Moss homer kidnapped at Kauffman to be returned

Brandon Moss won’t have to go shopping for high-tech gadgets after all.

Apple is picking up the pricy tab for the Indians slugger to buy back his 100th career home run ball, which was held captive by his own teammates.

Moss hit his milestone homer in the top of the fourth inning of an eventual 2-1 victory over the Royals in Kansas City on June 2. The solo home run, which tied the game at 1-1, travelled 398 feet before landing in the visitor’s bullpen at Kauffman Stadium.

Following the game, Moss received an itemized list — scribbled on a sheet of paper — from members of Cleveland’s bullpen, who looked to cash in on their lucky find by getting some trendy Apple products.

A few days after Moss received the “ransom note” from Cleveland’s relievers and catchers, who were holding the ball and asking for iPads, iPhones and watches, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced his company will provide the items.

The note was signed at the bottom, “You get the ball when we get these items!”

On Monday at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Cook said that the company would assist Moss and deliver the trendy gifts. An Indians spokesman said an Apple representative came to Cleveland on Friday to retrieve the ball, which Moss held up at the conference as a photo of the bullpen’s demands was shown on a screen behind him.

It is not yet known when the members of the Cleveland bullpen will get their gifts.

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Moss homer kidnapped at Kauffman to be returned."