Outfielder Matt Carson does not have the ball from his first big-league home run – the fan who caught it Monday refused to give it up unless he was paid for it.
The A’s usually trade a signed bat for a milestone baseball, sometimes throwing in a few hats or a shirt, but they will not pay for returned balls.
“I only want money,” the fan told clubhouse personnel before leaving.
“He wanted a lot, too,” said Carson, who like others heard that the demand was $10,000, although that could not be confirmed. “Kind of a bummer. They authenticated the bat I used, though, so I’ll do something with that.
“It would have been nice to have the ball, and I would have been happy to give him a bat and signed it – that’s more than a baseball, anyway. But that’s OK, I have a souvenir, I’m happy.” – SFGate
What they should have done was get the “fan”’s name and made him famous. All that guy’s got now is a ball that no one will believe is the real deal and a whole lot of bad karma.
