Bartman Ball Auction (Merged Threads)

[Wolf Hopper]

http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/news/2003/1111/1659622.html

As much as I like and respect Seth Swirsky - and I do! - I hope he's careful on this. How can one really be sure that the ball is the ball?

MastroNet, a sports auction house based in Oak Brook, Ill., claims it has the ball. The company researched the authenticity via reviews of affidavits from the owner and his friends, ticket stubs and photographs from the incident that took place during the eighth inning of Game Six of the NLCS.


Why not look at the video? Affidavits from an attorney who claimed he caught the ball? There's a joke in there somewhere.

[TimmyB]

Funny, too -- do they think Cubs' fans are gonna fall over themselves for this thing?

"This ball is now part of Cubs history," said Brian Marren, MastroNet's vice president of acquisitions. "When items like this go up for auction, it never surprises me the amount of people that are interested."

Ridiculous. Does the botched double-play ball from later that inning go up for auction next month?

[Wolf Hopper]

Now, that might be worth something!

[RichG]

Funny, too -- do they think Cubs' fans are gonna fall over themselves for this thing?

Maybe they're after the Marlin fans ;)

[TimmyB]

Maybe they're after the Marlin fans ;)
It sure won't be Bill Murray... :D

[tyruschen]

The ball dropped from Steve Bartman's hand in NLCS Game 6 sold today.
Price:$106,600
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-baseballauction&prov=ap&type=lgns

[gyb13]

i can think of 106,600 better things to do with that much money.

and there's no guarantee that it's the same ball.

[Skip]

And for all the heck Bartman continues to go through, he doesn't even see one cent of the money.

[jvonbokel]

And for all the heck Bartman continues to go through, he doesn't even see one cent of the money.

Wow, that's a good point that hadn't even occurred to me.

Btw, supposedly it's authenticity is guaranteed by signed affidavits and ticket stubs from the guy that caught it and 3 other people seated in that area that witnessed him catching it. And actually, there's even a way to tell (with some certainty) that he didn't just swap it with some other ball, because I'm pretty sure all balls used in the playoffs have a certain mark on them.

Here's the ESPN article about it, which includes an interesting table comparing the selling prices of several famous baseballs:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1689926

[Craig S.]

They paid approximately $100K more than the ball is worth, in my opinion. A milestone home run ball I can at least understand, but this?

[gyb13]

maybe he's a cards fan interested in prolonging the curse of the billy goat

[rcartman28]

Turns out it was bought by Harry Carey's Restaraunt with plans to destroy the ball in February...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1689926

[gyb13]

if they're swimming in that much money, why don't they give out free meals to the homeless over the winter instead?

[LeGrandOrange]

Well, at least they're getting rid of the thing. And, for certain, that's one way to get rid of a curse. :) (Or just to exorcise a demon)

But 106K is...well...that's a bit much.

[Craig S.]

if they're swimming in that much money, why don't they give out free meals to the homeless over the winter instead?

Because, sadly, people never think that practically.

Besides, destroying that ball will likely get them more publicity than would helping others.

[Rajah]

Harry Caray's is taking suggestions on how exactly the ball should be destroyed from fans. the ball will be destroyed as part of a toast to Harry Caray/ceremony to honor the memory of Harry.

So, how should the ball be destroyed? acid? fire? C4? consumption by goat? Consumption by goat which is, in turn, consumed by Steve Bartman?

[LeGrandOrange]

Steve Bartman should be the one consumed by the goat. ;)

BTW, what's "C4"?

I like the fire suggestion personally...get a big ol' bonifire, possibly using the corked bat at kindling, and then roast it. Simple, to the point, and looks good on camera. :)

[Skip]

C4 is a big deal (movie staple) chemical explosive. Leaves all sorts of identifiable chemical traces behind though, at least if we can trust Hollywood. That's a given, right?

"I like the fire suggestion personally...get a big ol' bonifire, possibly using the corked bat at kindling, and then roast it." Yeah - worked good on disco demolition night! ;)

[Rajah]

I'm surprised a sox fan didn't try to outbid Harry Caray's for it. I could see a Sox fan having the ball bronzed and putting it on display at Sox Park.