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Ken's Korner: Boston Red Sox, Doug Mientkiewicz disagree over World Series ball

Ken’s Korner: Boston Red Sox, Doug Mientkiewicz disagree over World Series ball – The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles – April 2006
The Boston Red Sox broke one of baseball’s longest droughts in 2004, finally winning the World Series for the first time since 1917. The last out of the final game was recorded when Red Sox pitcher Keith Foulke fielded a ground ball and tossed it underhand to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz. Mayhem ensued, but Mientkiewicz held onto the ball. And to this day, he insists the ball is his (although he has since loaned it to the Red Sox to put on display). The Red Sox disagree.
So who owns the ball, Major League Baseball or Doug Mientkiewicz? The case may be decided in arbitration. Boston insists it isn’t about the money, but a recent article in Fortune magazine said that stance “reeks of hypocrisy,” since the Red Sox have already sold other World Series memorabilia. Manager Terry Francona’s Game 4 lineup card, for example, fetched $165,000 in an MLB auction. The buyer offered to let the Red Sox display it at Fenway Park, but he was rebuffed.

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