Some people may sit home and ponder the question, "Why is it such a big deal? It's just another ball." With that being a good question, there is an even better answer.
Sports Memorabilia.
Try asking the owner of Mark McGwire's homerun ball what the big deal is. He"ll gladly tell you 3 million reasons why. Now cards, bats, balls, jerseys and even shoes are part of baseball history. Most of these items exceeding values of most peoples homes. These items are not just baseball history anymore; they are a tangible piece of American history. Take some of these items for example. Previously mentioned Mark McGwire's 70th homerun ball went for $3 million. McGwire's homerun fetched the highest price ever paid for sports memorabilia (Bean, Court TV). .
Next on the sports memorabilia list is shoeless Joes Jackson's Black Betsy Bat, estimated value $577,610. Whether Jackson really helped fix the World Series in 1919 or not, his bat still remains one of the highest priced memorabilia. Jackson part of the infamous 1919 Black Sox team had a batting average of .375 and his bat is currently the highest valued game bat. The next famous bat belongs to Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth is known for notching his bat every time he hit a homerun. Because of this, his bat is placed in Cooperstown at a price of $375,000. With other items reaching prices of $100,000 it's no wonder people want that Barry Bonds homerun ball. With a good question being "Why" I think a $1 million argument is good enough (Bean, Court TV). .
A Night at the Ballpark.
Would you ever think a homerun ball could set off a one minute bleacher brawl? Well, whether you did or not, it happened on October 7, 2001. His line drive ball touched off a minute long mayhem in the right field standing area. This outrageous fight for the ball left one man, Patrick Hayashi, with the ball, and another, Alex Popov, with a grudge (Bean, Court TV).
Fans settle into the same standing area game after game, year after year.
