How Much Could this Ball Net at an Auction?
As Barry Bloom of MLB.com writes, David Wells has an old, grainy, yellowing baseball that he purchased for $7,000 with a Babe Ruth signature scrawled across the sweet spot. Since the purchase, he had Hank Aaron sign the ball during a Padres trip to Atlanta, and on Sunday, he added the name of Barry Bonds in the left fielder's unmistakable script.
It's largely assumed that Wells now possesses the only ball that has the signatures of the top three all-time Major League home run hitters on it.
Another hypothetical question on this slow day...
Put yourself in David Wells' shoes - and let's assume that your objective is to land the largest possible pay-day from this ball...would you sell the ball now? Or, would you take a wait-and-see approach? By "wait-and-see" approach, I'm implying that A-Rod may eventually be a desirable fourth name (if he does, indeed, stay healthy and hit 800 HR's) to be scratched alongside the other three.
Also, would Willie Mays' name drop the value of the ball as it currently stands? Personally, I think Mays' signature would hurt the ball's value. Why? Because Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds (in a few days) have all held the honor of "Home Run Champ" at one point or another. While Mays is one of the 3 greatest players of all-time, his 660 career home runs never upheld the aforementioned distinction. Again, I'm simply viewing this question from an investment perspective.
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