Josh Hamilton's 2nd home run ball from 4 home run game on 5/8/2012

[schubert1970]

First of all, I would have posted this sooner, but I wanted to have the ball in hand and the day I received the ball I left for a vacation with my family.

I happen to be on the phone with a friend who used to frequent this site (Steve Mears) while the Ranger game was on TV and we were talking about my Josh Hamilton 2008 road jersey I picked up off ebay and how I was able to photomatch it to the front of a Sports Illustrated.

I was telling Steve how much I like Hamilton and how he had hit a home run in the game tonight in Baltimore already. Just then, BANG! He hits ANOTHER one. A kid (over 18 years of age) caught the ball and they were showing a close up shot of him on TV.

Just then I was thinking wow, I actually have a friend who's at the game tonight in Baltimore. Steve asked if I could call or e-mail him. Steve was telling me WHAT IF Josh Hamiltonhits 4 home runs tonight??" I was like "Yeah, that won't happen, but having an authentic home run ball of his to display with my Sports Illustrated cover photomatched jersey SURE would be cool!" Also, this was his third home run in a row if you count the home run from the previous night. Steve insisted I e-mail my friend and give it a shot. As he said, what's the chance of having this opportunity again, a friend at a game all the way across the states, where a guy I collect hit a home run in a multi-homer game? AND, I can identify the fan who caught the ball?

So I e-mailed my friend we then connected over the phone. Luckily for me, I had Tevo'd the game.I rewound it to the close up of the kid, clicked a screen shot picture of him,emailed it to my friend's cell phone and asked him to "GO FIND" this kid where Josh hit the home run. He said he'd give it a shot.

About 10 minutes goes by, and my phone rings. It's my friend at the game. HE FOUND THIS KID, PROUDLY CLINGING ONTO THAT HAMILTON HOME RUN BALL. My friend knew about how much I would offer so he negotiated a cash deal for the ball. Then my friend, knowing that having proof was paramount, drew up a letter of affidavit and took some pictures of the kid's ID and the ball. HE GOT THE BALL FOR ME!!! His second home run of the night.

Then, the truly incredible part happened. Or so I thought. While my friend was having this kid sign the letter to finish the deal, Josh Hamilton hit a THIRD home run. Now it was a seriously good night, having one of his home runs from a three home run game!

So after my friend calls me and tells me "It's a done deal, I have yourhome run ball for you", I called back Steve. I told him what I had pulled off on his suggestion. He again jumped at me with "BILL, it's the 8th inning and Baltimore can't keep the Rangers off the bases. HAMILTON WILL GET UPONE MORE TIME IN THE TOP OF THE NINTH. HOLD YOUR BREATH. IF HE HITS ANOTHER HOME RUN, YOU'LL HAVE A MAJOR PIECE OF HISTORY!"

I laughed it off and figured again, what are the odds? Forget it. In any case,I was Tevo'ing the game so I would have it on tape. We weren't watching every second of the game, and lost track of the time.

Then suddenly my phone rings. I missed the call. I saw it was Steve. My heart started beating. I quickly hit redial thinking something happened, otherwise WHY would he be calling me back?

The last thing I remember is the ringing in my ears as he answered, screaming in my ear "YOU CRAZY LUCKY (enter a word that closely rhymes with"bass" and "heard"), JOSH HAMILTON HIT A SIDE-ARMED 0-2 PITCH OVER THE CENTER FIELD WALL!!! HE DID IT!!! YOU HAVE A PIECE OF HISTORY!!!!"

I can't wait to get this ball and take it to a signing one day and have Josh Hamilton sign it for me in person. I will tell him what it is, and show him allof the proof. I can't wait to hear his reaction. I'm simply numb, on cloudnine.

This whole thing ranks up there with my Rose bat. A bit of luck never hurts.

The first two pics were taken just before the bill of sale was signed (4th or 5th inning).
The last two pics are when I received the ball and bill of sale.

I blacked out the name and ID of the seller.

[schubert1970]

One last thing I forgot to mention. When I received the ball, I saw a huge dirt mark on the side panel. Much darker looking than from the initial pics I received.

I watched the at bat again and just before the home run, the O's catcher tried to pick off the runner at first and threw the ball into the dirt, then it skipped off the bag. I guess the pitcher or ump never asked to replace the ball.

[marino13]

It's a great story!

As far as paper works and hi-res pictures from the "act of catching that HR baseball" - those are all good and so forth. But, there will be doubt!


(for having season ticket at Yankee stadium - field level outfield) I know more than enough fans and close friends who have HR baseball in their possession - Arod, Jeter, Cano, Posada and so forth. Most of them think they have valuable item on hand - to some extend, they do. But then again, it is all hearsay to everybody else.


it is a sad truth but that exactly what it is.


When are they going to put authenticator in the stand where potential HR baseballs will be landed? I know I would pay premium for those!


(And yes, I know the Tigers are the only team so far who are authenticating HR baseballs)

[schubert1970]

It's a great story!

As far as paper works and hi-res pictures from the "act of catching that HR baseball" - those are all good and so forth. But, there will be doubt!


(for having season ticket at Yankee stadium - field level outfield) I know more than enough fans and close friends who have HR baseball in their possession - Arod, Jeter, Cano, Posada and so forth. Most of them think they have valuable item on hand - to some extend, they do. But then again, it is all hearsay to everybody else.


it is a sad truth but that exactly what it is.


When are they going to put authenticator in the stand where potential HR baseballs will be landed? I know I would pay premium for those!


(And yes, I know the Tigers are the only team so far who are authenticating HR baseballs)

I guess your right, but you could doubt the guy putting the holo on the ball didn't placed it on the right ball and pocketed the real ball. You can add doubt to most any game used items.

Here are a few cool Getty pics of the second home run. You can see the dirt stain and a blurry image of the Oriole logo on the ball.

[marino13]

I guess your right, but you could doubt the guy putting the holo on the ball didn't placed it on the right ball and pocketed the real ball. You can add doubt to most any game used items.

Here are a few cool Getty pics of the second home run. You can see the dirt stain and a blurry image of the Oriole logo on the ball.

I know that authenticator can be lazy at times but adding "fraud" to the equation, now that is something I have not seen (two different items with the exact milestone).


$500 was more fair for the baseball - I paid $300 and $200 for a HR baseball from Arod (during his 600th chase) and Jeter, respectively.


Along with the HR baseball, I also have the ticket stub, security's affidavit as he witnessed as such, a hi-res video image from the celebration AND the sellers ARE my friends! I dont have any intention to sell these HR baseballs but when I have a chance to get them signed at a later date, that would be a cool story to tell.

[schubert1970]

I know that authenticator can be lazy at times but adding "fraud" to the equation, now that is something I have not seen (two different items with the exact milestone).


$500 was more fair for the baseball - I paid $300 and $200 for a HR baseball from Arod (during his 600th chase) .

I actually paid him $800. Which I think was a fair price.

[SaintsGeaux]

I know that authenticator can be lazy at times but adding "fraud" to the equation, now that is something I have not seen (two different items with the exact milestone).


$500 was more fair for the baseball - I paid $300 and $200 for a HR baseball from Arod (during his 600th chase)

I just watched the HR on my MLB.TV subscription. The guy grabs the ball and throws one on the field. Are you nervous you were duped? It looks like some other guy hands him a ball to throw back.

Never seen a HR ball with a dirt smudge unless it landed in the bullpen. I did rewind to confirm the throw to 1st by the catcher but if Im negotiating sight unseen I would have been nervous.

If Hamilton hits no more HRs in the game the ball in my mind isn't worth much more than a $100 it 2.

Marino, you paid $200 for a Jeter HR ball and $300 for a ARod HR ball which sounds about right given the uncertainty on Authenticity.

I would have given $100 tops for the Hamilton at the time. Too much doubt until you can research. Now given the historically significant events, and Schuberts research, it looks solid.
Congrats Schubert1970

[Rob L]

Incredibe piece of history! Congrats. A collection centerpiece. I have one of only seven authenticated baseballs thrown by Randy Johnson for his 300th win which is a centerpiece of my collection!

Congrats again.

[schubert1970]

Incredibe piece of history! Congrats. A collection centerpiece. I have one of only seven authenticated baseballs thrown by Randy Johnson for his 300th win which is a centerpiece of my collection!

Congrats again.

Thanks! It's definitely going to stay as the centerpiece of my collectionfor a long time.

[schubert1970]

Someone asked me to post a pic of the ball showing the Oriole 20th anniversary logo.