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EurekaDave
08-08-2007, 12:10 AM
Watching Barry Bonds' 756, then watching Hank Aaron's on-screen response was a "collectible" moment. Aaron showed the humility for which I have loved him for years. And Barry showing love for his late father--a human reaction from a usually distant person. Great all the way around. I'd love your reaction.

And by the way--I have an Aaron signed ball that I would not trade away for anything--not even Bonds' long ball.

geoff
08-08-2007, 12:21 AM
I am not the biggest Bonds fan but I have to admit that watching the Homerun live on tv was great.
Congrats to Barry until AROD breaks the record.

dcrules01
08-08-2007, 12:30 AM
I have no problem a great moment all the way around..

MichaelofSF
08-08-2007, 12:51 AM
I was there, pretty cool moment, high fives around. Growing up you always see the clip on Aaron hitting it and then running around the bases. Tonight I was part of history (until ARod breaks it), which is pretty cool, even if I think Barry is a jerk.

sfgiants452
08-08-2007, 01:18 AM
It was very exciting. When the ball went up into the air I woke up the whole house screaming and yelling in excitement of the homer. Great moment for me, Bonds, the Giants, and major league baseball.

calgrad1999
08-08-2007, 02:24 AM
I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I was there tonight. Didn't have the greatest seat, but saw him hit the ball and saw it sail out of the park. I was pleased with Aaron's message, he's definitely the better man. A great man who is truly to this day underappreciated.

btw, after barry hit it, half the fans left when he was taken out of the game!

aeneas01
08-08-2007, 02:59 AM
very memorable and exciting moment - very happy for the guy, his family, giants' fans and those that were there to enjoy it. one heck of a career bonds!

allstarsplus
08-08-2007, 07:19 AM
Some of you may not know this trivia but Mike Bacsik who gave up the HR 756 is connected to Hank Aaron also. Mike's dad pitched to Hank Aaron in a game after Aaron hit 755. Aaron went homerless in the game against Mike's dad going 1-2. Of course if Aaron homered in the game against Mike's dad, it would have been HR 756.

Now for the opinions, I have a Bonds 2007 BP bat signed by Barry with all of the holograms. Should I get Mike Bacsik to sign and inscribe the bat? I am a Nationals season ticket holder so I can get it done at the ballpark.

What do you think?

Thanks. Andrew

joecoco
08-08-2007, 08:28 AM
If I were lucky enough to have a bonds gamer from this year, I would leave it alone and not have it dually signed. It makes the bat look "busy", like a Jackson Pollack painting:) In the end it is up to you though- whatever makes you happy:) - Joe (the guy always looking for royals mientkiewicz bats)

cohibasmoker
08-08-2007, 08:32 AM
Andrew, hard question. Personally, I would have the pitcher sign the bat.

As for the moment, the people who were cheering were/are true basseball fans. They were cheering for the part of history they were witnessing and certainly NOT the person who happened to hit 756.

Aaron is still "da man".

Jim

Vintagedeputy
08-08-2007, 08:58 AM
As a Nats fan, I stayed up late and watched the game. I decided to delay a quick smoke break when Bonds was coming to the plate and that's when he hit 756.

I think the biggest hero of the night has to be Mike Bascik. If anyone saw his on air interview immediately after the at bat and his press conference after the game, you would have been truly impressed with his 100% professional demeanor. He was so happy you'd have thought that he hit the homer himself. He stood head and shoulders above what anyone expected of a pitcher in that situation.

Kudos also to my Nats for not letting the moment take them out of the game, as they pulled out a 4 run rally and won 8-6.

GO NATS!

godwulf
08-08-2007, 09:29 AM
I consider myself to be a huge Baseball fan - as opposed to folks like all of those "ballpark attendees" who left after the Bonds homer - but the career home run stat has ceased to have much importance for me now. It will always be tainted, regardless of what excuses people toss up to say that it isn't.

Bonds' "accomplishment" does nothing positive for Baseball, and - in my opinion - fan reaction to it of a positive nature only opens The Game, its history and traditions and those who love it, up to additional ridicule.

Last night, at about the time of the debacle in San Francisco, I was watching a 19-year-old rookie named Justin Upton, playing in his fifth Major League game, come within a single of hitting for the cycle. As exciting as it was to watch, and as wonderful for the kid as it would have been if he'd pulled it off, I'm glad, in a way, that his last at-bat, in the ninth inning, resulted in an out. It would have been a shame if he'd had to share the night, and the anniversary of it, with...that other thing.

allstarsplus
08-08-2007, 09:52 AM
Haha!

Chris - Now that baseball card is creative!

I just watched some ESPN Sportscenter. Besides the Hank Aaron tribute which was a surprise, Barry said after the game in an ESPN interview that Bud Selig called him to congratulate him. They showed a clip of Giants owner Peter Magowan who was crying in the stands after the Home Run. I don't know Magowan, but he seemed the only one crying.

Here is an updated article from ESPN about the HR baseball. Brandon Steiner's idea of paying $500 in a 2,000 ticket lottery is a great idea.

Many factors will determine value of No. 756

By Amy K. Nelson
ESPN.com
(Archive (http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://search.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=amy_k_nelson&name=SEARCH_m_archive&srvc=sz))


Updated: August 7, 2007


The value of milestone baseballs has decreased significantly since Mark McGwire (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=1738)'s single-season record 70th home run ball in 1998 fetched a whopping $3 million. The man who purchased that ball was Spawn comic book creator Todd McFarlane. Three years after his big investment, McFarlane saw Barry Bonds (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=3918) one-up McGwire and hit a record 73 homers. McFarlane bid $517,500 for No. 73, but the damage was done: McGwire's ball had been significantly devalued.

Matt Murphy, 22, of Queens, N.Y., came away with the ball Bonds struck for No. 756 on Tuesday night, and now has a chance to use it like a lottery ticket. Though whether Murphy will be able to fetch as much as McFarlane did for Bonds' No. 73, is unclear. "I think it's worth somewhere between $350,000-$500,000," says Brandon Steiner, founder and owner of Steiner Sports memorabilia, the most well-known collector of current-day sports memorabilia.


http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/0807/mlb_ap_mcfarlane_195.jpg AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler
Todd McFarlane and his $3 million baby, Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.




Brian Marren, vice president of acquisitions for Mastro Auctions, the country's largest sports auction house, estimates the ball's worth around $500,000. Mastro sold the Steve Bartman ball a few years ago for $150,000, and doesn't see why Bonds eclipsing Hank Aaron's all-time mark shouldn't go for at least a half-million dollars.


"And Bartman was a foul ball," Marren says.


Mike Heffner, president of Leland's auction house that sold Bonds' No. 73 ball to McFarlane in 2003, thinks the ball could fetch $500,000, or more.

"There's no way of really telling what it's worth," Heffner says. "And with the steroid allegations, it certainly doesn't help."


There are many factors that will contribute to the worth of the ball. Here are a few for Murphy to consider:

Where the ball lands

Most auction houses would have been out of luck if the ball had landed in the bullpen instead of the bleachers, since a fellow player most likely would return the ball to Bonds. Or there was the scenario Padres closer Trevor Hoffman (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4975) suggested: If he had caught the ball, he would have auctioned it off and given the proceeds to San Diego bullpen catcher Mark Merila, who's battling brain cancer. McFarlane said Bonds' No. 72 in 2001 hit off the top of the outfield wall and bounced back onto the field. "After I bought the ball, I reminded Barry that if he had stopped there he'd have his record ball all to himself," McFarlane says. "I tell him maybe I'll bring it to the ballpark now and then and let you take a look at it."

Where the seller chooses to go

Unlike auction houses, which work with the owner of the ball and take a cut of the earnings, Steiner's company would cut a check directly to Murphy. Steiner says he'll likely then sell 2,000 lottery tickets, somewhere in the neighborhood of $400-$500 each, with one lottery winner taking home 756. The remaining 1,999 entrants are each promised a signed ball by a current MLB star. If instead Murphy goes to an auction house, then the house will auction it publicly and take a cut of the sale, most likely a small one since the publicity for the ball will generate income. "We get aggressive too," Marren says. "These names are not private; they're usually in the paper the next day." In other words, Murphy should expect a call if he doesn't call them.

When the seller chooses to put the ball on the market

Nearly all the experts agreed the sooner the better, since the memorabilia market has a short-term memory. "It's all about being en vogue," Steiner says. "That's the risk you take holding onto the baseball. You might miss your opportunity to sell when it's a hot item." All the experts pointed to the case of Walter Kowalczyk, who caught Alex Rodriguez (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5275)'s 500th home run, and who's still debating what to do with it. "The best advice is don't wait too long," Heffner says. "The odds of the value going down are greater."

Whether investors believe A-Rod will eclipse Bonds

As premature as it may sound, Rodriguez's 500th homer on Saturday may have made potential buyers hesitate. Simply put, investors don't want to be labeled the next Todd McFarlane. "[Rodriguez] is a factor in people's minds," Heffner says. "Could this record be broken?" For the serious investor, this might make a huge difference.

Whether the record-breaker is a nice person

Heffner was the lone expert who brought up Bonds' personality as a factor into the ball's worth. "It's one of the most historic balls in baseball history," Heffner says, "It's of great value but would be even greater if it were someone who wasn't perceived as a steroid user, and if he was a nicer person." Heffner felt that those two factors led to the devaluing of the ball. "It should be a million-dollar baseball," he says.

What the values are of the buyer

Both auction house experts agreed that the value of the ball could increase significantly if a bidding war broke out between two companies. The impetus of a company purchasing the ball would most likely be for public relations purposes. Big companies could use it as a promotional tool, for work retreats or other ways of generating interest or buzz for the given company. Or, as both Marren and Heffner point out, the negative value placed on the ball by virtue of Bonds' alleged steroid use could be turned into a marketing tool. "If a company wanted to take advantage of the negative connotation," Marren says, "to make a statement like: We don't agree with steroids. That could bring the value up."

Whether Bonds ever hits another home run again

The experts also were in unison that the most valuable ball is the last one Bonds hits. Barring an injury shortly after he hits 756, the entire league intentionally walking him, or an indictment on federal perjury charges, Bonds will likely hit more than 756. If so, then the final ball he hits out of the park will be the true record, the one which every other player will have to overcome. "I look at [756] very simply," Steiner says. "It will be of good value. It's the last homer of his career that will be worth the most. What's going to happen next year to him?"


No one can answer that question. Bonds' future is uncertain, and while he has publicly said he wants to play next season, Giants owner Peter Magowan has not exactly endorsed his return.


For McFarlane, the man who knows a bit about valuing milestone baseballs, it's pretty simple.


"I don't think it's the ball," McFarlane says. "The ball is the one where he says, I quit, and the last homer he hit is the ball. Plus, what if he [had hit] 756 and 757 in the same game? Say the guy who caught 756 [was] sitting next to the guy who caught 757. He's not the guy with the best ball anymore."


McFarlane says he'll bid a decent amount for No. 756, but he'll bow out once it gets out of his range. But for the final home run of Bonds' career?

"I'll go all-in on that one," McFarlane says.

Buyers beware.


Amy K. Nelson is a staff writer for ESPN.com.

both-teams-played-hard
08-08-2007, 12:22 PM
It makes the bat look "busy", like a Jackson Pollack painting:)

Excuse me while I hijack this Barry lovefest..But, who the f**k is Jackson Pollack?

Vintagedeputy
08-08-2007, 12:25 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock

ripkengamers
08-08-2007, 12:38 PM
I am selling one of my Barry Bonds rookie cards to the highest bidder that I bought when I was in Jr. High School. I for one do not believe that Barry took steroids at any point in his career and believe he will be in the Hall of Fame someday. Attached is a copy of the card.

6644

Haha!


Chris ~

You had the winning bid for the Bonds rookie card. Congratulations. Now that he's broken the record you may also be interested in his current card shown below.
Happy bidding
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

3arod13
08-08-2007, 12:38 PM
My reaction wasn't what I think it should have been for someone breaking the all time HR record. Barry would have pounded out a nice total number of HR's, but I don't believe it would have been enough to break the record. Don't believe Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds would have come close or even broken Roger Maris' season HR record either.

But I also wonder about back in the day. What was available to those players? What could or did they take (if anything) to enhance, and or help their performance? How long has this been going on in baseball?

The media then, compared to today's media is totally different. Today, they look for dirt. Make up dirt. Can't wait to get dirt and blow it up bigger than it is.

Overall, I'm dissapointed being at this milestone and not being as excited as I should be. I wish none of this would ever have happened. As a die-hard baseball fan, it took the wind right out of me. I should be enjoying this milestone much more, instead of enjoying it with an *

Regards, Tony

Jags Fan Dan
08-08-2007, 01:42 PM
My reaction wasn't what I think it should have been for someone breaking the all time HR record. Barry would have pounded out a nice total number of HR's, but I don't believe it would have been enough to break the record. Don't believe Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds would have come close or even broken Roger Maris' season HR record either.

But I also wonder about back in the day. What was available to those players? What could or did they take (if anything) to enhance, and or help their performance? How long has this been going on in baseball?

The media then, compared to today's media is totally different. Today, they look for dirt. Make up dirt. Can't wait to get dirt and blow it up bigger than it is.

Overall, I'm dissapointed being at this milestone and not being as excited as I should be. I wish none of this would ever have happened. As a die-hard baseball fan, it took the wind right out of me. I should be enjoying this milestone much more, instead of enjoying it with an *

Regards, Tony
I agree completely. I am very underwhelmed, and I would feel the same if McGwire, Sosa, or any of the other alleged users had done it.

geoff
08-08-2007, 01:49 PM
Get him to sign the Bonds BP Bat.That would be a cool bat to own for a Bonds Fan if you ever try to sell the bat.

camarokids
08-08-2007, 02:54 PM
I am and have NOT been excited about Bonds hitting 756 .

A friend of mine who does not collect baseball stuff like we do . He tells me , my game used baseball collection is going to be worthless due to Bonds breaking Hammerin' Hanks HR Record and the steroid issue.

I say there will always be collectors who will be wanting to buy if I ever want or needed to sell my collection . But , I like my collection regardless .....

cjmedina1
08-08-2007, 03:59 PM
Chris

Nice work:eek:

Carlie Medina III
carliemedinaiii@sbcglobal.net

AKA=CMIII

godwulf
08-09-2007, 12:51 AM
Hey, do you think Mike Bacsik memorabilia is gonna increase in value now?

Just kidding. :D

Actually, it's not for sale, but I just realized that I have a road jersey Bacsik wore with Team USA during the 2006 Olympic qualifying tournament - the team that beat the Cubans in Havana in the final game. I bought Bacsik's jersey, one from Mark Reynolds (currently the DBacks' starting 3rd Baseman), and the lineup card from the American dugout, that last game against the Cubans. I got Reynolds to sign his jersey for me a couple of months ago, and I considered having him sign the card - he was in the starting lineup that night - but then decided that it ought to be preserved as is.

JasonM33
08-09-2007, 01:15 AM
There was a time in the lat 90's that I thought Barry Bonds was the best all-around player in the moern era. Now I'm not so sure. I'm conflicted about the whole homerun record thing. I'm not really mad about it, but I'm not happy either. The records have been diminished in my opinion. Once these guys started hitting 60 and 70 homeruns after age 35 I lost interest. If they would have kept hitting 40 or 50 I would have been fine with it. I know, I'm a hypocrite. I'm just being honest.

-Jason M

both-teams-played-hard
08-09-2007, 01:24 AM
I realize homers are fun to watch. But to the true baseball fan, would you rather watch Bonds or Ichiro?

bigtime59
08-09-2007, 10:24 AM
I realize homers are fun to watch. But to the true baseball fan, would you rather watch Bonds or Ichiro?

Ichiro, hands down. Chicks may dig the longball, but I'd rather see a triple than a home run any day of the week. Besides, as an Orioles fan, I've virtually forgotten what it feels like to see my team hit a HR! :rolleyes:

bigtime59
08-09-2007, 10:25 AM
I did not see 756. I had just spent the evening in Camden Yards trying to see whether my seat or me melted first. (As it turned out, it was the Orioles' bullpen that melted, but oh, well...)

sportscentury
08-09-2007, 12:37 PM
Excuse me while I hijack this Barry lovefest..But, who the f**k is Jackson Pollack?

Warren,

Pollock was all the rave during the abstract expressionism movement (and has remained pretty famous in the art world). I never cared for his work that much, but some others, such as Willem de Kooning, produced some pretty thoughtful work. I think people liked Pollock as much for his technique as his product, as he would literally fling paint across a huge canvas as it lay on the floor, and the result was a seemingly random spattering of various paint colors (hence the joking reference made in this thread). Somewhere around here I've got a couple of photos of him in action, if anyone cares (though I doubt anyone does). I could never make much (meaningful) sense of his pieces.

Best,
Reid

David
08-09-2007, 01:15 PM
I saw a Pollack painting yesterday at the Seattle Art Museum. Some of his paintings sold for like $50 million plus.

As far as Bonds goes, he hit some of his home runs while using steroids. He admitted this (flaxseed/clear), so that is fact. I'm surprised no one asked him, "Okay, for the sake of argument, let's assume you thought you were using flax seed. How long did you use this flax seed oil?"

His trainer isn't sitting in prison because he doesn't want to say Barry Bonds likes candy canes and The Simpsons reruns.

Okay now, Bonds admitted to the grand jury that his trainer gave his steroids but that he 'thought' it was flax seed. Bonds said never knowingly used nor would use steroids and is the against the use of steroids. He even lectured his son Nokolai against steroids on television. So why, then, does he support and stay friends with and say glowing things about the trainer he paid who slipped him the steroids!?!?! Wouldn't someone like Bonds who was adamantly against steroids (as he claimms) and the use of it being suing Anderson for slipping the steroids? Wouldn't Bonds or you or anyone else report a gym trainer who slipped you steroids to the police and volunteer to to testify against him in court? Isn't supporting the trainer, saying what a great and trusted friend he is, the last thing Bonds or you or anyone else be doing if the slipped you steroids under the name 'flaxseed oil'?

San Francisco fans support him, but if he played for the Mets, Braves, Red Sox or any other team, they would have the same opinion Bonds as the people outside of San Francisco ... I admit that I am not without team loyalty. It's not coincidence that I was raised in Wisconsin and my favorite player is Robin Yount.

geoff
08-09-2007, 01:20 PM
Ichiro has the sweetest swing that I have ever seen.That is why he hits the ball so well.I love the Japanese players swings and have alot of Respect for those guys.

David
08-09-2007, 01:53 PM
One last thing. Bonds admitted he used the clear (steroids) but claimed he thought it was flaxseed and just used it because he trainer gave it to him and said it was flaxseed oil.

Even if one believes Bonds' take on this is honest and correct, how then can he make claims he never used steroids. Even excluding from this equation the above clear incident, he admitted he 'just used what his trainer handed him' and, at least once, mistook flaxseed oil for steroids. This would also obviously mean that Bonds, if honestly mistaken about the flaxseed, used a trainer who was willing and able to slip him steroids under the name of a harmless name.

If Bonds' take is accurate (ignorant, just used the stuff his trainer gave him, didn't know the flaxseed oil was steroids) and Bonds is honest and of normal intelligence, he would have no other choice to deduce that, "It is possible that I unknowingly used steroids other times too."

When Bonds' says "I never took steroids in my career" (excluding the clear incident), that statement is logically against his own take on the flaxseed story. The two don't connect logically.

In a logics class 101, a professor would tell a student that the statements "I don't know what I was using" and 'I never took substance X" are illogical, and one of them has to be wrong.

both-teams-played-hard
08-09-2007, 02:01 PM
Warren,

Pollock was all the rave during the abstract expressionism movement (and has remained pretty famous in the art world). I never cared for his work that much, but some others, such as Willem de Kooning, produced some pretty thoughtful work. I think people liked Pollock as much for his technique as his product, as he would literally fling paint across a huge canvas as it lay on the floor, and the result was a seemingly random spattering of various paint colors (hence the joking reference made in this thread). Somewhere around here I've got a couple of photos of him in action, if anyone cares (though I doubt anyone does). I could never make much (meaningful) sense of his pieces.

Best,
Reid

Reid
You should know that I have a dry sense of humor! "Who the F**k is Jackson Pollack?" is the title of a documentary about a lady who found a supposed, unknown Pollack at a thrift store for $5.
Scroll down on the Pollack wikipage for the link.
Now do you see how funny I think I am?

Warren
http://img107.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/08/09/rockwellconnoisseur-1iik753q.jpg
Who the f**k is Norman Rockwell?
Reid-Go ahead and post the "in-action" photos of Pollack..Do you feel bad about hiijacking a Barry Bonds tribute thread?:)

David
08-09-2007, 02:07 PM
I wish to rephrase the professor, saying "If you don't know what you were taking, how do you know you didn't take sustance X. The only way you could know you didn't take substance X is you know what you were taken."

My point being is that the only way Bonds can say "I know I never used steroids" is if he knows what he was taking. But he also says he didn't know what he was taking. Obviously there is a inherent logical conflict between the two Bonds' stores, and it's impossible for them both to be true. How can you know if you don't know? The answer is, you can't know if you don't know, so don't say you know.

both-teams-played-hard
08-09-2007, 03:25 PM
Somewhere around here I've got a couple of photos of him in action, if anyone cares (though I doubt anyone does).


http://img108.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/08/09/pollackjackson2-47fkzn4vl.jpg
*super rare high number, single-printed.

sportscentury
08-09-2007, 04:05 PM
Warren,

Thanks - unfortunately I'm only half-reading many of these posts/threads due to too much going on here ... Eric emailed me about this and I still missed the reference. What can I say?

I don't feel bad about hijacking this thread (though it was not my intention ... besides you are the one who threw me off!). Actually, these posts are far more polite than how they would read if I expressed what I thought and felt when I watched Barry hit the "record-breaking" homerun. My favorite quote was during the press conference when Barry said "This record is not tainted at all, not in the slightest" or something to that effect. Ummm, what?!?! What color is the sky in his world? Oh yeah... it's green.

By the way, yes, I now completely understand how funny you think you are. Actually, as you know, I've gotten many good laughs out of your posts. Good stuff.

Best,
Reid

allstarsplus
08-14-2007, 09:24 AM
I think the biggest hero of the night has to be Mike Bascik. If anyone saw his on air interview immediately after the at bat and his press conference after the game, you would have been truly impressed with his 100% professional demeanor. He was so happy you'd have thought that he hit the homer himself. He stood head and shoulders above what anyone expected of a pitcher in that situation.

GO NATS!Steiner is doing a signing with Mike Bascik today.

Andrew

allstarsplus
08-15-2007, 10:34 AM
Steiner is doing a signing with Mike Bascik today.

Andrew Footnote to this previous post that the Steiner signing got cancelled.

I was at the Nationals game last night and witnessed one of the largest pre-game crowds in Washington trying to get Mike Bacsik to sign autographs. Mike signed anything anyone wanted for about 10 minutes. The local CBS and NBC affiliates were doing pre-game interviews also as the Nats signed their other #1 pick Josh Smoker (Smoker also signed auto's).

I hadn't read my email from Steiner yesterday afternon saying the Bacsis signing was cancelled so I asked Mike how the signing went in the morning with Steiner, and he said it was cancelled and he is doing a signing on Saturday with "Mounted" and is also considering doing a signing with BarryBonds.com

Outside of Washington, not too many people ever heard of Mike Bacsik before the 756 HR, and some probably couldn't care less now, but this new found fame is amazing to witness.

Andrew