The key here is not that he asked for something in return for the ball, but that he 1) First asked for "Too much" and 2) Would not give up the ball after he was given the agreed upon "bounty."

 

It's customary for a player to give a fan a few things and take a picture for home run balls, and it's customary for the fans to agree. It's only when greed enters in tehe piture that this chnages.

 

No one would have any right demanding a signed bat and ball from Hanley, or Marlins-Yankees tickets, because they have nothing to do with Chirs or this homerun. Maybe he could have requested the MArlins bring Hanley out of the clubhouse to sign a few items of his own, but this is straight up greed. Why would he want Marlins-Yankees tickets? He's neither a MArlins or Yankees fan.

 

Note in the AP version of the story, this guy's got a different take on this, saying it was Chirs and the Marlins that were being difficult. Queue the sad violin for this guy, for sure. "I only make $50,000 a year in law enforcement." The only reasn top bring this up is that motives could have been financial in nature. When the MArlins balked at the Yankees tickets, he then requested Marlins-Brewers tickets since he was "going to game already." I'm sure he was. He put in a pot shot about our fan base and attendance, as well. Hope they give him upper deck tickets...

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/05/51309_miller_park.html

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

OMG... That guy is more than an idiot.

. Right then, if I were Chris I may have walked away and told him to keep it, I would just send my mother another ball and a copy of the home run. It's your word against mine.

 

I agree, eventhough that was his first career homer - he should have just walked away and told his mother about it :lol . His mother would have come to attack that man with a fully loaded purse.

The guy is probably bragging to his friends about his negotiating skills. Personally, I think he went over the top by making Chris "beg" for it. Right then, if I were Chris I may have walked away and told him to keep it, I would just send my mother another ball and a copy of the home run. It's your word against mine.

 

Pronouncing his name wrong?? I have no problem with that. I still find myself pronouncing it "cough-lin" from time to time. That's the way it looks.

 

 

 

How does it look like cough-lin when there isnt an 'u' between the 'o' and the 'g' in his name?

 

Cog - hlan

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

 

 

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

Lol at the pic Chris took with him. Mouth wide open, he was pretty mad i guess.

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

 

 

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

 

I don't get it either, and he only asked for tickets after they didn't give him the Ramirez bat... I mean the guy is probably a jerk, he goes around catching game balls for a living apparently, but asking for what he did at first, a Coghlan bat and a Ramirez bat is not too much in my opinion.

I suspect what is at work here is another unwritten "rule" of baseball that teams, after years of going through this, probably have established some broad guidelines as to what is fair compensation in these situations. Otherwise, just like free agency or a wildly extravagant '90s George Steinbrenner player offer, once team X starts giving in to these demands, gives up two bats and a ball and tickets etc. that becomes the norm everywhere - until the next guy demands and gets MORE. It becomes a vicious cycle.

 

The fallacy in these "negotiations" (because they aren't really negotiations, this is a courtesy) is that Happy thought he was in charge because he had possession of the baseball and therefore could set whatever terms "he" thought were "fair". He wasn't. MLB/Brewers ultimately were as they control stadium access and for whatever reason they chose to employ (he bumped an usher, he was behaving in a dangerous or boisterous manner, you name it) could simply ban him from all future games. In negotiating parlance they had their finger on the trigger on their side of the table. Ultimately, if this piece of theater were to play itself out to it's conclusion, Happy would be left with two choices, keep the ball and banishment or behave in an acceptable manner and be rewarded with some "fair and reasonable" compensation.

 

Luckily for all concerned it didn't have to go there.

 

This kind of stuff happens all the time and while it does look that Coghlan could have behaved more appropriately, no one is perfect, his motivation became deeply personal and emotionally charged in his desire to reward his mother with this trophy, he should be forgiven for a moment of perhaps bad taste *(photo and comments)*. For Happy, perhaps his lesson will never be learned as witnessed by his blog post, he still doesn't seem to comprehend what actually transpired.

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

 

 

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

 

I don't get it either, and he only asked for tickets after they didn't give him the Ramirez bat... I mean the guy is probably a jerk, he goes around catching game balls for a living apparently, but asking for what he did at first, a Coghlan bat and a Ramirez bat is not too much in my opinion.

I don't get it either. He asked for something resonable. The bashing of the guy is ridiculous.

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

 

 

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

 

I don't get it either, and he only asked for tickets after they didn't give him the Ramirez bat... I mean the guy is probably a jerk, he goes around catching game balls for a living apparently, but asking for what he did at first, a Coghlan bat and a Ramirez bat is not too much in my opinion.

I don't get it either. He asked for something resonable. The bashing of the guy is ridiculous.

It really depends on who you believe, his blog or Coghlan, the team, and the media.

Wait!

 

The question: Can we take this silly opportunity to give Coghlan an awesome nickname?

 

The answer: oh yeah we can.

 

The nickname: Ransom.

The guy is probably bragging to his friends about his negotiating skills. Personally, I think he went over the top by making Chris "beg" for it. Right then, if I were Chris I may have walked away and told him to keep it, I would just send my mother another ball and a copy of the home run. It's your word against mine.

 

Pronouncing his name wrong?? I have no problem with that. I still find myself pronouncing it "cough-lin" from time to time. That's the way it looks.

 

 

 

How does it look like cough-lin when there isnt an 'u' between the 'o' and the 'g' in his name?

 

Cog - hlan

 

I have no explanation. It's just how I have always pronounced it. But I'm getting much better. Don't you somtimes mispronounce names?? Like, what about Putz?

The guy is probably bragging to his friends about his negotiating skills. Personally, I think he went over the top by making Chris "beg" for it. Right then, if I were Chris I may have walked away and told him to keep it, I would just send my mother another ball and a copy of the home run. It's your word against mine.

 

Pronouncing his name wrong?? I have no problem with that. I still find myself pronouncing it "cough-lin" from time to time. That's the way it looks.

 

 

 

How does it look like cough-lin when there isnt an 'u' between the 'o' and the 'g' in his name?

 

Cog - hlan

 

I have no explanation. It's just how I have always pronounced it. But I'm getting much better. Don't you somtimes mispronounce names?? Like, what about Putz?

 

 

yeah, I'm just razzin' ya.

The guy posted his story and is blasting Coghlan.

 

http://thehappyyoung...iller_park.html

 

 

 

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

 

I don't get it either, and he only asked for tickets after they didn't give him the Ramirez bat... I mean the guy is probably a jerk, he goes around catching game balls for a living apparently, but asking for what he did at first, a Coghlan bat and a Ramirez bat is not too much in my opinion.

I don't get it either. He asked for something resonable. The bashing of the guy is ridiculous.

It really depends on who you believe, his blog or Coghlan, the team, and the media.

 

 

You might think the guy is a jerk but none of here know him personally and its not like his initial demands were that steep.

 

His blog is his honest opinion on how things went down and imo he didn't come across as a jerk or bash the Marlins in any unreasonable fashion.

 

It was actually pretty well written.

I don't see the anomisity towards this fan/ballhawk.

 

He did nothing wrong, imo.

 

Asking for two bats and a couple of tickets isn't obsurd demands by any stretch of the imagination....

 

 

I don't get it either, and he only asked for tickets after they didn't give him the Ramirez bat... I mean the guy is probably a jerk, he goes around catching game balls for a living apparently, but asking for what he did at first, a Coghlan bat and a Ramirez bat is not too much in my opinion.

I don't get it either. He asked for something resonable. The bashing of the guy is ridiculous.

It really depends on who you believe, his blog or Coghlan, the team, and the media.

 

 

You might think the guy is a jerk but none of here know him personally and its not like his initial demands were that steep.

 

His blog is his honest opinion on how things went down and imo he didn't come across as a jerk or bash the Marlins in any unreasonable fashion.

 

It was actually pretty well written.

His blog is what he says happened. Like you said, we don't know him, he might be a liar. Did you hear how they were talking about it on the Marlins broadcast or read the reports by MLB.com, the Miami Herald, or the Associated Press? They paint a different picture of the guy.

The press reports from the beat reporters only gave Coglan's side. The reporters were to lazy or incompetent to get both sides. That's to be expected coming from them. I think the majority of the people who read both sides and are not Marlins fans think Coglan is an asshole.

The press reports from the beat reporters only gave Coglan's side. The reporters were to lazy or incompetent to get both sides. That's to be expected coming from them. I think the majority of the people who read both sides and are not Marlins fans think Coglan is an asshole.

 

Yeah, I don't believe anyone who says that the only nice guy of the entire experience was Craig Minervini.

 

And I don't think you're right about that.

What incentive does he have to lie about what happened? If anything, the newspapers and mass media have an advantage when it comes to painting a person in a bad light. I'm thankful for the "blogosphere"... it gives the "little guy" a voice.

 

I read all those reports and they said he asked for 2 bats and a couple of tickets.

 

If you want to think he's a jerk thats fine (Maybe he is, maybe he isn't... we'll never REALLY know) but its not like he demanded a lot for the ball.

 

imo, a true jerk would have said "f*** off, you cant have the ball" to the first Marlins representative he saw.

 

From reading this guys webpage/blog it just seems to be that he has a hobby (a healthy one at that) which is traveling to ballparks and catching HR balls and comes across as an intelligent and passionte fan of MLB (apart from also being a family man).

What incentive does he have to lie about what happened? If anything, the newspapers and mass media have an advantage when it comes to painting a person in a bad light. I'm thankful for the "blogosphere"... it gives the "little guy" a voice.

 

I read all those reports and they said he asked for 2 bats and a couple of tickets.

 

If you want to think he's a jerk thats fine (Maybe he is, maybe he isn't... we'll never REALLY know) but its not like he demanded a lot for the ball.

 

imo, a true jerk would have said "f*** off, you cant have the ball" to the first Marlins representative he saw.

 

From reading this guys webpage/blog it just seems to be that he has a hobby (a healthy one at that) which is traveling to ballparks and catching HR balls and comes across as an intelligent and passionte fan of MLB (apart from also being a family man).

 

It's not what he demanded, it's about how everyone but himself says he went about it. Even the pictures that he uses at proof of the Marlins harassing him for the ball just looks like him screaming at the Media Relations guy.

 

But fine, since neither of us know the real truth, there's really no argument to be had between us.

 

And as far as "incentive to lie", in the case that he was as big a jerk as all the media sources says, noone wants everyone to think he's a jerk. That's the insentive right there.

It looks like he's arguing with someone in a picture? who's to say the argument was started by the MArlins rep? lol ... alright man... you nailed him.

 

So lets say, just as an example, you were the fan that caught the ball and all known details of the story stay the same (the demands, the various people that approached you, etc.) yet you were a perfect gentleman during the whole situation.

 

You wake up the next day and you read reports that you were a complete asshole to everyone involved.

 

1) wouldn't that upset you?

 

2) if you have a blog already set-up, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to prove you are not an asshole by giving your side of the story (with supporting documents like pictures)?

What I'd wonder even more than "what incentive does the fan have to lie" is "what incentive would Coghlan have to blow this out of proportion by saying the guy wasn't very respectful"? Think about it...Chris hits his first Major League home run and he has to answer questions instead about the trade that happened between the guy and him. Don't you think he'd rather talk about the actual HR than making up (or perhaps make a big deal out of nothing) how the fan acted toward him and the rest of the staff?

It looks like he's yelling at someone in a picture? lol ... alright man... you nailed him.

 

So lets say, just as an example, you were the fan that caught the ball and all known details of the story stay the same (the demands, the various people that approached you, etc.) yet you were a perfect gentleman during the whole situation.

 

You wake up the next day and you read reports that you were a complete asshole to everyone involved.

 

1) wouldn't that upset you?

 

2) if you have a blog already set-up, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to prove you are not an asshole by giving your side of the story (with supporting documents like pictures)?

 

 

 

...Regardless.

 

But whatever, if you want to believe his side over everyone else's side, that's fine. I'm just saying, it's strange that, if he was being so damn cooperative, that this whole thing came about. It's not like this happens everytime a the Marlins get a milestone ball back.

I don't know why I'm posting this picture but I just felt compelled to ... lol

It looks like he's yelling at someone in a picture? lol ... alright man... you nailed him.

 

So lets say, just as an example, you were the fan that caught the ball and all known details of the story stay the same (the demands, the various people that approached you, etc.) yet you were a perfect gentleman during the whole situation.

 

You wake up the next day and you read reports that you were a complete asshole to everyone involved.

 

1) wouldn't that upset you?

 

2) if you have a blog already set-up, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to prove you are not an asshole by giving your side of the story (with supporting documents like pictures)?

 

 

 

...Regardless.

 

But whatever, if you want to believe his side over everyone else's side, that's fine. I'm just saying, it's strange that, if he was being so damn cooperative, that this whole thing came about. It's not like this happens everytime a the Marlins get a milestone ball back.

 

how does that photo prove anything on either side of this argument?