Gimme My Ball Back!

The Olde Towne Team has yet ANOTHER problem... and this one is big! The Sox are now going into litigation in order to keep the baseball that was used to get the final out of the 2004 World Series when Edgar Renteria (yep, that Edgar Renteria), then of the St. Louis Cardinals, hit a chopper up the middle that was snagged by Keith Foulke, and flipped to first baseman Doug Meintkiewicz to give the Sox their first title in 86 years.

On November 30th, lawyers for the Red Sox filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court seeking "permanent possession" of the ball.

In an interview with Boston.com, Lucinda Treat, lead council for the Red Sox, stated that ''... it is very important that an artifact with this much history -- it was 86 years in the making -- be part of the club archive and be available for fans to experience."

When the Sox brass should be worrying a bit more about the 2006 edition of the Boston Red Sox (like, ummm.... hiring a GM maybe???), John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and the rest of the gang have decided to go after Meintkiewicz in order to attempt to keep the ball and make it part of Red Sox history forever.

But Bostonist can't help but wonder if the Red Sox organization is spending resources in the wrong manner. Bostonist is sure that it would rather see the Sox squaring away issues like who is going to play first base and third base next year, and who the centerfielder will be, bullpen issues, etc. But then again, what would another winter day be without the Sox in the news? Isn't that the way it always is around these parts, whether it’s December or the dog days of August, or spring training, or October?

Bostonist will have to wait and see if this ball becomes property of the Sox, or if Doug Meintkiewicz, the self-proclaimed "baseball buff" is able to re-coop "his property".

Photo courtesy of Boston Globe.