Better to give
Fan wins scramble for ball, gives it back to McGwire
Posted: Tuesday September 08, 1998 10:07 AM
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Davidson: "It will mean more to him and baseball than it will to me." AP |
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire is
picking up a pretty good collection of baseballs.
Since McGwire hit his 56th home run, tying the National League record
last week in Miami against the Florida Marlins, the
fan catching the ball has faced a dilemma: Keep the potentially valuable
ball and sell it to a collector; or give it back to McGwire.
So far, the St.
Louis Cardinals slugger's got them all back, including historic No. 61
hit Monday against the Chicago Cubs. The blast
tied Roger Maris' 37-year-old single-season record, arguably the most
cherished in sports.
Mike Davidson, 28, won the mad scramble for the ball. And he said he
never considered keeping it. The real prize will be the ball McGwire hits
for home run No. 62, which some experts believe could fetch $1 million or
more, but Davidson's ball would be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
"It will mean more to him and baseball than it will to me," said
Davidson, who wants only a chance to meet McGwire and an autographed jersey
in return.
That's a laudable mindset for a catering manager and soon-to-be
first-time father who sometimes works 80-hour weeks. He was due at work at
4:30 a.m. CDT Tuesday, and said he hoped to get home in time to watch
Tuesday night's 7:10 p.m. game.
Davidson recalled a distant relative who won a lottery, then had to put
up with constant harassment from people trying to get a piece of the
windfall.
"I figure it would be more aggravation with people coming out of the
woodwork," he said.
Davidson was seated in section 281, row 1, seat 1, just inside the
left-field foul line, when McGwire stepped into the 1-1 pitch from Cubs
starter Mike
Morgan.
"It came down, bounced off about five people's hands," Davidson said.
"Rolled underneath my seat. I picked it up."
Well, it wasn't quite that easy.
Fans looked like NFL players diving for a fumble as the ball bounced
their way. As the pileup cleared, Davidson, appropriately attired in a red
"McGwire 25" jersey, emerged with the ball. He stopped at a store and paid
$57 for the jersey prior to the game.
"I didn't have anything red to wear," he said.
Nick Hinkley of Indianapolis was among those who just missed out on the
ball.
"I had my hands on it, then everybody jumped on top of me," Hinkley
said. 'The guy who got it threw me off it."
Rich Reichert, 32, of St. Louis, was also part of the mad scramble, and
had a bloody finger to show for it.
"I held out my hands and actually had it," he said. "After it was out
of my hands everything was a bit of a blur. The next thing I knew I was
face down on the ground."
'I was just happy to have touched No. 61.'
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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