Ah, yes. The old switcheroo.
The bait-and-switch is a mainstay of old ballpark cons, but one young ball boy wet his feet in the art at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
The incident occurred in the bottom of the fifth when Derek Jeter, playing in the final home game of his career, pulled a foul ball down the left field line. Acting quickly, the ball boy scooped up the ricocheting article and turned to face a wall of frantic humanity.
Hundreds of people in his immediate vicinity cried for a souvenir, and he gave it to them, after a fashion. NextImpulseSports.com’s Andrew Doughty brings us a GIF of the dubious exchange.
Keeping Jeter’s ball in his glove, the young man reached in his back pocket and grabbed a dummy ball, which he handed out to a lucky member of the crowd.
It was an obvious (if not shameless) switch, but one can hardly blame him, given the circumstances.
Considering every person at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night would’ve given a pound of flesh for a ball graced by Jeter during his final home game, it’s difficult to blame a kid for doing what it takes to get his.
Well done, kid. Here’s to hoping you don’t get canned.
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