Most valuable sports ball

[Runscott]

A ball from a deliberately botched play during the 1919 World Series?

[Forever Young]

Thank you for your responses. I wanted to see if someone could come up with something bigger than called shot ball that I didn't think of. I posed the question as a good friend of mine asked me for my thought. I thought I would open to the forum. I have what I need(just me)now thank you... Oh.. I need this. That was my quick attempt to quote steve Martin in "the jerk". Thanks again for your responses gents.

[RichardSimon]

Lelands offered $1,000,000 for the Thomson ball. Got them a lot of publicity (nice move Josh) but I am sure they would have paid that for the Thomson ball. Cannot think of another baseball that would sell for that much.

[mcgwirecom]

McGwire's 70th homerun ball sold for over $3 million with the juice.... I know its now worth about $25,000 but it did sell for that much. I believe that was the most ever paid.

I agree with Richard, Thompson's "shot heard round the world" would probably fetch a huge sum if they could authenticate it. There was a show on TV about trying to track it down. I can't remember what channel or what it was called. The consensus was that a nun from upstate New York came back to visit her family in Brooklyn I think. She was a huge baseball fan and managed to make it to the game in the left field seats. They said she ended up with it and had it for a while but they think she just gave it away or to some kids to play with.

[vintagesportscollector]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

McGwire's 70th homerun ball sold for over $3 million with the juice.... I know its now worth about $25,000 but it did sell for that much. I believe that was the most ever paid.
.

Is that the biggest bust of all time? Has anyone ever overspent more or wasted more on a single item? I can't immediately think of anything that's been a bigger bust.

[MacDice]

Not that is could ever be proven at the actual ball but what about Ruth's called Home Run?

[sayheykid54]

How about the baseball from Reggie Jackson's legendary light tower shot at Tiger Stadium during the 1971 All-Star game. Probably not the most valuable. But would be a great baseball to own!

[71buc]

Originally Posted by vintagesportscollector

Is that the biggest bust of all time? Has anyone ever overspent more or wasted more on a single item? I can't immediately think of anything that's been a bigger bust.

I am friends with McFarlane's brother in law. I asked him how they felt about this perception. It was explained to me that although he is a huge fan he is a businessman as well. The purchase of the ball resulted in valuable publicity for his company. After the purchase he appeared on many network TV shows which generated free advertising for his business. I am certain that the time he spent on TV being interviewed about the ball was far more valuable to his company than the money spent on the ball. I can only imagine what that amount of network advertising would cost. Ironically people are still talking about the purchase of the ball because it has been devalued by the PED stigma attached to it which of course is continued free publicity. The investment in the ball paid for itself in free advertising and continues to do so.

[vintagesportscollector]

Very interesting. I clearly never thought of it that way. I imagine then that Todd has no regrets, as the purchase was part of a collection that has great notoriety and was the springboard for his toys company and other big business deals. I think Todd also has Sosa's 66 and Bond's 73...among others.

[almostdone]

I agree with Richard, Thompson's "shot heard round the world" would probably fetch a huge sum if they could authenticate it. There was a show on TV about trying to track it down. I can't remember what channel or what it was called. The consensus was that a nun from upstate New York came back to visit her family in Brooklyn I think. She was a huge baseball fan and managed to make it to the game in the left field seats. They said she ended up with it and had it for a while but they think she just gave it away or to some kids to play with.[/QUOTE]

There is a book about hunting down the Thompson ball and which the above documentary is based on. It is called "Miracle Ball" and us one one my favorite baseball books. Think CSI meets Ken Burnes baseball. I would highly recommend it to any fan.
As far as the conclusion to the ball the nun never revealed the ball to anyone until after her death. Then her worldly possessions, which was kept in a shoe box, was given to her sister. Her sisters sons recall their mom throwing the box into a landfill in California. Talk about the intimate find dumpster diving.

As far as prices realized I think Fisk's ball was just auctioned off in REA last spring. I forget the final price realized.

Drew

[Teamgluck]

While all of the following that y'all mentioned were good answers none of those would be the most expensive the most expensive is…….. The DEATH BALL.

That would be the baseball that Carl Mays pitched that killed Ray Chapman. It is owned by someone I believe is in South Florida.

[mcgwirecom]

Originally Posted by Teamgluck

While all of the following that y'all mentioned were good answers none of those would be the most expensive the most expensive is…….. The DEATH BALL.

That would be the baseball that Carl Mays pitched that killed Ray Chapman. It is owned by someone I believe is in South Florida.

I think Geppi's had that at one time.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Teamgluck

While all of the following that y'all mentioned were good answers none of those would be the most expensive the most expensive is…….. The DEATH BALL.

That would be the baseball that Carl Mays pitched that killed Ray Chapman. It is owned by someone I believe is in South Florida.

Man, I can't even imagine wanting to own that ball at any price, IMHO...

[Econteachert205]

How about first pitch ball of jackie robinsons first ab?

[mcgwirecom]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

How about first pitch ball of jackie robinsons first ab?

One of the big auction houses recently had a ball from that game. It came from the umpire who also had his debut in that game. I'm sure it wasn't the first pitch to Jackie, but who knows?

[Runscott]

Since Ben has what he wants, I'll go a little off-track. When I saw Kearse fire the winning catch football from Sunday's game, into the stands, I wondered what happened to it. Today they told us: a 20-yr old unemployed kid who is heading to jail caught it. He plans to give it back to Kearse.

Regarding "the catch", the SF ball boy gave Clarke "a" ball after the game, and Clarke always assumed he had the correct ball. He did not. The ball boy later sold it. Clarke wasn't all that happy when he found out. Not sure where it is now.

Just thinking aloud here (and I know Ben said not to go in this direction), if I were a Steeler fan I would like to have the ball that Jackie Smith dropped in the Super Bowl.