When Ely Hydes woke up on Thursday morning, he had no idea what was in store for him through the day ahead of him.
In case you have not heard, Hydes is the Detroit Tigers‘ fan who caught Albert Pujols‘ 2000th RBI ball during Thursday’s game between the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels. Rather than exchanging the ball for memorabilia and a meet and greet with Pujols, Hydes made the decision to keep the ball.
100% in support of Ely Hydes.
His souvenir. His decision.
No one is entitled to it just because it's a big, round number. pic.twitter.com/EKsGmR1h1I
— Paul, baseball fan (@BravesStats) May 10, 2019
Balls hit into the stands become the property of the person who catches it, so Hydes deciding to keep the ball was 100% his right.
On Friday, Hydes took to Facebook to give a little bit of insight into what exactly unfolded after he caught the ball and to call out the Ilitch family (especially Chris Ilitch) and Kyle Bogenschutz (Bogey) of 97.1 The Ticket.
*We are bleeping out words but feel free to see Hydes actually wording in the Tweet from Tony Paul.
“Holy [BLEEP]. Ok. You all win. I’ll post my first social media update in 5 years. First, yesterday was surreal. I considered it an honor to catch Pujols’s ball and tried to act all day with the honor I thought it obligated me to.
Couple answers to questions I’ve been getting. When I was yelling “Anne Frank!” It was in response to everyone from the media and the stadium telling me NOT to let ANYONE touch or hold the ball. I thought it was obvious, but perhaps I’m just a nerd for history. I say, “Watson and Crick (And Rosalind Franklin!)” and you say “DNA.” I say “Neil Armstrong” and you say “one small step for man…” I say “Anne Frank” and you say “people are truly good at heart.” People were so cynical over the ball that I felt compelled to let every person and their monkey’s uncle pose with the ball and hold it. The ball is right here on my coffee table. Anne Frank wins. Now go vote.
Second. I am not rich. I am a broke-ass law student. I did not do this out of any sort of “entitlement.” Anne Frank, ya’ll. I had the best of intentions. This ball will most likely end up in the hall of fame. I’m sorry if no one can “authenticate” it, but the only reason I ended up with it is because Tigers management treated me so terribly.
Number 3 and this is the big one: [BLEEP] (F___for any news media that want to quote me) The Ilitches–the living ones of the younger generation. They have ruined the damned game. They are greed incarnate. Their people treated me like garbage. I had to physically put money into their ushers’ pockets because no one in Comerica is allowed to take tips. They charge 11 bucks for a beer now. They share zero profits with the city. They own most of my goddamn neighborhood–and thanks to bryant gumbel, I now know they have owned it for years and let it fall into blight in order to use that as leverage to get hundreds of millions of dollars from a city of the poorest people in America in the middle of filing for bankruptcy. Hey Chris Ilitch: [BLEEP] YOU. You are scum.
One more thing: everyone yesterday was cool as hell. Special shoutout to the dude from the Detroit News–you were the coolest guy all day. Shout out to Dennis Fithian and Jeff Riger–you guys were exactly as cool as I was hoping. I’ve listened to y’ll for years and gave you shoutouts all day. I quoted “Quentin Berry” as my favorite tiger and told Caputo to suck it, lol. What a great day.
Which brings me to my last point. Everyone was so great with one exception: Kyle Bogenschutz (Bogey). Talking to Kyle on the phone for the interview, it became apparent very quickly that it was a hostile interview. Kyle is a terrible human being. I get that now. It was nothing major he did. He is just a dishonest scumbag who treated me like Tigers staff did. Kyle– [BLEEP] YOU. My favorite part was when he called me a liar for having the audacity to say I wanted to give the ball to my son AND daughter AND brother. Oooh. Gotchya journalism at its finest. Or this: in the moment I wanted to be everything to everybody, and I don’t know the gender of my baby who will be born in a week. Bogey is a degenerate prick, plain and simple. And so are the Ilitches.
Other than that, I’m glad it happened to me. I’m glad the ball stays in detroit and doesn’t have to go to chokeland county. Oh, and I love being called a hipster 30,000 times all over the media. I love reading negative print, but as the OG hipster destroyer, that one hurts a bit. Keep it up, ya’ll. And keep watching baseball. And overtipping. And giving hugs. And being pedantic and self-righteous.
PS–I have actually never just dropped “anne frank” into a conversation before. And special shoutout to my two brothers for dealing with pricks all day.
PSS–a big thank you to Albert Pujols. I’ve heard your comments since the game and I 100% agree. You’re a class act. You wouldn’t pay me a penny for the ball and I wouldn’t take a penny. I’d be more likely to give it up over Beers in LA.”
#Tigers fan Ely Hydes posted to Facebook for the first time in five years today, to discuss his experience yesterday — and to expand on why he kept Albert Pujols' ball. It's quite entertaining, while perhaps a bit vulgar. pic.twitter.com/BmpyrSm2JB
— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) May 10, 2019
