Opinion: Can I keep the baseball I caught?
A baseball fan faced public backlash for refusing to give a caught foul ball to a child at a Dodgers-Braves game. The article explores the ethics of social media shaming and the personal dilemma of keeping versus gifting souvenirs.
Why it matters
It highlights the modern phenomenon of digital public shaming and the intersection of personal property rights with social expectations.
This week, an ethical question, of all things, intruded into the baseball playoffs.
Tuesday night, Dodgers versus Braves, in Atlanta. A young man in a Dodger jersey caught a foul ball in the stands. As so often happens these days, someone seated nearby captured it on video, and then felt compelled to instruct the man, "Give it to the kid! Give it to the kid!"
And indeed there was a small boy, maybe preschool-aged, a few rows back in a Braves jersey.
But the Dodgers fan looked into the man's camera and told what turned out to be millions of viewers on social media, "I'm sorry, I can't! I'm not giving it to the kid! I feel bad, but I'm not giving it to the kid!"
Some commenters denounced the man for keeping the ball. Some others have inveighed against the little boy for looking disappointed.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in