The title banner of the Red Sox Division drops off the truck; his return may cost them

The Red Sox know a thing or two about high stakes negotiations – with free agents or sponsoring partners.

But now they have to deal with Louie Iacuzzi, a 44-year-old Malden resident who, along with two friends, has taken possession of the 2018 division championship banner that the team plans to unveil at Fenway Park if they win the title AL East. .

Iacuzzi said Wednesday by phone that he and his friends spotted a packed object on McGrath Highway in Somerville Monday morning. Then he stopped and crossed several lanes to retrieve it. Inside was a huge banner that read "Champions of the 2018 American League; it's the banner, "Iacuzzi said.

Now he and his mates want to make sure the Sox recover the flag in time to hoist to Fenway if they capture the East crown. But do not think that Iacuzzi will just serve you as a fast bullet training ball.

"We want to give it back, we try to do the right thing, but I will not just tell them, know what I mean," said Iacuzzi.

When asked if he wanted to receive Red Sox money, he replied, "Yes, [compensation], maybe tickets, we want something. We do not know what we want. We want to return it 100%, but we would like something.

Iacuzzi had no specific selling price in mind Wednesday morning.

"We want to know what it's worth," he said. "We do not know."

Iacuzzi and his friends chatted with a team representative on Tuesday night and were waiting to hear from Sox on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Red Sox simply stated that "we are aware of a missing banner from the possession of a panel seller". She did not immediately respond to an inquiry asking if the Sox had spoken with Iacuzzi or if for the banner

The team told The Associated Press that the banner had apparently fallen off a vendor's delivery truck. John Henry, the main owner of the Red Sox, also owns the Boston Globe.

"My dad told me to put it on e-bay and sell it for a lot of money," Iacuzzi said. "But I want to give it to the original owner."

Iacuzzi, who works at a convenience store in East Boston, also explained why he was out of his car on a busy road to pick up an unknown object in a traffic lane.

"It was so big on the street," said Iacuzzi. "It's finished, it must be something. One car rolled on, another car turned around her. [I thought] "I'm going to have this."

It was not without risk.

"I went through [expletive] like three cars, "he said.

The Sox only need a win against the Yankees to win the title of the American League East. They lost the opening game of their series against the Yanks Tuesday night by a score of 3-2, but hope the starter David Price will be able to launch a new jewel Wednesday on the road to victory in the Bronx.

Peter Abraham, staff member of the Globe, contributed to this report. Travis Andersen can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.