Is Barry Bonds' 756 home run ball worth $500,000?

No

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by Jay Nolan

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I don't think Barry Bonds' 756 home run ball is worth $500,000.00. I know collectors pay that kind of money for sports memorabilia all the time but I can't see where this ball is worth that much money. Yes it is a one of a kind and a valuable piece of baseball history. The significance of the ball is that it's the ball that broke Hank Aaron's all time home run record. But Barry went on to hit 6 more home runs the current record is now 762 which has a tremendous effect on the value of #756.

In order to establish a value for an item you look for comparisons. You have to take the current market situation and economy and try to guess what someone is willing to pay for the ball. The popularity of the player has a lot to do with it also. A fair comparison can be made by the baseballs purchased by Todd McFarlane. In 1998 McFarlane purchased Mark McGwire's 70th and final home run ball for a record 3 million dollars. He later purchased Barry Bonds' 73rd home run ball for $450,000.00 dollars. That's a dramatic difference for two record breaking baseballs. I would think that since #73 is the new record it would have sold for at least the same amount as #70.

Therefore based on the prices realized at auction can we assume that Barry Bonds' record breaking baseballs don't sell for as much as Mark McGwires? There might be some truth in that. There are some other factors effecting the value of the ball. Likeability is a huge factor. When McGwire was going for the single season record he was battling it out with Sammy Sosa. Everyone loved the competition and instantly loved these men. They smiled all the time; they were charismatic, cheerful and above all nice. The dark cloud of steroids hadn't yet entered the game. The media and fans were eating this duel up and to many it brought back memories of Maris and Mantle in 1961.

The atmosphere was much different when Bonds was chasing McGwire's record. The same interest wasn't there. That also applies to Bonds' run at Hank Aaron's all time record. Barry wasn't competing with another player on a daily basis. He also had to contend with allegations of steroid use during this time so I think people felt that the all time record might be tainted. Hank Aaron was also a much respected man within baseball and many people didn't want his record to be broken by someone suspected of cheating. Major League Baseball did nothing to help out the situation either. They kept the fans wondering if Aaron or Selig would be at the game when the record was broken. These actions cast a shadow over the whole chase as if MLB was not so happy about Bonds breaking the record.

One of the biggest factors may be that Todd McFarlane got caught up in the frenzy of the home run race in 1998 and overpaid for the balls to begin with. Todd purchased Mark McGwire's 63rd, 67th, 68th, and 69th home run balls. He also bought Sammy Sosa's 33rd (which broke the all-time record for round-trippers in a month), 61st and 66th home run balls. All of these balls were purchased in a series of separate deals totaling about $300,000.00. Todd claims he bought these balls due to "a combination of business, charity and self-indulgence to the nth degree." I also think that he was banking on the fact that no one else was going to challenge this record for a long time.

The fact that Bonds beat McGwire's record just 3 years later probably had something to do with the ball selling for much less. I think buying this baseball for $500,000.00 is not a good buy. It is too high when you consider the market for similar balls has already been established at a lot less.

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