Teams negotiate to get back homerun balls

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I don't know if I'm hijacking the thread by asking this, but with Santana's no-hitter having taken place Friday night, this seems like a good place to ask.

One of the things we hear in the coverage of milestone home run balls is that the fan who finally comes up with the ball is immediately liable for taxes on the presumed market value, regardless of what the fan does with it.

The ball Santana threw for the final strike never left the field and is presumably in the custody of Santana or the Mets. I think it's safe to say that if this ball were put up for auction, it would sell for six figures due to its historical significance. I'm wondering if Santana or the Mets is just as liable for taxes on the value of the ball, whether or not they actually sell it - or does that just apply to fans?

Gary,
No disrespect, but IMHO I can't imagine that the final strike ball from Santana's no-hit game would bring anywhere near six figures. Outside of the game ball from Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, I can't imagine any no-hit ball from the modern era selling for north of $10,000.

Nolan Ryan threw 7 no-hitters and the most that any of his no-hit balls ever sold for was about $7,300 back in 1994 (a game used no-hit ball from his 7th no-hitter).

I'm quite sure that a player would never pay taxes on a ball from a game like this unless they sold it. Souvenir vs. capital gains...

Just my 2 cents....

[mcgwirecom]

Hey Scott, if someone put that last out ball on Ebay right after the game they may have gotten 5 figures! Remember someone paid $500 for a ticket! LOL


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc



And $400 for one! Insane!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

Hey Scott, if someone put that last out ball on Ebay right after the game they may have gotten 5 figures! Remember someone paid $500 for a ticket! LOL


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc



And $400 for one! Insane!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc

Randall,

I'm not so sure... Obviously if it was the final pitch of the game that would add even more to the value. I still can't see it reaching $10,000 though...

[thekingofclout]

Hey Scott. I think you're so wrapped up in your Ryan collection , you're forgetting about another So Cal Pitcher who would have certainly broke the five figure mark.

Final Out Ball from Koufax's Perfecto (which may come to market someday, unless it's in Cooperstown) would easily hit the five figure mark! It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it went for $50,000 either. I would imagine that some of his other milestone balls could fetch more than 10K. Final Outs of the other No-Nos. #382. And the Ball that he struck out his 15 Yankee to set the World Series Record and win Game 1 of the '63 Series all come to mind. How about the Ball from his First Major League Win?

Sandy has a very, VERY, strong and wealthy following of Fans as the prices realized for just about all of his Game Used Gear will attest. And I just don't see that changing anytime soon...

[Scott Garner]

Jimmy,

After just returning from a business trip to the left coast I am admittedly groggy this morning and had not yet had my 1st cup of coffee when I posted this response.

No doubt you are correct about Sandy Koufax's milestone last pitch balls. Given Koufax's crossover popularity, etc., I would concur that we would see five figure prices in a major auction for his milestone balls.

Thanks for keeping me honest!

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Jimmy,

After just returning from a business trip to the left coast I am admittedly groggy this morning and had not yet had my 1st cup of coffee when I posted this response.

No doubt you are correct about Sandy Koufax's milestone last pitch balls. Given Koufax's crossover popularity, etc., I would concur that we would see six figure prices in a major auction.

Thanks for keeping me honest!

I'm the self-appointed Hall Monitor for the whole month of June! Next time you're out here, let me know, dinner is on me Buddy (no In-n-Outs in your part of the country ). BTW... I took Ben to his first, and second In-n-Out visits a few years ago on his trip to So Cal. Good Times!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by thekingofclout

I'm the self-appointed Hall Monitor for the whole month of June! Next time you're out here, let me know, dinner is on me Buddy (no In-n-Outs in your part of the country ). BTW... I took Ben to his first, and second In-n-Out visits a few years ago on his trip to So Cal. Good Times!

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

That's so funny about you mentioning In-n-Out! I was in Los Angeles briefly on Thursday. I had lunch at an In-n-Out!! Just for the record, I had a Double-Double with grilled onions, fries and a chocolate shake. As usual, it was all good. You are correct. No In-n-Out's or good authentic mexican food in the Midwest. These are the things I miss the most.

The next time I'm in LA, I promise to take you up on that Jimmy!

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

The ball Santana threw for the final strike never left the field and is presumably in the custody of Santana or the Mets. I think it's safe to say that if this ball were put up for auction, it would sell for six figures due to its historical significance.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Gary,
No disrespect, but IMHO I can't imagine that the final strike ball from Santana's no-hit game would bring anywhere near six figures.

No disrespect inferred. It's probably academic, anyway. Unless Johan Santana himself owns the ball, it will probably never be in a private collection. You might as well speculate about the value of the Liberty Bell or the Declaration of Indepencence (the original one, with the actual signatures) should they ever be put up for auction - not gonna happen, as the guy on "Pawn Stars" is wont to say.

My "six figure" guess also took into account the emotion factor. Not only was this the Mets' first no-hitter, but it took place in the team's 51st season, so their fans have been waiting for this a looooooong time. Add to that the passion Mets fans have for their team, and you can understand how someone got so caught up in it all that maybe 12 hours or so after the final out, they were willing to pay $500 for a ticket from the game.

[Splinte1941]

A little off topic, and by no means am I trying to rain on the parade, but I know a lot of Mets fans personally who aren't sharing the excitement I've seen here and in the media.

Beltran was clearly robbed of a base hit, the ball landed fair, dead smack on the chalk, and it was so blatant that these guys I know who are lifelong degenerate Mets fans feel the whole thing is a total asterisk. The guy really didn't throw a no-hitter.

No hitters and perfect games should never be decided by accidents, mistakes, bad calls, etc. even though we know sometimes they are. Armando Galaraga and Jim Joyce say hello.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by splinte1941

a little off topic, and by no means am i trying to rain on the parade, but i know a lot of mets fans personally who aren't sharing the excitement i've seen here and in the media.

Beltran was clearly robbed of a base hit, the ball landed fair, dead smack on the chalk, and it was so blatant that these guys i know who are lifelong degenerate mets fans feel the whole thing is a total asterisk. The guy really didn't throw a no-hitter.

No hitters and perfect games should never be decided by accidents, mistakes, bad calls, etc. Even though we know sometimes they are. Armando galaraga and jim joyce say hello.

+100

[Leon]

For my first 49 yrs in Texas we had no In N Out Burger joints. IN the last year they have built about 100 in N. Texas. They are literally on almost every street corner now. I think they have over built. Their burgers are good but do we really need one on every freaking corner? Scott- you should have asked for your burger "animal Style." It rocks.

BTW, back to topic. Bad calls are a part of the game. And on the original question, I personally think the fans should hold out for every darned penny they can get for a ball they get at a game. Why not, the owners and team make tons of money.

[Splinte1941]

Bad calls are indeed a part of the game, but you have a franchise and a fan base celebrating something that really didn't happen...because of a bad call.

Santana didn't throw a no hitter, the third base umpire did.

[mcgwirecom]

I was not impressed with my first trip to In-n-Out which was this year in San Fran. I like 5 Guys much better.

[esd10]

my uncle told me a story about when use to go to braves game's in the late 60's and caught a couple of hank aarons homerun balls. He had sought out hank aaron to have him sign them and i guess he acted like a jerk and he thrown the balls away because he made him so mad bye the way he acted.