Ejected Fan

[JEL]

Originally posted by MichaelVA2000
High school varsity game. I'm B/U and after back to back homeruns the third batter of the inning fouls her first pitch about fifty yards over the backstop.

PU has no other backup balls and I see that a man has retrieved one of the homerun balls and is outside of the centerfield fence. P/U asks F7 to get the ball from him and the man refuses to give the ball back.

As the coaches are looking around their dugouts for another game ball I ran out to the centerfield fence and requested the ball from the man. He says "I'm not giving the ball back, it was my daughter who hit the homerun and I'm keeping it for her."

"Sure Sir, I would keep it also, that was a pretty hit.

"Coach, we need a couple more game balls."

If a HR ball is ever returned to the field I will always put it aside and ask the coach if s/he would like to replace it and keep it for the player that hit it. That goes a long way in the "good relations department."