The record-breaking Barry Bonds 756 home run ball, which eclipsed Hank Aaron’s all-time record, was sold Saturday in an online auction at scpauctions.com for $752,467.20. The buyer of the historic ball has been identified as Marc Ecko, a prominent fashion designer from New York.
The record-tying 755 home run ball was also sold for $186,750 to a buyer who has so far remained anonymous.
Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run occurred Aug. 7 at AT&T Park in San Francisco off Washington’s Mike Bacsik. The No. 755 home run was hit Aug. 4 off Padres’ pitcher Clay Hensley at San Diego’s Petco Park.
Matt Murphy, 21, a student from Elmhurst, N.Y., who caught and sold the 756 ball, said: “I am very pleased with the result of the Sotheby’s/SCP auction.
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.
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.”
Adam Hughes, 34, a plumber from La Jolla, Calif., who caught and sold the
755 ball, said: “I am very happy with the way things turned out. Selling the ball in the online auction was the best course of action for me. I wish the new owner all the best with the ball.”
Commenting on the auction, Dan Imler, managing director of SCP Auctions,
said: “We were thrilled with the response we received from collectors worldwide interested in the 755 and 756 baseballs. The interest expressed was befitting the achievement of perhaps the most hallowed record in sports.”
“We were very pleased to be a part of this historic sale of one of baseball’s most coveted records,” said Lee Dunbar, senior vice president of Sotheby’s. “Sotheby’s and SCP Auctions strive for nothing but the best in the field of sports memorabilia for its collectors.”
SCP Auctions, Inc. has been a leader in auctions and private sales of important sports memorabilia and cards since 1979. The Southern California-based firm conducts regular auctions in partnership with Sotheby’s. The Sotheby’s/SCP Auctions partnership has handled some of the most significant individual items and prominent collections in their field, such as the record-setting sale of Babe Ruth’s bat used to hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium (sold for $1.265 million), The original 1919 Contract of Sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees (sold for $996,000), and the private collections of Hall of Famers such as Honus Wagner, Tony Lazzeri, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, Casey Stengel, Pee Wee Reese, and Ernie Banks.
