Bonds' No. 756 ball generates more than orginally estimated

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run ball was auctioned Saturday for $752,467, well more than the estimates by memorabilia experts.

Home run No. 755, the ball that tied the record, went for $186,750, according to Sotheby's/SCP Auctions. Both final prices included the winning bid plus a 20 percent buyer's fee, according to the auction houses handling the sale.

Bonds broke Aaron's record of 755 with a shot into the right-center field seats on Aug. 7 off of Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik in San Francisco.

Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a scuffle with the record-breaking ball after paying $100 for a $12 ticket during a layover on his way to Australia from his hometown.

"I had hoped to keep the ball, but when I determined that was not the best strategy at this stage of my life, this definitely was the right decision," Murphy said in a statement released after the sale. "It is an honor to be a part of baseball history and I wish the new owner well with whatever they elect to do with the ball."

Experts had predicted the ball that tied Hank Aaron's home run record would fetch about $200,000, and that the record-breaker would be sold for least $500,000.

"I feel like I did the right thing with it," said Adam Hughes, 34, a plumber from La Jolla who came up with No. 755 in the left-center field seats in San Diego on Aug. 4.

Hughes said that after taxes and auction house fees, he expects to take home about $90,000 from the sale. He said he would probably invest some of the money and use some of it to help out a cousin who just started college. He might also go on a cruise, he said.

Both buyers did not want to be identified, said a spokesman for SCP Auctions.

While the price for No. 756 exceeded expectations, the ball did not come close to the $3 million that was paid for St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire's single-season home run record ball in 1998.

Most memorabilia experts believe Bonds' last career home run, which will set the new record, will garner more than $1 million.

Source:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3022027

Hughes said that after taxes and auction house fees, he expects to take home about $90,000 from the sale. He said he would probably invest some of the money and use some of it to help out a cousin who just started college. He might also go on a cruise, he said.

God damn taxes are a !!. [pic]

lol yea taxes always get ya

that 3 mill for mcgwire's was just stupid ridiculous & ppl learned from that auction

If Arod breaks it his will go for more by far

wtf...500,000 turns into 90,000? how...under any circumstances...

pwned.

That's for the 755 ball not the record breaking ball. It was 180k to 90k.