Boston Red Sox newcomer Masataka Yoshida has had a strong start to his rookie campaign.
Through four games so far this season, Yoshida is hitting .294 with a .871 OPS. On Monday he added his first career home run in the big leagues. It was a laser shot to the Green Monster seats that had Fenway Park buzzing.
Most Major League Baseball players love the idea of getting to keep the ball that ended up being their first career blast in the majors -- Yoshida is no different.
“I hope that ball is coming back one day,” Yoshida said, as transcribed by NESN's Greg Dudek on Monday. “Obviously today we lost. That’s more disappointing.”
The family that ended up with the prized home run ball turned down multiple offers by Red Sox staffers in exchange for the ball, according to Carlos Yamazaki of Tokyo Sports Press. They were the one's leaving Fenway Park with Yoshida's first career home run, instead of the rookie slugger himself.
Now, the biggest problem I have with all of this is that the family that ended up with the ball apparently didn't even catch the home run in the first place.
A Pittsburgh Pirates fan on the Green Monster caught the ball and gave it to the kids in the front-row seats as a kind gesture.
That same fan could be seen on the NESN broadcast a few innings later appearing to try and help the family with their negotiations with team staffers.
In Yoshida's introduction press conference to Boston, he mentioned how thankful he was to be a part of Red Sox Nation and how he was ready to do his best for the fans of the team. For this to be one of his first interactions with the fan base at Fenway Park is simply brutal.
It's very rare that a fan, or fans, would completely turn down all of the team's offers when they are just trying to do the right thing and return a ball to the player that would cherish it for the rest of their career.
I understand this is more complex than just taking a souvenir back from a kid, but there needs to be a way to get Yoshida his home run ball back. The common sense move would be to figure out a reasonable exchange with the team, and all parties can go home happy.
Until that happens, fans will continue to take their frustrations out on social media with the family that has kept the Yoshida ball. Is that fair? Probably not. But I can't say I'm surprised considering the circumstances. Just give the ball back.
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