Ball Blues
- Wade
Two baseball gambits in a row can only mean one thing:
It must be December.
Today's topic comes to you courtesy of Doogie Baseball and his former employee, the Boston Red Sox. Read this. (Then come back.)
The Sox make a decent argument: if it weren't for Monkeybitch being a Red Sox employee, he never would have had the opportunity to catch the baseball; therefore, it's the property of the team. Which makes sense. If Dain did the same thing to me that Boston did to Mientkiewicz (traded me to, oh, Piper Jaffrey for a minor leaguer and future considerations) I don't think I could keep my computer, my Blackberry, my Swingline stapler. And you could argue that a baseball is MLB's version of an office supply.
But how far does that go? Would it apply to game-worn apparel like jerseys? Like this. I have no doubt that Mark Clear himself is somehow tied to that listing. Do the Milwaukee Brewers have the right to intervene and say that the jersey is actually their property, and any money made on its sale should be given to them? (Knowing Bud Selig's connection to the Brewers, the answer to that question is an emphatic "yes.") And how about when David Wells runs out of beer money and tries to pawn his '92 Toronto Blue Jays World Series ring? You could argue that the latter was perhaps a gift given to Wells by the team. But if it weren't for him playing on the team that year, he never would have received it.
The right answer? The ball belongs to the team. Mientkiewicz was the recipient only by virtue of the last play being an infield ground out. Oh, and that he's a better defensive first-baseman than Kevin Millar. It's a little sleazy of the Red Sox to come to a sharing agreement with Mientkiewicz and then sue so they don't have to give the ball back, but what did you expect from them? And Doug's slowly trying to hold on to any remaining legacy he might have, legally or otherwise.
Besides, I'm sure it's a matter of time before he copyrights the phrase "Last Out" (see below.)
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
