Outta here again!
Mac's 70th fetches $3 million, including commission
Posted: Tuesday January 12, 1999 11:58 PM
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Happy man: Philip Ozersky, a research scientist at Washington University, retrieved McGwire's 70th homer at Busch Stadium on Sept. 27 AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mark McGwire
topped the Babe and Sammy again. McGwire's 70th home run ball
sold at auction Tuesday night for more than $3 million -- well above
November's record price of $126,500 for a ball that Babe Ruth hit for the
first home run in Yankee Stadium. An anonymous telephone bidder
bought McGwire's record home run ball, which was sold by Guernsey's auction
house at a special sale at Madison Square Garden. The total
price includes the bid of $2.7 million plus a $305,000 commission to the
auction house, bringing the total to $3,005,000. Sammy Sosa's
final home run of the season, his 66th, sold for $150,000, plus a 15
percent commission, bringing the total price to $172,500. When
the price on the McGwire ball reached $1.6 million, the auction came down
to a one-on-one bidding battle between the invisible phone voice and Irwin
Sternberg, president of Stonehenge, Ltd., manufacturers of fine
neckwear. The two went back and forth in increments of $100,000
until Sternberg stopped at $2.6 million. Later, Sternberg said he was sorry
he didn't go higher. "I think the person on the line didn't have
a bottom line," he said. "If it went to $3 million, it would be $3.1
million." Later, Sternberg paid $60,000 for a ball signed by
Babe Ruth and Roger Maris, who were the previous holders of the home run
record. He said he would give the ball to the Jimmy V foundation which
raises funds for cancer research in the memory of deceased college
basketball coach Jim Valvano. "Three million is an extraordinary
accomplishment. It's 23 times the world record for any baseball ever sold,
and five to six times the record of any sports artifact," said Arlen
Ettinger, president of Guernsey's. The ball, hit on McGwire's
last swing of his record-breaking season, was retrieved at Busch Stadium
Sept. 27 by Philip Ozersky, a research scientist at Washington University.
He had turned down $1 million from private collectors. Ozersky
seemed calm but in awe of what he had witnessed. "Who would have
thought that a $10 baseball would go for $2 million," he said, inexplicably
ignoring about a million dollars the buyer agreed to pay. "I'm excited and
overwhelmed. "I went to a baseball game and all of a sudden this
happened." Also up for sale Tuesday were other home run 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, and the usual run of Ruth and Lou Gehrig items. Hank
Aaron's 755th career homer -- his last -- was withdrawn from sale after
bidding reached only $800,000. The minimum auction price apparently was not
reached, although the auction house did not disclose what that price
was. A ball said to be Mickey Mantle's 500th homer, hit May 14,
1967, also was withdrawn from sale after questions arose about its
authenticity. In September 1996, the ball Eddie Murray
hit for his 500th home run was sold for what one day could be $500,000.
Michael Lasky, the founder of the Psychic Friends Network, paid $280,000
that was put in an annuity to be paid over 20 years. With interest, the
annuity will be worth about $500,000, according to a spokesman for Lasky,
who also operates as syndicated handicapper Mike Warren. Sosa's
No. 66 was sold by Albert Chapa, who grabbed it Sept. 25 at the
Astrodome. Both Ozersky and Chapa were offered autographed
paraphernalia in exchange for their historic souvenirs, but they
declined. 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. 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 secretly marked each ball to certify authenticity. That
wasn't necessary with Aaron's No. 755 because at the time, no one knew it
would be his last. Richard 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. 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 had $5 deducted from his
final paycheck to cover the cost of the baseball. After it was
withdrawn at $800,000, he still has the ball.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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