Yes, it's true. Giants fans, who have loved Barry Bonds unconditionally for so many years, and who have sunk so much time and money into rooting for him and buying tickets to see him play, were all wondering what they would do if they caught Bonds' record breaking home run. Would they keep it? Give it to the Hall of Fame? Trade it for an autographed jersey? Sell it and put a down payment on a house?Imagine how Giants fans must have felt when the fan who actually did catch the ball emerged from the crowd wearing ... a Mets jersey and a Mets undershirt.
In the middle of it all was 22-year-old New Yorker Matt Murphy, who emerged from beneath the pile holding the ball Bonds hit for career home run No. 756. His face was bloodied and his clothes stretched and torn from his battle in the bleachers. A team of San Francisco police officers moved in, extracted Murphy from the crowd, and quickly led him through a tunnel and into a secure room.Which brings about a very important question: How in the world was this game not sold out just before the game? A Giants home game with Hank Aaron's record on the line? I, for one, am astonished.As he high-fived other fans, Murphy, wearing a New York Mets jersey and cap, slid the ball into the back pocket of his plaid Bermuda shorts.
Reporters screamed out questions, but all he managed to say was, "I'm Matt Murphy from Queens, N.Y." Murphy and a friend were en route to Australia and in San Francisco for a one-day layover, a Giants spokesman said. They purchased tickets just before the game.
Baseball memorabilia experts have pegged the ball's value at $400,000 to $500,000. That's well below the $3 million fetched by the ball Mark McGwire hit to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998, but still a hefty sum.And probably enough to pay for a trip to Australia. (And in a good point provided by the first comment, enough to pay for what he may have given a scalper for that ticket.)Sorry, No Photos
