Bonds ballhawks covet piece of flying history

SAN FRANCISCO: Much of the talk in the right-field stands at AT&T Park on Tuesday night concerned how much a collector might pay for the historic 756th Barry Bonds home run ball.

In setting the Major League record for homers, the San Francisco Giants slugger has hit many milestone balls along the way, and value estimates for those not yet sold vary widely.

But the holder of one key ball - the 714th home run that tied Bonds with legend Babe Ruth - has yet to test the market.

"I've still got it ... in a safe-deposit box," Tyler Snyder said in an interview before the 435-foot blast against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday that put Bonds ahead of Hank Aaron for the all-time record.

Snyder is a regular at baseball games in the area, and well known among a dedicated group of fans who often show up for pre-game batting practice just to snag baseballs hit by stars.

Tom Snyder, another seasoned "ballhawk" also in the right-field stands on Tuesday night hoping to catch a piece of history, had said in May 2006 his then-19-year-old brother would surely sell the number 714 ball after Bonds hit it against the Oakland Athletics.

Technically, of course, every home run Bonds hits until he retires will now be a record-setter, at least briefly.

But local veteran ballhawk Lee Wilson, an electrician in his late 50s who claims to have caught three Bonds home run balls, said the ball that put the slugger past Aaron may only be matched in value by Bonds's eventual career finale.

"That was the one that passed him. I don't think any will be as good until the last one," said Wilson, who knows the Snyder brothers and narrowly missed gloving number 714.

It was 22-year-old New Yorker Matt Murphy who emerged from the swarm of fans wrestling for number 756. He was only passing through San Francisco on his way to Australia, and declined to speak to the media about his plans for the ball.

Mark Peel, a 52-year-old sitting nearby and holding his two-year-old daughter, said he was glad the ball had not landed near them after watching Murphy emerge from a pile of bodies.

"I didn't think anyone was going to come up," he said.

In October 2001, fans got into a violent scramble to grab the Bonds homer that set the single-season record of 73. The ball ended up fetching $450,000 at auction, enough for the two men who claimed the ball to cover their legal fees as a court ordered them to split the proceeds.

According to media reports, Bonds's 700th career home run ball drew a winning bid of $804,129 in 2004 in an online auction. A fan also sued, saying the ball was rightfully his, but lost the case.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/10/2007 page23)