26-03-2025
MLB's forgotten campaign against the ‘derelicts' who pocket foul balls
Countless fans will bring their gloves to Major League Baseball games this week, hoping to snag one of the most iconic of American souvenirs — a baseball.
But 100 years ago, doing so could land you in jail. Even if you were a kid.
That's what happened to 11-year-old Robert Cotter after he caught a ball in the bleachers at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl in July 1923. As he left the ballpark, police arrested the boy and hauled him to jail, where he spent the night. 'Authorities planned to make a test case out of the occurrence,' a news story reported at the time.
