Barry Bonds' 715th home run ball fetched a winning auction bid of US$220,100 on Thursday, much better than experts predicted.
The home run moved the troubled San Francisco Giants star past Babe Ruth for second place on the Major League Baseball career list.
Winning bidder Marc Chase is an exotic car merchant who owns dealerships in La Jolla, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley. The 44-year-old Chase plans to pick up the ball from owner Andrew Morbitzer next week. The ball will then be shown off at his car businesses.
"I didn't think I was going to get it so I was ecstatic, I was over the top," Chase said. He said the steroid controversy involving Bonds didn't factor into his decision to bid on the ball.
Morbitzer was waiting in line for beer and peanuts on May 28 when Bonds hit the home run.
"For standing in line waiting for a beer and something to eat -- you can't be unhappy with an amount like that," Morbitzer said.
For several moments, the ball appeared to be beyond anyone's reach. It sat lodged on an elevated platform in center field, then trickled off the roof. Morbitzer caught the ball with one hand.
The 38-year-old marketing director said he might use the proceeds from the ball to place a down payment on a home in San Francisco. He also said he planned to donate 10 percent of the proceeds to the charity Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS