aeneas01
07-25-2007, 02:38 AM
not sure if this has been discussed already but, if not, i thought the forum might find it interesting - the article appeared in yesterday's sports section of the san francisco chronicle....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/24/SPGK2R5U101.DTL&hw=bonds&sn=005&sc=489
HR Chase Just The Job For The Authenticator
San francisco Chronicle, Tuesday July 24, 2007 - Gwen Knapp
He is not a fan. He said it over and over Monday night to the media in the Giants' dugout. He is not a fan. He even said it when Major League Baseball approached him to play a bit part in the game's history.
Dean Marcic is not a fan. He is the Authenticator.
Actually, like a shopping-mall Santa Claus, the Authenticator doesn't do his gig solo. Marcic has three helpers, but when it's time to go into a room to mark up the balls that opposing pitchers deliver to Barry Bonds these days, he (and he alone) does the deed.
He uses some type of machine to make some type of mark on the balls. Marcic won't be more specific than that. He doesn't want his picture taken, either. All we can tell you is that he's a beefy guy who, when asked if he wore protective gear, patted his belly and said: "This is all me.'' Any more than that, and the Authenticator would feel compromised.
"It's a covert process; it's very detailed,'' he said.
Any day now, Marcic might find himself marking a ball that ends up representing the only 756th home run ever hit by a major leaguer. Bonds remained three homers shy of breaking the record Monday night after a walk, two groundouts to second base and a single against Atlanta.
When the big moment comes, the ball should travel from the Authenticator to the umpire to the pitcher to the meat of Bonds' bat to a fan's clutches and then to auction, where it should sell for at least as much as a studio condominium in the Haight.
Mark McGwire's 70th home-run ball went for $3.1 million after he established the then-single-season record. Bonds' No. 73 ball went for a mere $450,000, but only after a pit stop in a bank vault while two fans who claimed the big catch duked it out in court.
Though the ownership of the keepsake was in doubt, the validity of it wasn't. MLB scrupulously documents which balls are in play when a landmark is at stake through employees like Marcic, who is half-accountant and half-bodyguard for the business side of baseball nostalgia.
A 17-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, he investigates auto theft in real life. His three Authenticator colleagues also are on the force.
One of them, Michael Rodriguez, sat near the dugout Monday night and provided authenticated balls to the bat boy, who gave them to the umpire. Marcic, the lead Authenticator, stationed himself in center field, keeping track of any marked balls that went into the stands.
The process, as much as he would explain it, works this way: Each ball has a serial number plus an additional mystery mark, and the home-plate umpire gets four of the balls at a time. The ump also receives precise instructions on the order in which he should use each ball. When they go foul into the stands, the balls are written off. So are used balls that don't end up in the stands. Marcic said those are returned to MLB, and he's not sure what happens to them.
The latest ritual for Bonds began when he hit No. 751, four shy of Aaron's record. No one thinks balls 752 to 754 will be all that valuable, but Marcic said the authenticators like to do some trial runs. When Bonds is one away from the record, the field of authenticators will expand to "many more than just four.''
Again, it's a covert operation.
It's also elaborate. There are authenticators at every MLB stadium, for every semi-significant occasion. Chicago and Milwaukee had their own people on the case the last week.
Authenticators also will tag a player's personal items, and according to a couple of MLB employees, Bonds' uniforms, bats, batting gloves, you name it, have been marked for posterity after every home run the last few years. They remain in his possession.
Not that Marcic would confirm any of that. "I can only talk about the balls,'' he said.
MLB turned to Marcic and the police department to join the authentication project about two years ago. His hiring interview with MLB must have been interesting.
"They asked me if I liked baseball, and I said not really,'' Marcic said. He thinks that helped him, because nobody has to worry about him getting distracted by the game or the famous players. He also is less of a threat for hanky panky -- say, arranging for the record ball to have the same markings as one he has kept for himself.
"They asked me if I had issues with Barry or getting starstruck,'' he said. "I don't care who it is, whoever, whatever.''
Marcic had a background in pursuing counterfeiters. He did some work for the 49ers and Giants, going after people who peddle knockoff jerseys and caps near the parks. Now, he is in the heart of one of the most important sports events in years.
He'd rather be at home watching a summer-league Warriors game. That team is his passion. He has a signed Chris Mullin basketball. Authenticated? "Um, no,'' he said.
If he's in center field when Bonds hits No. 756 and the ball comes to him, he has a pretty good idea what he'll do. "I'm out of here,'' he said.
He's not a fan, but he's not an idiot, either.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/24/SPGK2R5U101.DTL&hw=bonds&sn=005&sc=489
HR Chase Just The Job For The Authenticator
San francisco Chronicle, Tuesday July 24, 2007 - Gwen Knapp
He is not a fan. He said it over and over Monday night to the media in the Giants' dugout. He is not a fan. He even said it when Major League Baseball approached him to play a bit part in the game's history.
Dean Marcic is not a fan. He is the Authenticator.
Actually, like a shopping-mall Santa Claus, the Authenticator doesn't do his gig solo. Marcic has three helpers, but when it's time to go into a room to mark up the balls that opposing pitchers deliver to Barry Bonds these days, he (and he alone) does the deed.
He uses some type of machine to make some type of mark on the balls. Marcic won't be more specific than that. He doesn't want his picture taken, either. All we can tell you is that he's a beefy guy who, when asked if he wore protective gear, patted his belly and said: "This is all me.'' Any more than that, and the Authenticator would feel compromised.
"It's a covert process; it's very detailed,'' he said.
Any day now, Marcic might find himself marking a ball that ends up representing the only 756th home run ever hit by a major leaguer. Bonds remained three homers shy of breaking the record Monday night after a walk, two groundouts to second base and a single against Atlanta.
When the big moment comes, the ball should travel from the Authenticator to the umpire to the pitcher to the meat of Bonds' bat to a fan's clutches and then to auction, where it should sell for at least as much as a studio condominium in the Haight.
Mark McGwire's 70th home-run ball went for $3.1 million after he established the then-single-season record. Bonds' No. 73 ball went for a mere $450,000, but only after a pit stop in a bank vault while two fans who claimed the big catch duked it out in court.
Though the ownership of the keepsake was in doubt, the validity of it wasn't. MLB scrupulously documents which balls are in play when a landmark is at stake through employees like Marcic, who is half-accountant and half-bodyguard for the business side of baseball nostalgia.
A 17-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, he investigates auto theft in real life. His three Authenticator colleagues also are on the force.
One of them, Michael Rodriguez, sat near the dugout Monday night and provided authenticated balls to the bat boy, who gave them to the umpire. Marcic, the lead Authenticator, stationed himself in center field, keeping track of any marked balls that went into the stands.
The process, as much as he would explain it, works this way: Each ball has a serial number plus an additional mystery mark, and the home-plate umpire gets four of the balls at a time. The ump also receives precise instructions on the order in which he should use each ball. When they go foul into the stands, the balls are written off. So are used balls that don't end up in the stands. Marcic said those are returned to MLB, and he's not sure what happens to them.
The latest ritual for Bonds began when he hit No. 751, four shy of Aaron's record. No one thinks balls 752 to 754 will be all that valuable, but Marcic said the authenticators like to do some trial runs. When Bonds is one away from the record, the field of authenticators will expand to "many more than just four.''
Again, it's a covert operation.
It's also elaborate. There are authenticators at every MLB stadium, for every semi-significant occasion. Chicago and Milwaukee had their own people on the case the last week.
Authenticators also will tag a player's personal items, and according to a couple of MLB employees, Bonds' uniforms, bats, batting gloves, you name it, have been marked for posterity after every home run the last few years. They remain in his possession.
Not that Marcic would confirm any of that. "I can only talk about the balls,'' he said.
MLB turned to Marcic and the police department to join the authentication project about two years ago. His hiring interview with MLB must have been interesting.
"They asked me if I liked baseball, and I said not really,'' Marcic said. He thinks that helped him, because nobody has to worry about him getting distracted by the game or the famous players. He also is less of a threat for hanky panky -- say, arranging for the record ball to have the same markings as one he has kept for himself.
"They asked me if I had issues with Barry or getting starstruck,'' he said. "I don't care who it is, whoever, whatever.''
Marcic had a background in pursuing counterfeiters. He did some work for the 49ers and Giants, going after people who peddle knockoff jerseys and caps near the parks. Now, he is in the heart of one of the most important sports events in years.
He'd rather be at home watching a summer-league Warriors game. That team is his passion. He has a signed Chris Mullin basketball. Authenticated? "Um, no,'' he said.
If he's in center field when Bonds hits No. 756 and the ball comes to him, he has a pretty good idea what he'll do. "I'm out of here,'' he said.
He's not a fan, but he's not an idiot, either.