Apple CEO says company paying Indians' bullpen 'ransom'

CLEVELAND (AP) Brandon Moss won't have to go shopping and buy high-tech gadgets for his teammates after all.

Apple is picking up the pricy tab for the Indians slugger to buy back his 100th career home run ball.

A few days after Moss was sent a ''ransom note'' from members of Cleveland's bullpen, who were holding the ball and asking for iPads, iPhones and watches, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced his company will provide the items.

Moss hit his milestone homer last week in Kansas City, the ball landing in the visitor's bullpen at Kauffman Stadium. Following the game, Moss received an itemized list - scribbled on a sheet of paper - from Cleveland's relievers and catchers, who looked to cash in on their lucky find by getting some trendy Apple products.

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

On Monday, Cook said at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco 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's not yet known when the pitcher and bullpen catchers will get their gifts.