K.C. Royals fan sues team, claims ownership of 3,000th home run ball

A Royals fan has “filed a suit” against the team, “seeking ownership” of the 3,000th home run baseball hit at Kauffman Stadium in May — a ball he claims he retrieved but was “taken from him,” according to Monty Davis of the K.C. STAR. The lawsuit alleges the ball — hit by Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr. into a left field water fountain — was retrieved by Michael Liberty Jr. “without entering the fountain.” However, the lawsuit alleges Liberty “had the ball taken from him” and he was “escorted out of the stadium by off-duty police officers.” Liberty values the ball at “more than $30,000.” Liberty alleges that he “leaned over a fence without leaving the ground and scooped the ball into his hat without touching the water.” Kauffman Stadium’s policy states that “people who enter a fountain will be immediately arrested, ‘transported to the police station downtown and charged to the fullest extent of the law.’” The Royals “declined to comment on pending litigation” (K.C. STAR, 9/28).