Fan in Boston gets g/u bat taken away

[OaklandAsFan]

if some usher came down and tried to snatch the bat out of my hand after it hit me he would get the bat wrapped around his head. Thats a BS move no matter how you try to play it out and if he is smart he will use the publicity of it happening with literally millions of people watching (Red Sux/Yanmees no less) to get some free tix as well as a replacement bat.

[suicide_squeeze]

Like I said in the other thread.....

".......from my cold, dead hands."

There is NO WAY those security morons would have gotten that bat from me. I would have held onto it as they escourted me out of the park, but NO WAY.......NONE WHATSOEVER, would I have let go of it.

Then, I would have been on local news, made a HUGE stink, probably having the whole thing escalate and end up on ESPN's SportsCenter. They have NO RIGHT to steal that bat from that fan.....PERIOD.

I challenge anyone, especially from the other recent thread we all just had on this topic, to prove me wrong.

I am not playing "tough guy" here.....I'm talking legality. Once it enters the seats and hits me.....it's MINE!

[murfsteve25]

Once it enters the seats and hits me.....it's MINE!

Agreed!

[mattmueller]

Squeeze:

If you are asking for somebody to provide an indication of how you would not own the bat legally, I will copy my post from the other thread below. I am not a lawyer, but my understanding of the legality of the situation is that you have no basis for your assertion of finders keepers related to a bat in the stands.
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...If I recall reading the legal issues on the McGwire and Bonds cases correctly, it is my understanding of the legal principles that allows fans to keep balls that make their way to the stands via home run, toss by player after a foul ball etc. is that of intentional abandonment. The team/MLB owns the ball, but has intentionally given up the ownership rights to it once it reaches the stands because they let the ball go without any intention of retrieving it. This abandonment premise has been built based on 100+ years of this tradition of fans keeping the balls, as well as in part codified by teams that put statements on signs and backs of ticket stubs indicating ~"fans may keep balls hit into the stands".

This is much different than bats, helmets, jerseys, etc. which make their way into the stands. Because there is consistent history of teams retrieving these items (e.g. NOT intentionally abandoning them) if they get to the seats, and because there are no signs or tickets that say "you can keep bats that end up in the stands", teams have consistently invoked their rights to retain the property. Therefore, there is no common law abandonment case, and those items remain the property of the team / MLB.
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Matt

[eisenreich8]

Right. If the organization's intention is to get the bat back, they are going to get the bat back. Quickly, neatly, completely.

[gingi79]

There is NO WAY those security morons would have gotten that bat from me. I would have held onto it as they escourted me out of the park, but NO WAY.......NONE WHATSOEVER, would I have let go of it.

I agree. I'll leave the park with it or negotiate it for some other swag but I would have gone after the Usher and demanded MY bat back. Every team has a heads up message before the game starts for all fans to watch for balls and bats flying into the stands. Once it leaves the field of play it is fair game.

Not a huge black eye for the Sox but obviously they have advised their Ushers to recover the bat immediately. Very rude behavior especially since the dude paid $300 for his seat and Lowell through the bat at him.

Just like Squeeze said, not being a tough guy or overly aggressive but screw you usher, this bat hit me after leaving the field of play, it's now MY property.

[godwulf]

As true as all of that may be, I would still be very interested to know whether that Security guy was acting on his own initiative, or if he had been given prior direction to do what he did. In all of my many years of watching Baseball, I have, of course, seen many bats retrieved, at the direction of the player or dugout, by ushers and others - usually quickly followed by its replacement with another bat - but I have never seen Security, or anyone else, simply swoop in like that, apparently on their own, and snatch a bat away.

[suicide_squeeze]

It's just a situation of the guy in the seats not knowing what to do in the heat of the moment. These types of situations always catch the fans off guard. The only ones who wouldn't be caught off guard are......well, guys like us, because we've discussed it.


Let me ask you, mattmueller, to consider this scenario.

A guy sitting in the stands has a bat hurled at him by a player who loses his grip. The fan catches the bat, and is able to remain unharmed, and in catching the bat saves the others around him from getting hurt. So here comes Mr. Tool, the security guard, who immediately reaches to the fan's recovered bat saying "O.K. give it over now sir."

The fan says "Take a hike, it's mine now" as he pulls the bat away from the reach of the security guard. So now the guard is getting in the face of the fan, who is now standing and arguing with the guard, as another couple of security guards approach. The fan has a death grip on the bat with both hands, and the one guard is arguing to hand it over as he reaches over with one hand and starts to get into a minor tug-of-war over the bat.

What do you think the fan reaction is going to be? What.....do you think is going to happen to the reputation of the ballpark's management, the ownership, and the idiot ballplayer who allowed the dangerous event to occur if they pry that bat out of the guys hands, wrongfully, as the boo's increase in number and severity as this debacle unfolds before their eyes?

If the fan reads this post, all he has to remember is one thing: Just don't let go.....it's YOURS. Eventually, the coward security guards, team reps, etc., will become embarrassed over the scene they are making and walk away from the fan. If they escorted the guy off, they could be sued for wrongfully ejecting a fan who paid for his seats to enjoy the game. He did nothing wrong but protect himself and the fans seated around him from serious injury. Let's see someone in ownership of a Major League Franchise try to fight that one in court.

They (the ballpark personel, the player who let go of it, whomever....) have no rights to that bat any longer. Period. Once it enters the seats, it's a souvenir.

Nothing personal Matt, I just respectfully disagree with your view.

Prove me wrong, and I'll state my public congratulatory handshake to you. I haven't seen any proof yet.

[suicide_squeeze]

Right. If the organization's intention is to get the bat back, they are going to get the bat back. Quickly, neatly, completely.

You have anything to back that up?

Because they wouldn't from me, and that's a fact....quickly, neatly, completely, or any which way.

[mattmueller]

Squeeze:

The scenario you described has nothing to do with the legality of whose bat it is, it is purely a question of public relations between fans and a team.

In my prior post(s), I summarized the legal argument used in the most famous of relevant cases, the Bonds ball. What other proof would you like? Do you want me to find and link to the legal opinion in the Bonds ball case?

Let me turn it back to you. What legal basis (not PR issues or your tough guy "from my cold dead hands" argument) would you cite that you feel makes your statement that once a bat crosses some imaginary line and enters the stands, the team gives up its property rights and it becomes the property of the person who possesses it? Maybe I missed that part of any of your previous posts that actually provided some sort of factual basis for your stance.

Matt