THE AUTOGRAPH
A recent
post by Catalyst @ http://oddballobservations.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-ball-game-surprise.html
reminded me of almost every American kid’s dream, to get a foul ball at a major
league baseball game. Little Leaguers
routinely bring their glove to games with hopes of snagging a piece of their
own baseball history. One such young man
used his glove to turn a final out of a playoff game against the Orioles into a
Derek Jeter home run and a New York Yankee win.
Anyway...I
only went to a few games as a boy and never got close to that foul ball
catching dream. My middle son did once
get a ball. He went to a Yankee game with a friend and his dad, and he retrieved a ball during batting practice. He thought it was cool. I was happy for him. I was a extra excited myself when I saw the
ball was autographed by Derek Jeter.
It is not
unusual for players to sign balls during batting practice.
When my son
moved out, he took a lot of stuff, but he didn’t seem too interested in this
autographed ball. I saved it; I was not
going to let that ball get lost. A Derek
Jeter ball might actually be valuable some day.
I put the
ball in a box with some other stuff that was my son’s and then forgot about
it. A few years ago I was cleaning stuff
out and saw the box and found the ball.
My son may have forgotten about the ball, but a Derek Jeter autographed
ball would someday be meaningful and might even be valuable. For sure his two boys would be
interested in such a treasure.
I thought I
would do something special, and purchased one of those plastic baseball
displays that I’ve seen other people use to protect a special and or valuable
baseball.
I put the
ball in the display, autograph side up and the next time I visited my son I
presented him with the ball that I was sure he had forgotten or assumed was
lost.
“What is this?”
“It’s that ball you recovered in
batting practice years ago. Bet you
thought it was lost.”
“No, but it’s just a ball.”
“Just a ball? Just a ball autographed
by Derek Jeter!”
“That’s not Jeter’s autograph.”
“No? Whose is it?”
“It’s not even an autograph. When I got home I took a marker and wrote
Derek Jeter on it because that is who hit it in batting practice. Jeter never even tipped his hat to me.”
First time a
kid ever disappointed his dad with a fake autograph.
At least he told you the truth before you tried to cash in with the autograph.
ReplyDeletebetty
And all those years...
ReplyDeleteI once got the autograph of some Cleveland Indian for my uncle. It came back to me when he passed on, and eventually I put it in the Goodwill bag. I don't even recall who it was.
oh, too funny!
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame it's not enough that Derek Jeter hit the ball! What are you going to do with it now?
ReplyDeleteBwahahahahahahahaha. Now we know why he left it when he moved out. The fancy box is worth way more than the ball.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day Cranky. ☺
Some things in life are best unresolved, this might be one of those. But think of all those years and the nice feelings you had about it.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Poor dad. If you need counseling support, I can help you Google.
ReplyDeleteAnother one of those things that was good while it lasted!!
ReplyDeleteAww, what is worse than a busted bubble? What a rascal your son was. I agree with Betty, good thing you didn't try to sell it.
ReplyDeleteToo funny that he would do that! Anyway, it's still a good story to tell.
ReplyDeleteOne of my uncles lived in Flushing and had a friend who was the Yankees' doc. This was back in the '50s. One birthday, it must have been '59, he gave me a ball signed by the '58 Yankees -- Mantle, Berra, Ford, etc. I treasured that ball and left it on my bureau for years. It yellowed some and the signatures faded a bit and I finally stashed it away. When my son, an All Star Little Leaguer, turned 13 thirteen years ago this week (by golly it just occurs to me I turned 13 in 1959) I gave him the ball. He also treasures it, but we both wonder how much it's worth. We're mercenary Red Sox fans now, but that ball would be hard to part with. (When you're out here, Crank, I'll show it to you.)
ReplyDeleteawww, I was hoping this would lead to an appearance by you on Pawn Stars. Of course, they'd spoil everything by calling in one of their "experts!"
ReplyDeleteWell...he may have fooled you with that baseball. But at least you didn't buy a John Voight car.
ReplyDeleteSee, that's why they say ignorance is bliss!
ReplyDeleteThat's a funny (and sad) story.
ReplyDeleteThat's so disappointing. More so since you kept it all those years believing it was the real thing.
ReplyDeleteLike all those fake 'personally signed' photos of movie stars people used to send for from fan clubs. 99.9% of those are photocopies of the one original signed photo.
Years ago, I sat behind a woman with an infant in a carrier thing. The foul ball came our way and the woman covered her baby with her arm. The ball hit her arm, and missed the baby. I held the carrier while she received first aid. Nobody cared about the dang ball. Scary
ReplyDelete