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Jennifer Valdivia 12-Year-Old Sues Philadelphia Philles Over Ball

by Amy Judd | October 9, 2009 at 03:08 pm

211 views | 8 Recommendations | 4 comments

Jennifer Valdivia, a 12-year-old girl from Miami was attending her first Major League Baseball game with the Florida Marlins against the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-July 2009, when she caught a ball from the 200th home run of Ryan Howard.

Ryan Howard achieved this honor faster than any other player in Major League history, in his 658th career game, and he wanted the ball for himself.

So the Phillies club approached Jennifer to get the ball back, however she was so happy she had caught it, she didn't want to give it back.

"I was rubbing it in my brother's face," Jennifer later recalled. He'd been to many games before, but had never caught a homer ball. "I got a ball and you didn't," she teased.

Excitedly, Jennifer called her mom on the phone. "Mom, I got the ball!"

After this the Phillies said that if she handed over the ball to them at that time, after the game she could come back, meet Ryan Howard and he would autograph the ball for her. So Jennifer handed it over, they gave her cotton candy and a soda and went back to her seat.

After the game, she went to meet them but no one ever showed up. A security guard came by with a ball autographed by Howard, but it wasn't the same ball, it was a brand new one.

Jennifer's mother, Delfa Vanegas, heard about the incident after her daughter and her son returned home and said she shouldn't have given up the ball in the first place.

"What do you want me to do, Mom?" Jennifer said. "They were asking for the ball."

Delfra felt this was unfair so she contacted the Phillies and asked for the ball back. The Phillies sent her VIP tickets to the next game they played in Florida. However, Delfra wanted the ball back.

Usually when a fan catches a ball in the stands, they are allowed to keep it.

When Salvatore Durante snagged Roger Maris' 61st home-run ball -- the one that broke Babe Ruth's single season home-run record in 1961 -- his life changed forever.

Durante offered to give it to Maris, but the Yankees slugger declined. "He said: 'Keep the baseball and try to make some money with it,'" Durante once told the Baltimore Sun. He sold it for $5,000 -- what amounted to a year-and-a-half's salary for Durante.

Delfra's attorney decided to sue the Phillies for the ball and $15,000, and that's when it was returned. Jennifer now has it in a case and has no plans to sell it.

The Phillies have declined to comment on the matter.

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Sports Fan (not verified)

at 00:50 on October 11th, 2009

What a greedy girl and an even greedier mother. All they wanted was the $15,000 from suing the player. The sentimental value of the baseball is much higher with the player than a twelve year old girl. The value of the baseball is only that of the baseball itself, I feel pity for anyone who purchases it for more than that if this greedy girl later decides to sell it. This is a ridiculous story. The lawyer is clearly washed up and unprofessional, especially with his comment at the end of the video. He only took the story up for publicity. I hope this girl gets ridiculed at school for doing such a thing. Her parents should be ashamed.

allrise (not verified)

at 11:09 on October 11th, 2009

The people decide to take this case into AllRise community court, to finally decide who really deserve this ball? See what the people decided bit.ly/AllRise266

AllRise (not verified)

at 12:22 on October 11th, 2009

The Jennifer Valdivia VS. Philadelphia Phillies case is now online at the AllRise public court. Join the debate and cast your vote - bit.ly/AllRise266

Avery Powers (not verified)

at 18:40 on November 4th, 2009

That guy is why there are scum bag lawyer jokes. Howard wanted that ball for sentimental value. Her parents wanted it for money. She was more then happy to get to meet howard and go into the dugout and get a ball signed by Howard. This is just disgusting, I worked in baseball and it is very common for players to get their milestone balls (like 1st home run ball etc) and the team offers them something else as a trade, she got the same deal as 100's of others before her. Now she has his ball milestone ball, got to go to the dugout, meet Ryan Howard, and get a signed ball. They should make her parents pay for all that! They don't even offer those things, you can't buy them people would pay tens of thousands of dollars. They should be ashamed. And are setting a horrible example for their daughter.