It wasn't on eBay, but my favorite was back in 1998, when a semi-homeless guy who hung out with the Ballhawks on Waveland Avenue caught a Mark McGwire BP home run ball, and then tried to sell it to me at an inflated price because it was McGwire's first BP HR at Wrigley Field from his 70HR season. Needless to say, I passed.

Then, five years later, the guy got a game HR on Waveland Ave. during the NLCS against the Marlins. I offered him $100 for it, and he laughed, thinking he'd sell it for an amount in four figures. After the NLCS he was acting obnoxious on the street in Chicago, having the HR ball with him because he had no permanent place to stay. The cops took him to the station, and one of them confiscated the baseball. Instead of thousands of dollars, he got zip for it.

Dave Miedema