Foul or fair? Kid sells souvenir gift at game

Was it wrong for a kid given a foul ball to turn around and sell it? (AP photo)

For many, getting a foul ball is a priceless memento. But
that wasn’t enough to keep a kid from selling one for $100
at a recent baseball game in San Francisco, after another
fan gave it to him at the urging of others in the
surrounding crowd. Was he wrong? It’s sparking plenty of
conversation in
The New York Times Ethicist column
and on 97.3 KIRO FM’s
Seattle’s Morning News.

“This guy did this grand gesture and then to just turn
around and cash in this favor for money is the worst. I
think the least he could do would be to split the money or
offer the ball back to the guy and say ‘actually I didn’t
catch it’,” says co-host Tom Tangney.

It’s slippery situation. The guy voluntarily gave up the
ball, so the kid can do whatever he wants with it, right?

“I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have then sold the
ball for $100 and I wouldn’t have let my daughter sell the
ball,” argues co-host Bill Radke.

Chuck Klosterman, author of The Ethicist column, agrees.

“Your friend gave him the ball as an act of good will. He
probably thought, ‘This young person will appreciate a
baseball more than I would, and giving it to him in public
will set a good example.’ Though the family had every
legal
right to sell this gift, it was wrong of them to do so,”
Klosterman writes.

Beyond the ethics involved, producer Owen Murphy, who has
never caught a ball in his own life, says while he would
gladly give up the ball to a youngster, the parents who
allowed the young fan to sell the ball gave up something
much greater.

“I dream of that, or I did when I was younger. You don’t
give the ball up for any amount of money. One-hundred
dollars goes here
or there but a ball lasts forever. A memory. I don’t
ever give that ball up,” he exclaims.

What do you think?