Thursday. September 17. 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 5
Record ball not returned
Fan made catch wants exchange from McGwire
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — A lot of preparation went into catching Mark McGwire's 63rd home-run ball, and the fan who has it is considering cashing in.
"The ball is worth something to someone, and I'd like to have something for it myself," said John Grass, 46, of St. Louis. "Whatever happens, I got what I wanted."
Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said he didn't expect the team to do any negotiating.
"I don't know how you would figure out what it's worth." Jockeyty said. "It might not be worth much, depending on how many home runs he hits."
Grass is the first fan since McGwire hit his 55th home run who has not surrendered the ball. McGwire didn't appear concerned about it.
"That's all right," he said. "He can keep it."
Grass, a groundkeeper for a St. Louis area school district, said he hoped to meet McGwire and determine the value of the ball.
"He makes millions of dollars," Grass said. "I don't think there is anything wrong with something coming to me."
McGwire has given autographed jerseys and bats to other fans who have returned the home-run balls. Grass said he wanted to wait to see
if he got any offers for the ball. In the meantime, he is putting it in his safe deposit box.
"I saw it all the wav." he said.
In May, Grass and a friend bought four bleacher tickets for every St. Louis Cardinals game in September. The investment paid off for Grass, who said the ball came right to him in the eighth row of the bleachers beyond the left-center field wall.
Grass said he wasn't concerned about the value of the ball.
Grass said that several fans pushed and shoved him in an effort to pry the ball loose but that he quickly was surrounded by police, who gave him an escort.
After the game, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa walked by Grass and had a two-word comment: "Nice catch."
Fans visiting Hall of Fame set nine-year patron record
The Associated Press
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The chase by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa for baseball's home-run record has helped rejuvenate interest in the Hall of Fame, where attendance is up for the first time in four years.
"I think it has a lot to do with a general good feeling with baseball this year," said Ken Meifert, director of sales at the Baseball Hall of Fame. "There's a lot of good things going on."
As of Sept. 14, more than 256,000 fans had visited the Hall of Fame, up about 7 percent from about 240,000 on the same date in 1997. It is the first increase since the strike in 1994.
"The last few days have been outstanding," Meifert said. "Since the record was broken, we've really been doing well."
The hall's attendance record of 410,000 was set in 1989 during its 50th anniversary. Meifert said.
An exhibit in the hall's atrium tracks the McGwire-Sosa home-run chase and has the bats and uniforms that Sosa, McGwire and Roger Maris wore when they hit their record-tying and record-breaking home runs.
Also, the New York Yankees have been threatening to break the 1906 Chicago Cubs' record of 116 wins in a season, which has generated even more interest. Mefert said.
"This has been pretty exciting here," he said.
Home-run hits bring ups, downs
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Deni Allen, the St.
Louis Cardinals fan who caught
Mark McGwire's 60th home run
ball, is having trouble sleeping.
So is John Witt, the Chicago man who snagged Sammy Sosa's 61st home-run ball.
But the two blame their sleep deprivation on different reasons.
Witt has been too excited to sleep. He sold the baseball to a Chicago sports collector for $7,500.
Allen, 22, has spent some sleepy nights because he figures he
Witt's a veteran Chicago Cubs "ballhawk" who estimates he's snagged about 1,700 balls on Wave-
land Avenue outside Wrigley Field since the early 1980s. Of those he caught, Sosa's was the most valuable.
"I just got a divorce, and I really needed that money," said Witt, an unemployed father of two who lives in Dixon, Ill., about 100 miles west of Chicago.
He only wishes Sosa had reached 61 home runs before Mark McGwire had. Had that happened, Witt said his ball might have fetched $250,000 to $300,000 at auction.
autographed bats and balls and the opportunity to take some swings at a Cardinals batting practice.
He said he started losing sleep when reality sank in.
Allen has had a different experience. He gave the ball back to McGwire in exchange for a few
"When I heard that ball might have fetched $250,000 in an auction, I just felt — uggggh." Allen said, shaking his head.
"I was definitely drunk with excitement," Allen said. "I was really caught up in the whole Big Maceess."
But he now wishes he could have the moment, if not the ball, back.
Witt said he respected Allen's choice. But, he concedes, even if he had been younger and without financial responsibilities, he
doubles he would have donated the ball to a millionaire ballplayer.
Meanwhile, Allen's been dreaming up scenarios to take the financial sting out of his decision.
"It was my ball and my decision to sell it," he said. "If people want to call me greedy, that's their problem."
He'd like the St. Louis Cardinals, or Mark McGwire, to consider compensating those who returned valuable home-run balls Nos. 60, 61 and 62.
"The Cardinals have a wonderful opportunity that comes once in history to do the right thing," he said. "But I won't insist on it."
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