Same fan catches Houston's grand slam and Game winning HR balls and gives them back

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The guy through away some serious cash and all he gets is four box seats to Saturday's game against St. Louis and they invite him to the Astros' workout Friday, How about seasons tickets for life:icon_conf

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For fan, sharing memories beats cashing in on catches

By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Three-year-old Tyler Dean came close to having a piece of baseball history in his bedroom. But his father thought better of it. The Astros and the Baseball Hall of Fame are glad Shaun Dean did.

In exchange for handing over two historic home-run baseballs Dean caught in the Astros' nail-biting victory against Atlanta on Sunday, team officials will give him four box seats to Saturday's game against St. Louis and invite him to the Astros' workout Friday, said Astros spokesman Todd Fedewa.

The team also has some surprises it didn't want to reveal to the media, Fedewa said.

Dean caught Chris Burke's game-winning home run in the bottom of the 18th inning of the National League Division Series game against the Braves at Minute Maid Park. Ten innings earlier, he caught Lance Berkman's record-setting grand slam.

A lifelong Astros fan, the 25-year-old Porter resident said he would have put them on a shelf in Tyler's room. Now, he'll present them to a representative of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Friday.

"It's cool to be able to give them back," Dean said. "It's awesome."

Burke's homer ended the longest playoff game in history. It also was the sixth series-ending homer in a postseason tilt. Berkman's grand slam was the second of the game; it was the first time two have been hit in the same postseason game. The Braves' Adam LaRoche hit the first grand slam in the third inning.

"We're grateful he was willing to share these baseballs with the Astros' fans and all baseball fans," Fedewa said.



Expensive souvenirs

Returning the balls seems unusual in an era when some fans have tried to profit from having been in the right place at the right time.



Two fans sued each other because they both claimed to have caught Barry Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run in the outfield stands in 2001. The judge ordered the men to sell the ball and split the proceeds. Each received $225,000.

Mark McGwire's 70th home-run baseball, hit in 1998, that broke the single-season home-run record of 61 set in 1961 by former New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris, was sold for nearly $3 million.

Burke's home-run ball will likely bring no more than $5,000, and Berkman's is probably valued at between $500 and $1,000, said Kent Sessions, owner of Headline Sports, a sports memorabilia company that sells items regularly on the Internet.

Determining the dollar value of either baseball is difficult, said Ted Nelkin, owner of HLT&T, a sports memorabilia store in Houston. Outside the Bayou City, the baseballs may have little, if any, monetary significance, Nelkin added.

"It really is a big deal for the Astros and their history," he said.

The home runs may be footnotes in baseball history, but Dean felt they belonged to the players who hit them. After he caught the home runs, he said, an Astros worker told him the club usually liked to collect such historic baseballs and he left his name and telephone number with officials at the stadium after the game.



Accepting immediately

Astros officials called him Monday morning with their offer for him to return the baseballs. He accepted immediately, he said.



"Without the home runs, these baseballs would mean nothing," Dean said. "They hit them. I just caught them. I've got no interest in cashing in."

One human behavior expert said Dean's desire to connect with the team is common. People often have very selfish motives, but they also have social ones, said Alan Fiske, professor of anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles.

People often feel connected to a group — or other people — and willingly behave in ways that benefit others, Fiske said. Dean appeared to identify with the Astros and baseball, Fiske said, and put aside selfish gain from the baseballs for the betterment of the team and sport. He connected with them by returning the baseballs.

"He clearly cares about the team and baseball," Fiske said. "I think it's a lovely example that people have a lot of motives and concerns for others."

News about the catches spread quickly. Local television stations interviewed Dean, and he said he's scheduled to be a guest on an ESPN sports show this morning.

A second baseman and outfielder on his high school baseball team, Dean often went to Astros games with his father, Richard Dean, and his brother, Chris Dean. He plans to continue that family tradition with Tyler.

"I love baseball, " Dean said. "I was raised watching it, and I just love the game."

dean.jpg

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][size=-3]Brett Coomer / Chronicle [/size][/font]​
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]"Without the home runs, these baseballs would mean nothing," says Shaun Dean. "They hit them. I just caught them. I've got no interest in cashing in."[/size][/font] <!-- /AdSpace -->


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I woulda kept them as well...put them on ebay right away. Giving them back does no good - these athletes are extremely overpaid to begin with and so are tickets to sporting events...get ur money back at least! These athletes arent worth making them happy....fuck em :finger:
 

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Agree with the general thoughts of hellah's....

With the price of tickets and the money these overpaid athletes receive I would have told them flat out that I was putting the baseballs out on the market and getting some return back.....

I can only hope that sometime down the road the Dean's are hard up for money and think back to the time when they pissed away an opportunity to have some they need now.....
 

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4 seats? wtf? how pathetically cheap.

And for Dean -- geeeezz, I knew Texans were dumb as stone, but this passes even my low expectations.
 

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Another dumb Houston Homer

I think this guy might be a poster here. Then again probally not much of a market for Chris Burke. Berkman might have gotten some money for it. I know Golden Palace would have bought them.
 
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The kid is 3 yrs old!!! It was his (DUMBASS!!!) dad who did it.

4 box seats and an invite to a f'ing workout???? Pathetic!!!

I wonder how many people have told the father that he's a f'ing IDIOT since then.....

Hell, in 10 years-the kid won't even remember the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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4 tickets isnt that much. But the ASTROS are giving them some "secret" gifts as well. These will be MUCH more valuable.


By the way, these home run balls would not have fetched much more than $500 each anyway in my opinion. Maybe $1000 for the Berkman ball
 

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playersonly69 said:
4 tickets isnt that much. But the ASTROS are giving them some "secret" gifts as well. These will be MUCH more valuable.


By the way, these home run balls would not have fetched much more than $500 each anyway in my opinion. Maybe $1000 for the Berkman ball

You can't say that...While I agree the balls are not that significant in a ny historical way, some goofball may fork up 10 to 20K in an auction....

Certainly worth more than the Astros gave him...maybe the parents didn't need the money.
 

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playersonly69 said:
4 tickets isnt that much. But the ASTROS are giving them some "secret" gifts as well. These will be MUCH more valuable.

Howdo you know the secret gifts will be worth more?

Could be Jeff Bagwell bobbleheads?

They should get season passes in 06
 

Rx. Senior
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I would imagine that the guy will say what the extra items are after this weekend.



Derrick Lee's bat flew into the stands this season and I ended up with it after it bounced around a bit. I sold it to a baseball card show dealer a weeks after getting 3 offers for it. Not that much money, but better than having it gather dust on the shelf at the time I thought
 

Rx. Senior
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Well back in my hometown. The FEMA $2000 and the Red Cross $1500 defintely helped out a bit.


USAA insurance adjusters will be at my property on Sunday to assess the damage. I just back into town yesterday. But we do have 2 trees in our den as I speak and we might have a problem with mold if we dont fix this soon. Fortunately it hasnt rained AT ALL since the storm so mold hasnt been that big of a problem as we speak, but the bad smells are tough to live with.

We might have to buy a new house if the insurance will be so generous!
 

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I might have just held onto them and framed them or something...or wait until Chris Burke is a stud or really good and is willing to throw down 10 G's for his ball.
 

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This guy doesn't know what he had in his hands....I would've given back for box seats for all 7 games of the series, flights to and from stl to houston, hotel accomodations, limo, and same for world series if my team made it. Then you have a deal!!! Oh yeah...free :drink: money as well (that might have made it a no-go!!)
 

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