12-Year-Old Gets Home Run Ball Back from Phillies

Any student taking basic contract law learns that one makes agreements with minors at their peril, as the minor has the right to disaffirm the contract since it is presumed that the person lacks the capacity to understand the nature and consequences of his/her actions. The Philadelphia Phillies were reminded of this old rule this week, as they decided to return Ryan Howard's 200th career home run ball to the 12-year old girl who caught it two and a half months ago. Click here for more.

Jennifer Valdivia wanted to keep the ball. However, Howard wanted the ball because it represented a record: He was the fastest player to achieve the milestone in league history. According to press reports, after catching the ball, Jennifer was escorted alone to the Phillies clubhouse, where they "talked her" into exchanging it for an autographed baseball. She did, but realizing afterwards that the home run ball could be valuable (and certainly more historic), she sought rescission of the agreement. Ultimately, she sued and the team returned the call that very day the lawsuit was filed. I, like others, probably wonder why the team officials escorted her alone. Had a parent or guardian been with her, the trade would be like valid and Howard would get his ball.

Although the "infancy rules" are filled with exceptions under rules, they still have validity, as can be seen in this case. [A great in-class example for the professors in the group -- if anyone has a link to the complaint, it would be interesting reading]

Why I hate the wildcard in baseball (a biennial reprise)

There is much celebrating this morning (at least outside of Michigan) of last night's amazing one-game playoff game between the Tigers and Minnesota Twins for the AL Central Division title, a 12-inning featuring three comebacks, which the Twins finally won 6-5. So let me play the curmudgeon here.

Two years ago, journalist Robert Weintraub wrote about the 1993 pennant race between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants and said "The drama of late-season baseball has been transferred from occasional but memorable all-or-nothing contests between great teams, to annual lower-stakes games between the good-to-mediocre." He blamed the wild-card system, adopted in 1995, because any do-or-die, win-or-go-home contests to win a division or wild card occur only among lesser teams, not among the top teams. I wrote in whole-hearted agreement, using the 2007 season as a perfect example.

Well, this year bears my argument out once again. Yes, last night was a great game and it was an exciting race. But it was between two teams that finished the 162-game schedule with 86 wins--fifth-most in the league entering last night's game. None of the top teams in the American League (the 103-win Yankees, 97-win Angels, or 95-win Red Sox) had any pressure at the end of the season--all were play-off bound, just as the top teams will be every year. The only other division "race" was in the National League West, where, entering Saturday's game, the Dodgers (93 wins--most in the NL) lead the Rockies (92 wins, tied at the time for second-most prior to Saturday) by a game and were playing each other, ostensibly for the division title. But the Rockies already had the wild card won and were play-off bound, since they had the second-best record in the whole league, so they had no pressure and no real incentive to catch the Dodgers and win the division.

Two years ago, I criticized the incentive structure this creates:

A wild-card system values having lot of teams in the play-off hunt and more times with post-season hopes later in the season, with a lot of win-or-else games. But it achieves that at the expense of having the best teams playing those win-or-else games. This is sound as a business decision--more fans in more cities will come out or watch in that final weekend, knowing their teams still are alive.

But as a baseball decision, it stinks that there is no chance to showcase the best teams in these high-stakes games, at least as part of a regular season that is long enough (162 games over six months) to create a meaningful competition. So while that was a great game last night, wouldn't it be nice to have a game like that played between two great teams?

Thanks for listening. Odds are, I will be back with a similar post in 2011.

Ted Williams' Frozen Head Used as Batting Practice?

Disturbing story this week from Nathaniel Vinton of the New York Daily News about what's allegedly been going on with the frozen head of Ted Williams, who upon dying in 2002 of cardiac arrest had his head, but not rest of his body, frozen in hopes that one day science will be able to bring him back to life. Vinton's story is excerpted below.

* * *

Workers at an Arizona cryonics facility mutilated the frozen head of baseball legend Ted Williams - even using it for a bizarre batting practice, a new tell-all book claims.

In "Frozen," Larry Johnson, a former exec at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., graphically describes how The Splendid Splinter" was beheaded, his head frozen and repeatedly abused.

The book, out Tuesday from Vanguard Press, tells how Williams' corpse became "Alcorian A-1949" at the facility, where bodies are kept suspended in liquid nitrogen in case future generations learn how to revive them.

Johnson writes that in July 2002, shortly after the Red Sox slugger died at age 83, technicians with no medical certification gleefully photographed and used crude equipment to decapitate the majors' last .400 hitter.

Williams' severed head was then frozen, and even used for batting practice by a technician trying to dislodge it from a tuna fish can.

* * *

The book describes other atrocities at Alcor's facility in Arizona, including the dismembering of live dogs that were injected with chemicals in experiments, and a situation in which human blood and toxic chemicals were dumped into a parking lot sewer drain.

* * *

In fairness to Alcor, the company vehemently denies Johnson's allegations, which have no doubt generated a great deal of interest in Johnson's soon-to-be-released book.

Assuming, however, that Johnson is telling the truth, Alcor and its staff might be in some trouble. Although commentators have written that cyronics--the preservation of legally dead humans or pets at very low temperatures (about -200 degrees Fahrenheit)--is largely unregulated, it's a crime in Arizona to intentionally mutilate a corpse. Then again, and not to be glib, I'm not sure if a frozen head, particularly when detached from the body, counts as a corpse. Tort law may also provide a remedy through intentional infliction of emotional distress, which has been used for recovery of wrongful treatment of corpses.

It's unclear if Major League Baseball or the Major League Baseball Players' Association will weigh on the topic, though presumably they have some stake in preserving the dignity of Williams and his body.

National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School Sypomsium

Marquette Law Professor Paul Anderson passes along information about the National Sports Law Institute's annual conference this year -- it looks to be a great event:

* * *

On Friday, October 23, 2009, the National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School will host a conference on The Evolution of Sports Law and Business from the 20th to the 21st Century at the Alumni Memorial Union on the Marquette campus.

The conference will include panels focusing on Olympic/international, professional, college, and high school sports, as well as a “catch-all” panel that will focus on gender equity, tort law, and sports officiating. Panelists will discuss significant legal and business developments in the sports industry from founding of the NSLI in 1989 to the present, with a look ahead to our 25th anniversary. Speakers include John S. Black, General Counsel, National Federation of State High School Associations; Mary K. Braza, Partner, Chair, Sports Industry Team, and Member, Management Committee, Foley & Lardner LLP; Elsa Kircher Cole, Vice President of Legal Affairs/General Counsel, National Collegiate Athletic Association; Martin J. Greenberg, Managing Partner, Greenberg & Hoeschen, LLC, and Member, Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District; Gary Johansen, Associate General Cou nsel, NGB Governance and Athlete Affairs, United States Olympic Committee; Jim McKeown, Partner, Chair, Antitrust Practice Group, Foley & Lardner LLP; and Irwin P. Raij, Partner, Regulatory Industries Department, Vice Chair, Sports Industry Team, and Member, Government and Public Policy and Real Estate Practices Teams, Foley & Lardner.

The conference is from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm on Friday, October 23rd. Complete details of the conference, including conference panels and participants, registration costs and forms, the official conference hotel, and conference sponsors, are available on the web at http:/ /law.marquette.edu/jw/2009conf.

* * *

Legal Issues in the Americn Olympic Movement Symposium at University of Baltimore School of Law

Professor Dionne Koller passes along info about what looks to be a terrific symposium on Thursday, Oct. 29th at the University of Baltimore School of Law:

* * *

What should America's Olympic goals be? How should we – and can we – accommodate diversity in the Olympic movement? How does the United States Olympic Committee resolve athlete disputes and deal with allegations of illegal doping?

Join the University of Baltimore's Center for Sport and the Law for its inaugural amateur sports symposium on Thursday, October 29. From Doping to Diversity: Legal Issues in the American Olympic Movement will explore a wide range of topics including those above. Panelists for the day-long event include: Bob Bowman, head coach and CEO of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club; Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency; and Deedee Corradini, president of U.S. Women's Ski Jumping and former mayor of Salt Lake City. A morning keynote address will be delivered by Doug Logan, current CEO of USA Track & Field and former commissioner, president and CEO of Major League Soccer.

For information about the day's events, please visit the agenda page (at right). This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested by October 23, 2009. To register online, visit the online registration page. For more information or if you prefer to register by phone, please call 410.837.4468.

* * *

Stealing signs and breaking the law

Dave Hoffman at Concurring Opinions offers some thoughts about players stealing signs and what it tells us about the rule of law. The video of the latest controversy, involving Joe Mauer of the Twins, is below.

I mostly agree with Dave's comments. I would add that there is, and always has been, a "frontier justice" element in baseball that umpires (the formal law) have largely been powerless to regulate.

Big Win for NHL as Judge Rejects Balsillie Bid for Coyotes

Opening Night for the NHL's new season just became a more festive occasion as bankruptcy judge Redfield Baum rejected Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie $242 million bid for the Phoenix Coyotes, concluding that it would interfere with the league's relocation rights and procedures. As many know, Balsillie sought to move the ailing team to Hamilton, Ontario, causing consternation to both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres and to the league itself. "In the final analysis, the court cannot find or conclude that the interests of the NHL can be adequately protected if the Coyotes are moved to Hamilton without first having a final decision regarding the claimed rights of the NHL and the claims of the debtors and (Balsillie)," he ruled.

There was no love lost between the league and Balsillie, as the NHL Board of Governor rejected his application for ownership by a 26-0 vote in July. Click here for more. But what was particularly sweet was the fact that the judge dismissed the bid "with prejudice" so that Balsillie cannot rebid. He is out of the running for the team and accepted the result in a public statement.

However, it was not a complete victory for the NHL. Judge Baum rejected the NHL's bid of $140 million because it failed to satisfy two important unsecured creditors, owner Jerry Moyes and former head coach Wayne Gretzky.

I have not read the 28-page opinion as of yet, but based on the media reports, this is a victory for league governance. To have a candidate take control of a team by judicial fiat, despite the strong feelings of the league and its owners, would greatly weaken the traditional control sports leagues have over admissions, relocations and sales of franchises.

I suspect that the league will attempt to find a new bidder (or maybe get Jerry Reinsdorf to make another bid) or will have to bid a higher amount to take control of the team during its period of uncertainty. The NHL could well live with both of these alternatives.