For the Love of the Game August 8, 2007
Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , trackbackHow much abuse would you endure for $500,000?
As New York Mets apparel-clad Matt Murphy arose from a pile of scampering ‘fans’ to be the sole possessor of Barry Bond’s home run record-breaking ball, I wonder if he’s getting less than he bargained for.
A recent article posted on MSN’s Money Central claims that this much anticipated home run ball is most likely worth a lot less than expected. In fact, it would have paid off much more to be ball hunting back in the early days of the recent home-run era, as Mark McGwire’s 70th fetched a much nicer $3 million in its day.
$500,000 is a lot of money for a chance encounter with a flying object. Though, perhaps the New York Mets organization, in an attempt to get some ad time, planted Murphy at the ballpark after consulting a statistician to figure out the probability of the home-run ball landing in each of the outfield stands. They also might have had to train him in hand-to-hand combat to defend his prize from any others scrambling for it.
So, at $500,000 and after his ticket price (lets say $50), his hospital bills, auction fees, a beer and a hot dog, Murphy will be lucky to walk away with maybe $100,000, though my math has never been that good.
While the sum is pretty hefty, I know the feeling of being let down after attaining what is rumored to be a collectors item, only to face the reality of low demand; I have a Mark McGwire Olympic Rookie Card from 1985. Since I wasn’t anywhere near his 70th homerun ball, I remember toting this card to some local memorabilia merchants to see what I could get for it. By the looks on most of their faces you would have thought it was a #1 issue of Mcfarlane’s Spider-Man comic (which my hopes were also let down over).
I’m no Bonds fan, but I have turned the television on a few times hoping to see the record-breaker being hit. It was hard not to notice how many fans booed when he got up to bat. Though I have forgotten what its like to be surrounded by people genuinely excited about baseball (because I live in Pittsburgh) I find it hard to believe that a good amount of these people really cared whether he doped, or broke the home-run record or not. I’m not saying that these people don’t have ideals, but I do believe that a majority of the time, a majority of sporting-event goers are just looking for an excuse to get out on the town and have some fun with their friends. Booing is part of the game, and I wouldn’t doubt that a good amount of these booers are just booing to be a part of something, much like doing ‘the wave’ when it comes their way. “Hey, Bonds is up to bat. Let’s do “the Boo”, that kind of thing.
Despite the boos that are shouted Barry Bonds’ way, I’m sure the majority of those hecklers would gladly get trampled for half a million dollars.
And Bonds gets paid $20,000,000 to go through that abuse. Maybe if these fans are looking to bank on baseballs, should think about getting in touch with Balco and picking up a baseball bat. At least that way, they won’t have to get their teeth knocked out and their clothes torn.
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[…] post. Its part of the game to be a fan and root against the other team. I discussed this in the Barry Bonds Booing post as well. The point isn’t that he’s a rich black athlete. If that was my gripe with […]