Authenticate This

Anonymous emailer brings this article to my attention about how MLB will not authenticate baseballs hit by Bonds that could eventually be homer #715.

When Barry Bonds hits home run No. 715 and moves into second place on the all-time list behind Hank Aaron, the lucky fan who catches the ball might have a hard time proving it's the real thing.


That's because Major League Baseball won't authenticate any of the baseballs the Giants are using.

"He's not approaching the record," said league spokesman Pat Courtney by way of explanation, reiterating baseball's stance that the passing of Babe Ruth's milestone of 714 career home runs is not a valid cause for celebration. "We will revisit doing the ball authenticating when he approaches the record."

In 1998, as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa approached Roger Maris' single-season record of 61 home runs, league officials made sure the baseballs being used in Cardinals and Cubs games were numbered and included holograms to eliminate any doubt that the record-breaking ball could be identified. They did it again in the final week of that season so McGwire's final home run could be authenticated.

And the league marked and authenticated the balls being used in Giants games three years later as Bonds was passing McGwire's single-season record of 70 home runs.

Courtney said that the league isn't expecting as much of a fight for the ball in the stands this time around, at least compared with what took place during the McGwire, Bonds and Sosa single-season home run assaults. But others disagree.

Michael Barnes, the broker who assisted the families of those who caught the key Sosa, McGwire and Bonds home run balls, says Bonds' home run No. 715 baseball likely will be worth between $25,000 and $50,000.

This is strange, considering that Bonds would supplant Ruth as the all time homers leader for a lefty. Aaron is a righty and the all time leader. Unless MLB is going to strike all his homers, this doesn't make any sense since 715 would be a record breaker, though not the ultimate home run leader.

All of this relates back to the steroid mess, and since MLB has botched its handling of performance enhancing drugs for years, this is only an additional manifestation of MLB's poor performance in policing itself.