Homer No. 64 No Great Catch for O.C. Man

Philip Ozersky got $2.7 million this week for his Mark McGwire home run ball. Jason King got nothing for his.

Ozersky caught the 70th and final home run in McGwire’s record-setting season. King caught McGwire’s 64th home run, a record for all of two days until McGwire hit another homer.

Ozersky cashed in Tuesday at an auction in New York. King is left, well, holding his ball.

“Holding the ball is cool. But, after enough times, it’s just a ball,” said King, 23, who lives in San Juan Capistrano.

It should have been his ticket. Other fans who caught McGwire home runs during his chase of Roger Maris’ record have something to show for their luck--autographs, pictures of McGwire, and in some cases money.

King tried to cash in, but nothing worked. So what went wrong?

His story starts, of course, with the catch, on Sept. 18 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, where the Brewers played McGwire’s St. Louis Cardinals.

King was met by Cardinal officials, who hustled him and the precious baseball away from the crowd. They asked King whether he wished to return it to McGwire.

King told them he would not decide what to do until he shared the ball with family members. He was then surrounded by the media.

“I felt like the president,” King said. “I had 10 cameras in my face. It was crazy.”

While fans who chose to return home-run balls to McGwire received such goodies as autographed jerseys, photo opportunities with McGwire and 1999 Cardinal season tickets, King stashed his ball with his family in Wisconsin.

It’s still there. Without insurance, King said, he’s too scared to move the ball.

He eventually decided to sell it. He retained an agent but fired him, he said, after promises of television appearances and a $200,000 payoff failed to materialize.

At the same auction where home-run ball No. 70 fetched $2.7 million, the 67th and 68th balls sold for $50,000 each. Two balls from earlier in the season also sold: No. 44 went for $27,000, and No. 16 for $20,000.

Of the last 15 home-run balls, seven were given back to McGwire, Cardinal spokesman Brian Bartow said.

Fans returned the two McGwire treasured most--No. 62, the one that broke Maris’ hallowed record, and No. 65, matching the number McGwire’s son, Matthew, had playfully challenged his father to hit.

McGwire donated No. 62 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and, according to Bartow, presented No. 65 to his son.

During and after his record season, McGwire adamantly refused to consider buying any of his home-run balls.

“I don’t think he really has a problem with people profiting from it,” Bartow said. “He just doesn’t understand what drives people to pay for such things. He’s not a memorabilia guy. He doesn’t understand the fascination.”

The Hall of Fame, which does not pay for memorabilia, invited King to donate his ball. They promised to display his picture alongside those of other fans who returned balls to McGwire and to Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, whose 66 home runs also broke Maris’ record.

“It’s a chance for the owner of the ball to share his great catch with the millions of baseball fans that come to the Hall of Fame and to create a legacy for himself,” executive director Jeff Idelson said.

Already pictured is Jason Duncan, a Florida sixth-grader who dove onto a tarp to snag No. 56. So is Deni Allen of St. Louis, who traded No. 60 for the chance to take batting practice with the Cardinals.

King agrees his ball belongs in the Hall of Fame. He’d just like to make a few bucks on the deal.

“I’d like to sell it to a corporation that could donate it to the Hall of Fame,” said King, who wants to work in the film industry. “I’m not exactly in the best financial shape right now.”

After Tuesday’s auction, Ozersky is in pretty enviable financial shape. Like King, Ozersky declined to donate his ball. He hopes the 70th home run ball’s new owner, who has remained anonymous, will.

Said King: “I don’t even have a car, and I’m trying to make it in Hollywood. This is one way I can help myself start my life. I’m not trying to be greedy.”

Perhaps King will find fame in Hollywood. Perhaps he has already had his moment.

“The thing I’ll never forget is the whole experience--the “Sports Center” highlights, the front pages of newspapers,” King said. “There’s no way anybody can take that from me.”

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Ball Market

The $2.7 million auction price for Mark McGwire’s 70th home run demonstrates its value by greatly exceeded what other famous hits fetched.

Mark McGwire’s 70th homer, 1998 season: $2.7 million

*

Henry Aaron’s 755th career homer*: $800,000 bid

Eddie Murray’s 500th career homer: $280,000

Sammy Sosa’s 66th homer, 1998 season: $172,500

First Yankee Stadium homer (Babe Ruth): $126,000

Bill Buckner ball**: $93,500

Sosa’s 33rd homer, 1998 season***: $20,000

Sosa’s 62nd homer, 1998 season: $15,000

* Major league record; ball withdrawn from auction because bid considered too low

** Rolled through Buckner’s legs, allowing Mets to win Game 6 of 1986 World Series, which they also subsequently won

*** 20th homer Sosa hit in June, setting major league record for one month

Source: Times reports; Researched by LOIS HOOKER/Los Angeles Times