ONE FOUL BALL!

    WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2023

           ONE FOUL BALL!

     For those who didn't already know,

this is  "National Foul Ball Week!"

When you go to a ballgame and a

foul ball comes your way the natural

instinct is to try to catch it or grab it 

after it lands and then you get to keep 

it!  But that hasn't always been

the case! Up until 1921 if you got a 

foul ball the team made you give it

back! But on May 16th of 1921 a

31 year old businessman, Reuben

Berman, went to the Polo Grounds to

watch the Giants play the Reds. He

caught a foul ball that came his way.

But when an attendant came to retrieve

the ball he tossed it towards other

spectators. Nobody knows who ended

up with the ball. But we do know that

Berman was escorted from the ballpark!

He got his ticket price back but he said

the team had humiliated him. So, he

sued the Giants for $20,000! The case

ended up in the Supreme Court. Berman

won! Bu he didn't get the $20,000, The

court awarded him $100. Still the team

realized that if each foul ball into the

stands cost then $100, it was cheaper

to let the fans keep the balls! So head

on out to the old ball game and if you

should happen to grab a foul ball, you

can thank Reuben Berman! Hope you

do, that you're well, and that all your

NEWS is good