How Can You Loan a Ball You Shouldn't Even Own?

Maybe I'm completely wrong on this one and if so, I stand ready to be corrected.

But frankly, I don't see how Doug Mientkiewicz can legitimately hold onto a baseball that stayed on the field of play in Game Seven of the 2004 World Series. Under those circumstances, it seems to me that the ball should still be the possession of Major League Baseball.

But about the same time his trade from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Mets was announced, it was also revealed that Mientkiewicz is planning to "loan" the ball he scooped up on the last play of Red Sox World Series win to his former team. The loan will last a year, he says.

What do you bet the BoSox will try to find a way to keep the thing, especially if they fail to repeat as World Series champions this year?

If the Red Sox don't win in 2005, the value of the curse-beating baseball will be enhanced. But two consecutive Series championships could turn winning into such a ho-hum affair in Boston, that people wouldn't care to see Mientkiewicz's souvenir.