TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Saturday, June 19, 2004

A Nation That Cried "Foul Play!"

At first, I laughed. Sportscenter was showing their usual highlights of a Rangers-Cardinals interleague showdown, when they cut to the sorrowful tale of Nick and Edie O'Brien. For those of you who didn't catch the hoopla, basically a grown man by the name of Matt Starr (any relation to Ken?) leaped into the seats in front of him, knocking little Nicky out of the way, grabbing the ball in front of Edie, Nick's mother, and refusing to give the ball back. I laughed because the commentary from Tom Greive was priceless: "there's the biggest jerk in this park." You know he wanted to call him a few other names on the air. O'Brien and his mother Edie were immediately showered with gifts, including an appearence on Good Morning America. Nick becomes the next Jeffrey Maier.

While I agree that Starr should have given the kid the ball in the moment (he's since returned it along with a letter and a few tickets) or at least shown a tiny sliver of remorse, this is an example of foul ball greediness gone terribly wrong. But I found myself sitting at Shea Stadium on Wednesday night, in field level seats down the third base line, with a glove on my left hand, wondering, "Why am I sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for Cliff Floyd to send one my way?!"

Foul balls are more than souvenirs. Every man, woman, and yes, child, wants to able to have their version of "the fish was THIS big!" Or maybe it's ESPN culture taking over, where a great catch of a foul ball could make Top 10 Plays. In fact, that's just what happened last week: one of the top plays was a father with his one- or two-year-old in his right arm, jumping in the air to knock a line drive up in the air with his bare left hand and catching it as it came down...all with the kid in his arm. That didn't elicit a chuckle from me. What if the line drive was a few feet to the right? What if the ball had ricocheted? It didn't matter. He made Sportscenter. So did the guy who leaped across a woman in her 80s to catch a ball. And, as she should have, she gave him a whack on his back with her cane.

Maybe it's not the story or the highlight reel that has made us leap over children, push the elderly and bring the other guy to court over a milestone home run ball. It could be our fascination (or should I say obsession) with celebrities. What is a foul ball? It's, for example, a doorknob touched by Ben Affleck and J. Lo, right before they called the whole thing off. So, in this case, it's a ball thrown by Randy Johnson to Albert Pujols, scuffed by his bat and sent from the sacred field of play where cameras are trained on every moment and put right into our living rooms, which happen to be seats at a ball park. A relic from the religion of baseball.

So, yes, Starr was the biggest jerk in Arlington with his actions. But this story really makes us wonder what the big deal is with foul balls. Of course nothing will change. Just wait to see who catches Junior Griffey's 500th dinger. And will he/she give it back to Griffey? Look, everyone, if a ball is coming right at you, different story. But if it drops into the next row, little kids or not, you may end up vilified for the rest of your life for taking a flying body drop into the next row just to get a little meaningless slice of the American Pastime.

posted by Charles Curtis 8:28 AM