Historic Game-Used Items
Mark McGwire 70th home run ball (1998)
Purchased by Todd McFarlane for $3M, the McGwire 70 set the all-time price for a single baseball — though subsequent revelations about the era have repriced the historical narrative.
- Sale price
- $3.00M
- USD · hammer + buyer's premium
- Sale date
- January 12, 1999
- Venue
- Guernsey's
- Authentication
- MLB-authenticated, holographic seal.
Provenance
Caught by Phil Ozersky in Section 282 at Busch Stadium, September 27, 1998.
Condition
Pristine; ball was holographically marked the instant it returned to play.
Editorial note
Purchased by Todd McFarlane for $3M, the McGwire 70 set the all-time price for a single baseball — though subsequent revelations about the era have repriced the historical narrative.
Sources cited
Guernsey's archive January 1999
auction house
Sports Illustrated: 'McGwire ball auction'
trade press
Reported figures reflect publicly-cited hammer + buyer's premium as of source date. May differ slightly from auction-house internal records. Educational reference, not appraisal.
Comparable comps
Similar items in the Field Index.
Curated by the editors as relevant comparable sales — same category, same era, or same authentication tier. Useful for triangulating value when no single comp answers the question.
Barry Bonds 756th home run ball (2007)
Historic Game-Used Items
$752K
September 15, 2007
SCP Auctions · MLB-authenticated, holographic seal.
Hank Aaron 715th home run baseball
Historic Game-Used Items
$650K
July 12, 1999
Guernsey's · Documented chain-of-custody from grounds crew, MLB-witnessed.
Going further
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