Josh Hamilton's 2nd home run ball from 4 home run game on 5/8/2012

[legaleagle92481]

You are missing my point, by changing the ball and adding a letter to the changed ball, he would have been effectively making the real ball worthless.....

Hows that? Why couldn't someone just write a second letter?

[CollectGU]

Hows that? Why couldn't someone just write a second letter?

why stop there, why not just buy some MLB mud rub up some balls and write 10 letters then ....I'm going under the assumption that the person is not willing to get caught commitng outright fraud.

[schubert1970]

It looks like Schubert got lucky here and got a really nice piece. I personally would not pay that much for a ball in this case unless the MLB authenticator was sitting right there and slapped a hologram on the ball and I was able to then obtain it from the fan. Almost too risky as there is just not enough time to do your due diligence.
Joe

The main reason I wanted and paid this much for the ball is because this was actually his third home run in a row if you count the homer from the previous night in the 9th inning. If that hadn't been the case I don't know if I would have even wanted it. Like you said I had no idea he was going to hit two more homers. Just dumb luck.

[jshortt]

This is hearsay, but on talk radio here in Cincinnati a guy called in and said that he saw someone hop over onto the grass where Votto's walk-off grand slam landed and grab the ball. The caller said security escorted the guy out and took the ball from him. Of course, that's a little different because he left the stands...

That is EXACTLY what happened. My season tickets are in the next section over. The guy missed Votto's granny on the initial swipe, and then decided to hop the divider fence onto the berm to grab the ball. As soon as he hopped the fence back into his row, security was waiting for him. The first thing they did was take the ball from him before escorting him away. The Reds DID get the ball back and authenticated it. Initially it was supposed to be auctioned off, but I believe the Reds decided to keep it.

I have a few friends that are ushers/security, and they have ALL told me, without exception, that they are told the first thing they are supposed to do is confiscate the ball. An extra little "F You" to the person for breaking the rules.

-Josh

[legaleagle92481]

why stop there, why not just buy some MLB mud rub up some balls and write 10 letters then ....I'm going under the assumption that the person is not willing to get caught commitng outright fraud.

In this hobby when has that ever stopped anyone before?

[flota89]

There is mention of the 2nd home run ball on this website:

mygameballs.com

Looks like the guy that came up with it catches quite a few baseballs.

Nice pickup!

-Tyler

[schubert1970]

Wow! I had no idea that site existed. Thanks for posting!!!

Looks like the "kid" is a pro and dang good at it.

Bill

[flota89]

He is. I had been reading up on some of his past home run catches. He has some impressive baseballs. I wonder if yours is the only he has sold? You should be able to contact him through that site I'd imagine.

[marzomarz]

That is EXACTLY what happened. My season tickets are in the next section over. The guy missed Votto's granny on the initial swipe, and then decided to hop the divider fence onto the berm to grab the ball. As soon as he hopped the fence back into his row, security was waiting for him. The first thing they did was take the ball from him before escorting him away. The Reds DID get the ball back and authenticated it. Initially it was supposed to be auctioned off, but I believe the Reds decided to keep it.

I have a few friends that are ushers/security, and they have ALL told me, without exception, that they are told the first thing they are supposed to do is confiscate the ball. An extra little "F You" to the person for breaking the rules.

-Josh

That is complete insanity. Stadium security aren't police and they have no legal right to search you. They can kick you out of the stadium and certainly they could call the police but they can't hold you until the police arrive. And what would they tell the police anyways - he is holding stolen property but it is something that was hit or thrown into the stands?

[schubert1970]

Just got back my Hamilton home run ball from the May 8th game and game used SI cover jersey from 2008 this morning signed by the man himself. Josh is one great guy and he made a special notation on my ball for me.

Also, both items received an mlb holo.

Just as a side note, the reason I get on my anti-arod kick is because I had Aroids 585 home run ball and asked him to make a notation on it. Aroid wanted not only wanted the 300 I paid for his signature but another 2k for the notation. Josh and his agent didn't try to get more money from me.