UpSide Classic: Here is why you get to keep those foul balls from the Phillies games

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Daily News on July 6, 1998.

After more than 75 years, Bob Cotter finally got to go home from the ballpark with a souvenir. He didn’t have to shinny up a rainspout or outrun guards to get it, either.

That’s the way the 87-year-old great-grandfather used to do it — climb and run — as a kid growing up in the shadows of Baker Bowl, the old home of the Phillies at Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia.

But recently, the Phillies honored Cotter, and to explain why requires a little story.

One day back in the summer of ’29, when keeping a foul ball was a no-no, Bob “Toughie Reds” Cotter didn’t run fast enough. He was caught, arrested, and spent the night in jail.

And a part of baseball — the part about keeping foul balls — was never the same.

Toughie Reds' game plan wasn't so tough.

First he'd sneak into the game by climbing the rainspout on the ballpark's 15th Street side, then winding his way into the bleachers just beyond first base.

There he'd sit, one minute looking over his shoulder for the security guards to throw him out, the next hoping for a foul ball.

Back then team policy required fans to return foul balls. Most did. Among those who didn't were the ragamuffins who shinnied up the rainspout on 15th Street.

When they were lucky enough to catch a foul, the kids made a beeline for the exit, usually eluding security guards. Then they’d wait outside until the game was over and try to sell the ball for a quarter.

If they couldn't sell it, they'd take it home and use it in pickup games.

Cotter, a retired mail carrier, caught his share of fouls. Made his share of quarters, too.

But on July 18, 1922, 11-year-old Cotter nabbed his last foul ball.

As usual, he was in the bleachers along the right-field line, sitting with a crowd of milkmen, breadmen, and icemen who always spent their Wednesdays off at the ballpark.

Anyhow, here comes a foul ball. Cotter nabbed it and . . . .

“I started running up the steps to get out,” recalled Cotter. “I looked up and saw a red cap [guard] coming toward me. I turned around to run the other way, and there was another one standing behind me.”

Cotter spent the night in the House of Correction.

The next morning he appeared before a judge who chastised the Phillies organization, noting the youngster was “following his most natural instincts.”

“It is a thing I would do myself,” said the judge.

Shortly afterward, the Phillies instituted a new policy allowing fans to keep foul balls. One by one, other teams followed suit.

Cotter never caught another foul. He never snuck into another game, either.

Earlier this season, after hearing the story from Cotter's granddaughter, Kelly Clark, the Phillies made amends.

The team invited Cotter, a father of six who lived most of his life in Logan, and his family to be its guest at a Phillies game.

After 76 years, “Toughie Reds” Cotter left a game with a baseball. Actually, two baseballs.

One was signed by the Phillies team. The other by Phillies Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts.

They were his to keep.

He didn’t have to look over his shoulder, either.