Decisions, decisions. Chris Kopp shuffled up in the concession line, looking at his options. Once at the counter, he resolved to make the June 6 Milwaukee Brewers game against the Chicago Cubs one to remember.

He ponied up and purchased the collectible plastic cup for his soft drink, featuring the throwback Brewers colors. Souvenir gained, mission accomplished.

Once emptied, he tucked it under his seat in Section 104 so he wouldn't forget.

The next day, in Section 105, 11-year-old Matthew Boston couldn't believe the good fortune he found in his concession purchase.

The Cubs fan from Skokie, Ill., was enjoying the afternoon and a bag of peanuts with his stepfather Rusty Silber, when he discovered in his small handful the highly coveted three-nut peanut.

You can't find two more common, simpler joys at a ball game than a cup and a peanut, but Kopp and Boston would later experience a delight few ever do.

Behind the milestone

Up in the Miller Park press box, Milwaukee Brewers Director of Media Relations Mike Vassallo begins every game well aware of which player is awaiting his first home run, or is on the verge of another milestone.

Once the ball leaves the yard, Vassallo begins the process of making sure it returns.

As the ball makes its way out, Vassallo breaks out the binoculars and uses television replays to see who caught it. Once the fan is identified, he will radio to members of the stadium operations staff to find the fan and secure them and the ball as quickly as possible.

That's the key part – getting the ball in hand before it can be swapped out with another or lost, or before the fan moves out the area.

At that point, a member of stadium operations will inform the fan the player would like the ball, and if they would be amenable to meeting him and trading it out for an autograph. If the fan obliges, they can finish watching the game from their seats but then are immediately taken down below Miller Park.

Vassallo hustles out of the press box and beelines to the service level, arriving just as the fan and stadium ops do. He has already been told what, if anything, the fan has asked for in return of the ball.

"The best ones are the ones that go into the bullpen," Vassallo admitted. "(Martin) Maldanado hit it right into our bullpen and I'm like 'yes.' Those are the best ones because I know I'm not going to have to negotiate with (bullpen catcher) Marcus Hanel or one of our relievers."

In the case of a player's first big-league home run, the negotiation often concludes with a meeting between the player and fan and an autograph, creating a positive, memorable experience for all involved.

"I just signed a bat for somebody, gave him some tickets," said Nyjer Morgan, who hit his first home run off Arizona Diamondbacks starter Doug Davis in Pittsburgh in 2007. "That's very rare (to be held up by a fan). It's somebody's first hit, first home run, why would you want to do that? That's kind of evil, I think. Just give it back. You'll always remember it."

The players admit the fan gets more out of the interaction than they do, but the fan's attitude leaves an impression.

"It's cool to see that person being generous enough to make that trade, so it's definitely cool when the fan understands it means so much more to the player because that's one thing we're going to keep forever," said Brewers catcher George Kottaras, who vividly recalls how nice the fan was who caught his first home run as a member of the Boston Red Sox three years ago.

The experience turns if the fan begins to demand memorabilia from the player's teammates – which could happen at any point until the ball is turned over. Vassallo quickly negotiates while also trying to avoid escalation to a hostile point.

"I go back to the player and have to explain it to him, and ask him how important it is for him to get the ball back," Vassallo said of those instances. "And if he really wants it, then we do our best to negotiate with the person. But if they don't care, then I go back to the fan, alright, keep it."

A real souvenir

"Oh my God," Kopp said as Vassallo led him into a tiny foyer that leads into the Brewers clubhouse.

Inside, something beyond Kopp's imagination was realized.

On June 6, the Wauwatosa resident found himself staring down a baseball that arrived so quickly he didn't have time to react to it. As it clanged around the seats next to him, Taylor Green was rounding the bases for his first major league home run, a shot off Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol in the bottom of the eighth inning in an eventual 8-0 Brewers win.

Kopp retrieved the ball, and shortly thereafter was escorted by stadium operations into the bowels of Miller Park.

"I knew I wanted him to have it, without a doubt," Kopp said of the ball. "What it could mean to just any fan saying,' yeah, I have this ball,' but what it means to him is so much more."

His instincts were right – Green lit up when he saw the ball. Despite not asking for anything other than to hand it to Green himself, Kopp walked away with a signed bat.

"For Taylor to go out and get me a bat on his own and to even think to sign it, that was just great on his part," Kopp said. "That's something I'm going to keep. That's never going to be on eBay or in anybody else's hands. What he did there was create something super special for me that I can have forever and cherish just like he can cherish that ball. That was just incredible."

The 26-year-old's demeanor and sincerity made an impression, both on Green and the Brewers. Kopp landed four more tickets to an upcoming game in what Vassallo termed one of his most enjoyable home run interactions.

"He's a great guy," Green said of Kopp. "I really appreciate him giving it back to me. I'd have never done it before, so I didn't know (how he'd be). You've heard stories but I've never been a part of anything like that. I haven't been around for too many first home runs in the big leagues. You don't really do that in the minors. I figured if I caught a ball I wouldn't ask for anything but I'd want something, so I figured that would be the easiest way to go."

Kopp said his head was spinning the rest of that night, and into the next day as friends, co-workers and media buzzed about his good luck. Once things settled down, he realized something.

He forgot the cup.

Three's a charm

The next day, in the bottom of the fourth inning in an eventual 4-3 Brewers victory, Norichika Aoki set a ball off Cubs starter Matt Garza looping over the right field fence and into the picnic area. The ball took one carom off the concrete and into Section 105, where Silber caught it on the fly.

The Cubs fans around them chanted for him to throw it back, but he turned and it handed to Matthew.

While Aoki had already hit his first homer in the major leagues, it was an inside-the-park job. This was his first over the fence, and Vassallo and his team moved into action for the second straight night. When they approached the pair, like Kopp, they agreed to turn it over.

"I just wanted have him have the experience, the chance to go someplace he's never gone before," Silber said of his step son.

Their wait was a bit longer than Kopp's however, as Aoki also hit the game-winning home run and had to meet several media obligations while also having to clean up a bit from the shaving cream to the face he received by his teammates.

As they waited, Boston kept a keen eye on the clubhouse doors, squeezing the ball, hoping to see Ryan Braun come out.

"I've never had this experience before. I really love it," Boston said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yeah."

Soon, he was ushered into the foyer where they received a bat and a ball from Aoki. Boston smiled, remembering his good luck from the inning just before Aoki's homer.

"There were three peanuts in there," he said of his find. "I said 'That is lucky.'"

Memories made

Behind the scenes, the process of securing a significant home run ball is old hat for a Major League Baseball team's operations staff. They know where to go, how to handle the situation, and usually, what to expect.

On the field, a first home run is usually a box score liner note that becomes very tangible for the player and the fan. Words can't duly capture the smiles that spread across the faces of Morgan, Kottares, Green and Aoki when talking about it. The same can be said for young Matthew Boston and Chris Kopp.

It's a calculated, coordinated process to bring the two together, and when it works, it's something no one forgets.