A foul ball from a Batavia Muckdogs game I went to.
It’s the dream of many kids who go to a professional baseball game to come home with a piece of the game—the actual baseball. Is there a point in time, however, when kids outgrow that dream and pass the dream on to the next generation?
Should adult players give foul balls to kids? Is there a certain age that is socially unacceptable to keep foul balls? These questions will be answered. First, however, let's go back nearly a century to examine how keeping foul balls became a time-honored tradition.
The first foul ball kept at a Major League Baseball (MLB) game dates back to the Polo Grounds in New York City on May 16th, 1921. Rueben Berman who caught the foul ball, didn’t return it and was ejected from the game.
In the dead-ball era, which is generally considered pre-1920, baseballs were regularly used until they were too beat-up to be used. When foul balls were hit into the stands, security guards or ushers would retrieve them to be put back into play.
One landmark incident made keeping foul balls a tradition, and we have 11-year-old Robert Cotter to thank for that. While attending a Philadelphia Phillies game in 1922, Cotter decided to put a foul ball in his pocket and refused to hand it over to security.
Instead of any reasonable action, the Phillies ownership decided to take Cotter to the police and demand he be charged with larceny. Cotter spent the night in jail while waiting for a judge to hear the case.
The judge ruled in Cotter’s favor saying, “such an act on the part of a boy is merely proof that he is following his most natural impulses.”
The Phillies eventually made amends honoring Robert Cotter as their “fan of the century,” in 1998, where he received a signed team ball which he could keep without any worries. Robert Cotter is a sports hero every baseball fan should admire.
In a modern game, there are three distinct “foul ball” groups. There is the typical foul ball or home run ball that is hit into the stands, there is a ball that is tossed into the stands by a player or coach and lastly, there are balls hit into the stands during batting practice.
Each group is a bit unique, so let's examine each foul ball group as its own category and who “should” keep the baseball in each instance.
Foul Ball/Home Run Ball: When a ball gets hit into the stands during a game, it’s fair game. There isn’t a predetermined person who should get the ball; it’s up in the air for anyone. If you track the ball in the air, stick your hand, glove, hat or whatever up in the air and catch the ball better than the people around you, your reward is the baseball. You shouldn’t have to give the ball to someone else, like a kid or someone around you; there shouldn’t be any peer pressure forcing people to give up baseballs. You did the work of catching it—you get the baseball. Final verdict: if a foul ball comes your way and you catch it, that is your souvenir to do with that you please.
Ball Tossed Into The Stands: When a coach or player tosses a ball into the stands, they often have a specific target in mind, usually a young fan. If you step in front of a kid to take a ball that was tossed for them, you're deemed a jerk. If there isn’t a specific target in mind for the ball, then an adult can catch it, but they shouldn’t overpower a kid for it. Bottom line for this category is that any ball that is tossed into the stands is likely intended for a kid; therefore, a kid should be the recipient of the ball. Adults, let the kids have this one.
Batting Practice Ball: A batting practice ball may not have the same value as a game ball, but it’s still a professional ball. Batting practice is the ultimate free-for-all. Balls are flying out of the park at a rapid rate, and it’s a mad scramble to catch them in the outfield stands. Anyone who catches a ball in batting practice, that ball is theirs. This type of ball might be the hardest or easiest to catch. It’s hard because you have to track the ball and often move to catch it, but also it’s the easiest because of the sheer amount. Final verdict: there are so many of these balls to go around. So, anyone who catches it, that ball is yours.
These foul ball “rules,” I’ll admit, are very much influenced by my own personal experiences at professional baseball games. I’ve been to nearly a dozen MLB games and have never gotten any sort of baseball.
I’ve only come home with one baseball from the Batavia Muckdogs single-A New York-Penn League games. I got two baseballs from attending the Muckdogs games, but I only have one (seen above). I gave the other to my dad.
There shouldn't be any sort of peer pressure in most circumstances to force anyone to give up their baseball. Some people, like myself, are still trying to achieve the dream of coming home with a baseball from a major league game.