Going, going ...
Historic HR balls headline Guernsey auction
Posted: Tuesday January 12, 1999 11:24 AM
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Ozersky pulled in McGwire's 70th at an office outing AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Philip Ozersky and Albert Chapa recovered landmark
balls from the greatest home run season in history, they were offered
autographed paraphernalia in exchange.
When Richard Arndt caught his landmark ball, he was offered a chance to
keep his job.
All three deferred, and their prized baseballs -- Ozersky's No. 70 by Mark McGwire,
Chapa's No. 66 by Sammy Sosa and
Arndt's No 755 by Hank Aaron -- are the headliners of Guernsey's auction
Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Ozersky, a research scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, was
at an office outing at Busch Stadium last Sept. 27 when he retrieved
McGwire's 70th.
Two days earlier at the Houston Astrodome, Chapa interrupted a phone call
with a client and returned to his seat just in time to grab Sosa's No. 66.
Then there was Arndt and Aaron's No. 755.
Arndt was a groundskeeper at Milwaukee County Stadium when Aaron hit the
final home run of his career on July 20, 1976. There was no way to tell it
would be the career home run leader's last one, but Arndt wanted to return
it. The Brewers, however, refused to set up a meeting, so Arndt refused to
return the ball. The decision cost him his job.
Now all three balls are for sale to the highest bidder. Each is a home
run exclamation point, the final shots for McGwire and Sosa in their record
season, and the last one in Aaron's career.
Also included in Tuesday night's auction are several other McGwire and
Sosa balls from the 1998 race to the record -- McGwire's No. 63, No. 67 and
No. 68, and Sosa's No. 61 -- as well as a ball signed by former
record-holder Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle's 500th homer and the usual run of
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig items.
Estimates vary on what the balls will bring. The record auction price for
a ball was set last November when the one Ruth hit for the first home run
in Yankee Stadium went for $126,500.
These could go for much more, considering that Ozersky has already turned
down $1 million from private collectors for his ball.
Ozersky was minding his business, sipping a beer when McGwire turned on
the first pitch he saw from Montreal's Carl Pavano in the seventh inning
and sent it ricocheting off some metal bleachers, into the Washington
University box. There was a scramble, and after Ozersky came up with the
ball, he was hustled away by security people, clutching his prize.
Chapa took a co-worker to the Cubs-Astros game in the Astrodome. He joked
about catching a home run and pledged to be in place each time Sosa came to
the plate. A page from a customer had him on the phone for the entire third
inning, but when Sosa came up in the fourth, Chapa returned to his seat in
time to see Jose
Lima serve up No. 66. It bounced off a couple of hands and landed at
his feet, much as McGwire's No. 70 would with Ozersky.
Major league baseball had each ball marked to certify authenticity. That
wasn't necessary with Aaron's No. 755 because at the time, no one knew it
would be his last.
Arndt retrieved the ball and was asked to turn it over to the Brewers,
who were returning Aaron's home runs to him. The groundskeeper preferred to
make the presentation himself and when he was told he couldn't, he took the
ball home.
The next day, he was notified by the club that he was being fired for
removing club property from the ballpark. What's more, Arndt was told, $5
would be deducted from his final paycheck to cover the cost of the
baseball.
He'll make up the lost wages and then some Tuesday night.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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