Keep Your Eye On The Ball

I just heard that the Red Sox are suing Doug Mientkiewicz for the ball he caught for the last out of the 2004 World Series. This is damn ridiculous!

First of all, if they cared this much about the ball, they should have thought about it that night. Larry Luccino should've gone up to Mientkiewicz in the clubhouse, in front of the video cameras and said, "Doug, that ball is a huge piece of history for us. Can we please have it?" I'm sure he would've given it up at that moment. Do you really think he would've refused in front of the millions of Red Sox fans watching the celebration on tv? If he did refuse, he would've ended up like that Colombian soccer player who scored on his own goal during the World Cup a few years ago, and the ball would've been taken from his cold, dead hands.

Secondly, how can the Red Sox claim it is their ball when the game was played in St. Louis? It seems to me that the Cardinals have more of a claim than the Sox. Hell, doesn't Major League Baseball pay for the baseballs used in the World Series? If so, doesn't it then still belong to MLB?

What happens if the Red Sox win this suit? Any time a player flips a ball into the stands at the end of an inning they are liable to be sued. It is not his ball to give away. But, again, would this mean it is the property of the visiting team?

I don't really think this will make it to court, and even if it does, I don't think the Red Sox have a chance. What will probably happen is the Red Sox will pay Mientkiewicz for it, or "rent" it from him to display in a museum. Or perhaps MLB will get involved and will mediate some sort of agreement where it is put on display in the Hall of Fame.

What is certain, however, is that the Red Sox should be careful of angering the Baseball Gods. Perhaps if they win the ball through the courts they will fall into another championship drought, and it will become known as "The Curse Of Mientkiewicz."