$220,100 wins Bonds' No. 715 ball

[Eric]

SAN FRANCISCO
$220,100 winning bid for Bonds' No. 715 ball
- Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, August 4, 2006


Barry Bonds' historic 715th home run ball, which put him in second place on the all-time home run list, sold for $220,100 in an online auction that ended Thursday.

The winner was identified only as the bidder with the eBay ID of "52817," said David Cotter, founder of Seattle-based Mpire, which co-hosted the 10-day auction with San Jose's eBay.

Andrew Morbitzer of San Francisco put the ball up for auction about two months after he caught it at AT&T Park on May 28. Bonds smashed the ball into the center-field bleachers. It bounced off a couple of fans and fell to the concession stands below, where Morbitzer was standing in line to buy peanuts.

Morbitzer, a marketing director with software company Intuit, has said proceeds from the auction will go into a down payment for a house in San Francisco. Morbitzer, 38, recently moved from Colorado to the Bay Area with wife Megan.

Cotter said experts had placed the ball's value somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000.

"We weren't really sure what it would get," Cotter said. "But eBay talked to some sports experts, and (the winning bid) fell right around where they expected."

The ball was not expected to break any records. Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball, which set the single-season record in 1998, fetched $3 million. Bonds eclipsed McGwire's record in 2001 with 73 home runs, but the record ball sold for only $450,000.

Bonds moved past Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list with No. 715. With 722 career home runs currently, he trails only Hank Aaron's 755.

There were 69 total bids for No. 715, and the winning bid was placed at 11:56 a.m. Thursday, four minutes before the deadline. The winning bidder didn't become active until the bids reached the $150,000 mark on Wednesday, Cotter said.

[Eric]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Barry-Bonds-No-7...QQcmdZViewItem