Mookie Betts Catches a Ball
Following our class discussion of Popov, consider the following hypothetical:
Suppose Mookie Betts, the Right Fielder of the Los Angeles Dodgers, catches a fly ball for the third out of an inning. As he trots to the dugout, he sees a cute kid gesturing toward him. Mookie points to the kid and tosses the ball in his direction. Unfortunately, the kid's uncle is a law prof named Finkelman, who has taught the youngster "the Finkelman Approach"[TM] to catching a ball (ooops). The kid drops the ball, and the guy sitting next to him, Harvey Grutz, picks the ball up and puts it in his pocket.
Who is entitled to the ball--the kid or Grutz? What is your reasoning?
