# "It's Just a ball", umm, no it isn't **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320 "2011-07-08T15:37:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/41 "2011-07-09T01:17:40Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You guys need to quit besmirching his memory. You’re fantasizing. No-one has “besmirched his memory.” ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/42 "2011-07-09T01:55:26Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You’re fantasizing. No-one has “besmirched his memory.” I don’t know. This whole thing makes me feel bad as a baseball fan and a father. This particular guy from watching the video didn’t appear to be doing anything too crazy for the ball, he just happened to be seated in the row before the overhang, which he plunged over to his death as his son watched in horror. The quotes of this guys dying moments as he’s being carried away are full of remonstrations for the welfare if his boy, informing paramedics of his situation. Goddamn…anyone that’s a parent and a baseball fan that makes fun of that shit is a shithead. Sorry in advance. > [@Ludovic](#): > > It’s just a ball. > [@bup](#): > > What happened to the ball afterward? Maybe you can still get it. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > It becomes “just a ball” when you risk your life to get it. > > I get what the OP’s saying – to a sports fan, it’s a memento of a game, of something you love. But if you’re going to risk injury and/or death to get said souvenoir? So not worth it. Do you think that kid is going to want to go to a baseball game any time soon? > (One think that’s cool about hockey is that players will often flip pucks over the glass to kids. Or they’ll pass their sticks to them after the game.) > **bup** , that’s just sick – blood is near IMPOSSIBLE to get out of leather. > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Yes. I’m no bible thumper, but this quote is spot on: > > When I became a man, I put away childish things. > [@spooje](#): > > This. > > I look at the idiots scrambling for the ball. One comes with it like he accomplished something, looking quite full of himself. It IS just a ball. I am big baseball fan but the ball they use is only special _when they are using it_. Once it’s in the stands, it is a trinket. > > I went to a Dodger game with friends a few weeks ago. We were in the bleachers by center field. My friend, a season ticket holder, and by all other accounts a sensible human being, actually hurt himself diving for a warm-up ball tossed into the stands by Matt Kemp. He had to helped out of the stands and missed work for a couple of days. > > A warm-up ball! And he already has a half dozen of them. > > If he was 12, I would understand. But he is 50. He likes to tell me, with great pride, about how he got them. I just tell myself ‘by all other accounts, he is a sensible human being’. > > I do not get it. > [@billfish678](#): > > Technically, I’d say the dad dropped the ball on this one… > > Damn, between this, the dead helmetless motorcycle guy, and the lady dieing from dog fucking I am soo working on that first class ticket to Hell these last few days. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/43 "2011-07-09T01:58:35Z")
Oh please. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/44 "2011-07-09T01:59:36Z")
The path to knowledge is long, and lined the whole way with annoying bastards. Maybe this has something to do with money. Back when sports were for kids and a few adults, and nobody expected to be a multimillionaire in his twenties from playing kids’ games, I wonder if people were able to retain a little more perspective. Catch it because it is a memory, not because I can sell it for $5,000 on e-bay. The ball shouldn’t be more valuable because somebody died trying to snag it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/45 "2011-07-09T02:09:01Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > MPSIMS you pervert 🙂 But that requires me going to MPSIMS, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/46 "2011-07-09T02:09:11Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I hope his son ends up with that ball, as I am sure he will. You idiots tell HIM its “just a ball”. The one his Daddy died trying to get for him. I am sure it will resonate. Dunno about that kid, but if I were the kid, I’d burn it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/47 "2011-07-09T02:16:34Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Oh please. Please what, dude? Its a horrible story. This wasn’t some crazed fan trying to catch Barry Bond’s 73rd homer for a cashout. It was some hapless guy with his son trying to catch a ball in an apparent nonchalant way that ended with him slipping up and dying. Hardly worthy of scorn, puns and the like. Oh yeah, I’m in the Pit. I need to get out of here. I can’t stop pretending I am that guy with my own son. Its heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/48 "2011-07-09T02:24:08Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Please what, dude? Its a horrible story. This wasn’t some crazed fan trying to catch Barry Bond’s 73rd homer for a cashout. It was some hapless guy with his son trying to catch a ball in an apparent nonchalant way that ended with him slipping up and dying. Hardly worthy of scorn, puns and the like. It is a horrible and heartbreaking story. I also agree that this particular guy wasn’t doing anything stupid or annoying in his grab for the ball; it’s just terrible luck that it ended with him going over the rail. But, as far as i can tell, none of the scorn and puns in this thread have been directed at the dead man himself. No-one is besmirching his memory. And the gallows humor is pretty par-for-the-course around here; it doesn’t mean that people don’t feel sympathy for the man’s family. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/49 "2011-07-09T02:26:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Please what, dude? Its a horrible story. This wasn’t some crazed fan trying to catch Barry Bond’s 73rd homer for a cashout. It was some hapless guy with his son trying to catch a ball in an apparent nonchalant way that ended with him slipping up and dying. Hardly worthy of scorn, puns and the like. > > Oh yeah, I’m in the Pit. I need to get out of here. I can’t stop pretending I am that guy with my own son. Its heartbreaking. Agreed. I think that in hindsight we can all agree that the dad made a bad decision, but he wasn’t being agressive nor was he actively risking his life. He tried to catch a ball, missed and suffered horribly because of it. His son has just begun to suffer. I understand that this is not a sports friendly forum, but really. There is no need to heap scorn on this guy and every reason to feel impossibly bad for his family. My heart aches for that little boy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/50 "2011-07-09T02:27:19Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Oh yeah, I’m in the Pit. I need to get out of here. I can’t stop pretending I am that guy with my own son. Its heartbreaking. Of course it’s heartbreaking. That’s what makes it funny. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/51 "2011-07-09T02:27:41Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Back when sports were for kids and a few adults… That would take you beck better than 160 years, when the first organized baseball games were played. By now it’s an adult game, too, though it’s more that softball is the adult game. \*Umpire: Okay, let’s go over the ground rules. You can’t leave first until you chug a beer. Any man scoring has to chug a beer. You have to chug a beer at the top of all odd-numbered innings. Oh, and the fourth inning is the beer inning. Chief Wiggum: Hey, we know how to play softball.\* But it really was just a ball. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/52 "2011-07-09T02:31:03Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I hope his son ends up with that ball, as I am sure he will. You idiots tell HIM its “just a ball”. I’m sure he’s already thinking it. He will probably go to sleep every night of his life thinking, “Why did you do that, dad, it was just a ball”. > [@](#): > > You guys need to quit besmirching his memory. We aren’t besmirching. This is recreational anyway, no one here knows him personally. Look, it’s a very sad and tragic thing that happened. Sad and tragic for him, his son and the rest of his family and friends. He made a bad judgement and paid for it. Still no matter how you slice it, it’s just a ball. His dying over it doesn’t change that - it’s not like he threw himself on a grenade. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/53 "2011-07-09T02:31:44Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Of course it’s heartbreaking. That’s what makes it funny. Having read your posting style without interacting with you for a few years now…I’d have to agree. If I had a little more time to stop thinking about the guy’s life ending prematurely in a bizarre accident and his son having to not only witness his death and relive it for the rest of his life, but deal with not having his Dad for the same duration, then I’d be right there with you. I totally get the humor, though. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/54 "2011-07-09T02:32:21Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But the idea that a foul ball is special is just strange to me. If i ever do catch one, the first thing i’m going to do is look around for a kid to give it to. Not because i have any great love for kids (i have none of my own), or because kids are somehow special, but because i can understand a 12-year-old finding some special significance in getting a ball from the ballpark. I don’t understand the same sentiment from a grown man. I see a difference between a foul or home run ball, and one just tossed into the stands. They didn’t used to just toss balls into the stands; they would be fined if they did. So maybe that’s just my age. I outraced a back of nine-year-olds to my home run ball, when I was in my twenties. Of course, the nine-year-olds were looking at a long-haired, bearded freak heading at them full steam with a pencil in his teeth, beer in one hand (didn’t spill a drop) and scorecard in the other. I may have scared them just a bit. It was (and is) meaningful to me. It was my first after many games; it was a goal since I was a child. I still have that ball, and I don’t even remember who hit the home run. But it was a clean race, and I won it. I wouldn’t knock people down, and I wouldn’t risk a life. And if it happened again today, I’d still try to outrace the kids, but I’m a lot slower these days. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/55 "2011-07-09T02:36:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I outraced a back of nine-year-olds to my home run ball, when I was in my twenties. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/56 "2011-07-09T02:40:26Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > …a long-haired, bearded freak heading at them full steam with a pencil in his teeth, beer in one hand (didn’t spill a drop) and scorecard in the other. I grew up with your people and I still find them…odd. But I trust Nate Silver more than any other pundit because of it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/57 "2011-07-09T02:41:52Z")
I just need to shut the fuck up and get a sense of humor. My dark mood isn’t being helped by my own situation RE: divorce, children, etc so I need to go away. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/58 "2011-07-09T02:42:38Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > . > > It was (and is) meaningful to me. It was my first after many games; it was a goal since I was a child. I still have that ball, and I don’t even remember who hit the home run. But it was a clean race, and I won it. I wouldn’t knock people down, and I wouldn’t risk a life. And if it happened again today, I’d still try to outrace the kids, but I’m a lot slower these days. Somewhat douchy to get the first one. Damn douchy to have to get the second one too. Let someone else enjoy their petty moment of glory. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/59 "2011-07-09T02:49:21Z")
Eat something meaty and greasy, **Fois** , if you can still afford it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320/60 "2011-07-09T02:57:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Somewhat douchy to get the first one. Damn douchy to have to get the second one too. Let someone else enjoy their petty moment of glory. I meant if I still didn’t have a ball. I’m fine with one. Nowadays, I don’t even keep score anymore. I don’t care about the ones they toss into the stands. Even if I didn’t have my ball, I wouldn’t try for those. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-ball-umm-no-it-isnt/588320.md?page=4)