Since it's Hy's property, obtained in a legal manner, it is unfair for Coghlan to ask for it back. It was never Coghlan's property. It ceased to be major league baseball property once it hit the stands. I've seen this opinion thrown around a lot in this thread. I've also seen a lot of "it's the property of MLB". So unless someone has definitive proof of either side, I'm not sure how it can be used in any argument. The stands are still the property of the team, and before it's put into play, the ball is the property of the team/MLB. I don't quite understand how a home run/foul ball is some magical change of ownership when the fan is still on the property of the team. On the other hand, those that caught the milestone homers that we've seen in the past few years were getting a lot of money for them. Is it because they are the true owners or because MLB isn't concerned with getting into a trial about it and possibly alienating fans? Point is, using this argument takes the discussion nowhere since everyone seems to disagree about it.