Forget No. 700. It’s $804,129 – the winning bid – that will be
remembered.
After 10 days of bidding at overstock.com, Barry Bonds’ historic
700th home run baseball received a top bid of $804,129 when the
auction closed Wednesday. The online event drew more than 240 bids
according to the Web site.
Forget No. 700. It’s $804,129 – the winning bid – that will be remembered.
After 10 days of bidding at overstock.com, Barry Bonds’ historic 700th home run baseball received a top bid of $804,129 when the auction closed Wednesday. The online event drew more than 240 bids according to the Web site.
Hollister resident Tim Murphy thinks that money is rightfully his because he had the ball before losing it in a melee in the stands at SBC Park in San Francisco on Sept. 17. He has a lawsuit pending for the proceeds from the sale of the ball.
“I thought it would go a little higher – maybe over a million,” said Murphy, who has lived in Hollister about eight years.
His lawyers failed earlier to get a court-ordered injunction stopping the ball from being sold. After a San Francisco judge denied the effort in the San Francisco County Superior Court, Steve Williams, who came up with the ball after the scuffle, listed it for sale online with a starting bid of $1.
Reached by phone Wednesday after the winning bid was announced, Williams said he’ll quit his job as a broker’s assistant in San Mateo but has no idea yet what he’ll do with the money.
Williams said he plans to donate part of the money to two charities: Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco.
But Murphy’s attorney, Joe Scanlan, said it wouldn’t be wise to start dispersing the money just yet.
“We would hope that he wouldn’t be making gifts or purchases until the matter is resolved,” Scanlan said. “It has not one bit of affect on our suit.”
A response from the original lawsuit is due by the end of the week.
In October 2001, Bonds’ record-setting 73rd homer of the season also sparked litigation that ended when a judge ordered two men who claimed ownership to split the $450,000 the ball fetched. That ball may have gotten more, but it didn’t get sold until a year after the home run because a judge ordered it to remain under lock and key until the litigation ended.
Bonds became the first member of the 700-homer club in 31 years, joining Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. He now has 703 career home runs, trailing only Ruth (714) and Aaron (755).
“We’re not counting our chickens before they are hatched,” said Murphy’s wife Bobbi, about what they intend to do if they are award the money, but she also said it could help with their three kids’ education.
“I am pleasantly happy with the price of the ball,” Murphy said. “I hope whoever buys the ball is happy with it.”
Nathan Mixter is the Sports Editor for the Hollister Free Lance. He can be reached at nm*****@fr***********.com or at 637-5566 ext. 334.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
