Fall of society creeps nearer with dispute over Howard's baseball

Another week, another argument over the ownership of a home run ball. This time, the conflict involves Phillies slugger Ryan Howard(notes), who's currently busy helping Philly defend its world title.But despite kicking off that defense with a win on Wednesday, Howard's name appeared in the day's headlines because a 12-year-old Florida girl sued the Phillies to regain possession of Howard's 200th home run ball that she caught at a Phillies-Marlins game back in July. In the lawsuit, the girl's lawyer charged that a Philles team representative pulled a "classic bait-and-switch operation" by trading another baseball to Jennifer Valdivia in exchange for the ball that Howard hit for his 200th. Valdivia did not have a parent present and was there with her 15-year-old brother.The Phillies simply responded to the lawsuit by giving Valdivia her ball back and declining comment on a story that has already been featured in the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inqui...