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Surprise? Bonds' Record Ball to be Sold
By
tien mao
Published Aug 22, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
tien mao
Published Aug 22, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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While Matt Murphy claimed that he was going to keep it if possible, does it surprise anyone that the ball from Barry Bonds' 756th home run is going on sale? The 21 year-old Murphy, a Queens resident and Mets fan, caught the record-breaking ball earlier this month in San Francisco (while on the way to Australia), says that he's selling the ball for tax purposes. "It wasn't hard. It was simple math. I'm upset by the decision I had to make. I wanted to keep it. I'm young. I don't have the bank account. ... It would have cost me a lot more to keep it."
Some experts expect the ball to fetch at least $500,000 when it goes up for online auction by Sotheby’s and SCP Auctions from Aug. 28-Sept. 15. In addition to #756, SCP Auctions is also auctioning off #755, expected to sell for around $200,000. All that money when you can get a baseball from Rawlings for $12.99 (which also seems expensive).
Murphy, who wants to attend business school in NYC, hopes that whomever buys the ball will put it on loan to the Baseball Hall of Fame, "I really hope the person who does buy it is in position to loan it." He also plans to share some of the proceeds from the sale with the friend he was traveling with and attended the game with.
Photo of Matt Murphy at the Giants-Nationals game by Brant Ward/AP
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barry bonds
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tien mao
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