Bat Turns Him Into the Sultan of Debt

Retired truck driver Larry May was thrilled when he won a bat signed by Babe Ruth in his last appearance at Yankee Stadium in a contest this year.

But now his prized possession is on the market. May says he can’t afford the $35,000 in taxes that go with it.

He tried the online auction site eBay, but the highest bid to come in by Friday’s deadline was $18,700. The bat has been appraised at $107,000.

May rejected the eBay bid--and two telephone offers that approached six figures. He also turned down a bid from hall of famer Bob Feller, who also signed the bat.

“It’s a one-shot deal, and we have to handle it right,” May said. “I think I know better than to throw it away.”

Said Dave Bushing, a Chicago-based buyer and authenticator for Mastro Fine Sports, an auction house: “You can’t justify keeping an item where taxes are three years’ salary. It’s almost a curse to win it.”

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Add Ruth: After he died in 1948, his net estate was worth $360,811.

It included $78,017 in U.S. savings bonds and a trust fund established in 1927 that was appraised at $179,611.

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Trivia time: Who was the last Laker to win the NBA’s rookie-of-the-year award?

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Hot team: Minnesota Twin center fielder Torii Hunter on fan reaction to the team’s fast start:

“Now it’s getting crazy. A couple of us were in the Mall of America the other day, and we see this guy just running past the stores, and it turns out he was running to come see us. He shook our hands and thanked us for bringing baseball back to Minnesota. Then I was at my dry cleaner, and I pulled out my MasterCard and the guy goes, ‘Wow, are you Torii Hunter who plays for the Twins?’

“It was so great. Man, it feels like we’re the Yankees or something.”

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Skull blade: Triathlete magazine recently featured a new product, HeadBlade, a razor designed for those who shave their heads.

“[It’s] great for the triathlete looking to eschew the pool swim cap for a sleeker, aquadynamic presence in the water,” the magazine says.

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Life saver? Joe Concha, writing for https://FoxSportsBiz.com, says moving the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to the last weekend in January would save lives, in addition to making the Super Bowl weekend a three-day party.

His theory is that because alcohol is present at most Super Bowl parties, Americans wouldn’t rush to get home Sunday night--possibly driving while impaired--because the following day wouldn’t be a work day.

“Undoubtedly, drunk driving accidents would be curtailed,” Concha writes.

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Looking back: On this day in 1987, Alysheba and jockey Chris McCarron won the Preakness Stakes, finishing half a length ahead of Bet Twice, who was also second in the Kentucky Derby.

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Decisions, decisions: Jay Larkin, Showtime vice president, on the possibilities facing new heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman:

“If Hasim fights Mike Tyson and wins, Hasim Rahman becomes the hottest property on the planet, right up there with Tiger Woods. If he fights [Lennox] Lewis and wins, nothing has changed in his life.”

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Trivia answer: Elgin Baylor, in 1958-59, with the Minneapolis Lakers.

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And finally: Ready for bridge as an Olympic sport? The World Bridge Federation reports it is working to be included in the 2006 Winter Games at Turin, Italy.

And what of the doping issue? The WBF Web site adds: “The WBF doping regulations are in conformity with the Olympic Movement Medical Code.”