Immediately after the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series, a mysterious man in a trench coat walked onto the field as the team celebrated and convinced one of the players to hand over the game ball.
Most viewers never noticed because the TV coverage didn't happen to show him, but we found video of the mystery man online that a fan recorded from the stands at Citi Field in New York. The man who took the historic ball turned out to be an authenticator for Major League Baseball.
"MLB policy has been they immediately tag the ball so they know it's the last out ball and it goes back into possession of the player that recorded the out," said Curt Nelson, director of the Royals Hall of Fame. "It's the last out baseball that made you World Series Champions, so it's a pretty special baseball."
That ball from Game 5 of the World Series is now on display in the Royals Hall of Fame out past left field at Kauffman Stadium. Royals closer Wade Davis pitched that ball to catcher Drew Butera who caught for a called strike three to end the game.
Butera told 41 Action News he didn't know who the man was when he asked him for the ball right after the World Series ended.
"I just didn't know what he wanted," Butera said, "You know, he grabbed me and said he wanted the ball and I was like, 'Wait, what? No.'"
After the authenticator tagged the ball, he gave it back to Butera as he continued to celebrate. Butera held onto the ball even though someone later offered him $25,000 for it.
"I kept it for a while in the offseason and when we came back for RoyalsFanFest, I gave it to the team and they put it in the Royals Hall of Fame," said Butera.
He thought about keeping the ball for his children and grandchildren, but Butera decided every kid should see it.
"It doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the team, it belongs to the fans and the city," Butera said.
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Patrick Fazio can be reached at patrick.fazio@kshb.com .
