major League Baseball player. “Most people, they get a ball and stuff it in the drawer and never see it again,” Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan said. “It’s life or death at the time they get it. It’s crazy when you throw balls in the stands, and it’s a mad dash. It’s a little sketchy.” Hanigan sees it all from his vantage point behind the plate, and it’s not always a pretty picture. There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask Hanigan for a ball. Saying “please” helps. Telling him it’s your kid’s birthday doesn’t. “It’s everyone’s birthday,” Hanigan said. Hanigan won’t throw every ball into the stands. The balls don’t grow on trees, and the Reds may mint money with the prices they charge for tickets and concessions, but they are a business and don’t want players tossing every ball they touch into the stands. Hanigan picks and chooses his moments. “I think in life sometimes you don’t always get what you want,” Hanigan said. “It’s a good lesson for people to understand they can’t always get what they want. If I have a chance and I have a free ball after a strikeout, I’ll walk to the dugout and make sure I give one to a kid. “I’ll get (angry) because this happens once a game. There will be a kid in the second row. I’ll point to him and throw him the ball, and some guy will grab it. I just want to fight him at that point. You’re a grown man, and you can’t let the kid I just pointed to get the ball.” Hanigan remembers Luis Polonia throwing him a ball at Camden Yards when he was a kid. He remembers getting another one at Fenway. That’s why he rewards kids when he can. “I do it as much as I can when I have time and I’m not preparing for the game or in the game,” he said. “Every batting practice, you’re out there shagging and people are yelling at you. It’s almost like I don’t even notice it anymore. Sometimes they get rude about it, demanding. That’s part of it. That’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s just definitely not going to happen. I’m warming up a pitcher with the one ball we have, and there are 17 people asking for the ball.” K.J. Amidon, a baseball fan from Springfield, could be considered an expert on the subject. He collects baseballs and tries to get them autographed by the player who threw them to him him or his sons Mathis and Broc. Amidon knows how to get a ball, and he sees plenty of fans who don’t, like the one who knocked down another fan in the middle of the street outside Fifth Third Field in Dayton during the home run derby at the Midwest League All-Star game last week. “It’s amazing what people will do to get a foul ball,” Amidon said. Amidon studies players’ backgrounds at home before he ever asks for a ball, so he can connect with them on a personal level. “It’s all kindness,” he said. “They want to be treated with respect, just like anyone else. It’s always, ‘Please and thank you.’ It’s always best to know their name and not call out, ‘Hey, 32, can I get that ball.’” Reds manager Dusty Baker said he has always thrown balls to fans. Sometimes he considers it good karma. Baker said Major League Baseball once frowned upon it because a fan got hurt going after a ball Pete Rose threw into the stands. There was an incident two years ago when a Rangers fan died after falling out of the stands while trying to catch a ball Josh Hamilton tossed his way. David Jablonski this is a great story!!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:30:44 +0000
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