I'm taking my ball and.............

BTW- a MLB spokesperson has apparently said the ball is the player's. Not sure I get that logic.

We used to made sure we played by bringing the ball and the bat--- if you don't pick me I take my ball and bat and go home !!!!1

It simply proved the oldest, truest sentence about the game:

If you want to get anywhere in baseball, you've got the have bats and you've got to have ...

So the Bosox finally win their first W.S. in a 100 years and Doug Mientkiewicz wants to keep the ball. Guess I would have less of problem with this if it were say Ortiz. Then again we shouldn't be so surprised as it pretty much epitomizes the greed of today's athlete. If Doug lives in New England area he may wanna consider one of those remote ignition keys that can start his car from inside the house!

I believe that the Umpires prepare about 6 dozen game balls for a game. For a WS game, I"m sure the number jumps to about 12 dozen.

Of those 144 balls, not all went foul or were jacked over the fence. Most, in fact, were removed from the game after a few pitches by the umpire crew.

There should be a bucket of actual "game balls" somewhere around the field. In fact, they could probably raise a lot of money for the Tsunami victims if they took that bucket of left over game balls and auctioned them off.

Every true Red Sox fan would LOVE to have an official game ball. Many would pay BIG BUCKS to own a piece of history.

...... but lets just all stay selfish ... I'm sure all of them were thrown away after the game .... yeah, right !!!!!

If you go back and check, tradition at least would indicate why MLB took the position they did. Almost always, regular season , playoffs, even World Series, the last ball out, or special events or whatever occasion are taken by the person making the play or the last one handling the ball. Now when the ball is very significant the team wants to grab it. It is a shame that the player showed his true colors, by announcing what he intends to do with it. Having grown up in Gloucester, MA if that was me it would be in the family forever, hopefully enjoyed by some great,great,great,great grand child along with the stories handed down and hopefully the love of baseball in general as well.

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If Doug lives in New England area he may wanna consider one of those remote ignition keys that can start his car from inside the house!

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He grew up in Miami and still lives there. He went to FSU

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Every true Red Sox fan would LOVE to have an official game ball. Many would pay BIG BUCKS to own a piece of history.

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Just a guess, but it is perhaps a high five figure ball.

The day after the WS ended Major League Baseball auctioned signed games used, balls, bases, plates, pitching rubbers, line-up cards, empty champagne bottles, everything they could put a sticker on and stuff in a bag. They auctioned Terry Francona's games 4 line-up card or $165,000. Empty bottles went for hundreds. Where did the money go? The MLB general fund, the owners.

It's a little disingenuous to watch MLB owners auction the empty champagne bottles for $500+ and criticize Doug for keeping the ball. At the same time its hard to sympathize with Doug either. JMO

Monkeywrench was the late game defensive replacement first baseman, the odds on guy to end up with he last ball. He gave the ALCS last out ball to Derik Lowe, the winning pitcher. Normally balls of individual significance go to the player.

Maybe he can rent he ball to he Red Sox on a 99 year lease.

the ball should go to the Yankees for handing Boston that opportunity to go to the World Series

I think the Soxs can afford to buy it back. What if he took that ball and gave it to a 10 year old fan with "B" hat on with a tear in his eye. Would the Soxs want it back then? The player was in the right place at the right time. If they were that bent on getting it back, why not go there right away as he came off the field? It may have been selfish on Mientkiewicz part, but nothing illegal. I give him credit for fast thinking at a time when no one else was.

This is probably one of those reasons for the saying, "Possession is 9/10ths of the law"

If you actually heard his statement you would realize that the college comment was made tongue firmly planted in cheek.

I think he should be able to keep it like players have been doing for years.

However going forward, a club may want to put in some type of policy. I’d hate to see down the road where two outfielders start fighting for a million dollar ball on the last out of the game where the Cubs could win the World Series. They drop the ball and the Cubs lose.

I know that is probably a bad example since by the time the Cubs are likely to win, a million dollars won’t be worth much. However you get my point.