This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/31/2021
Perhaps no big league team had a more dramatic change of home ballpark than the San Francisco Giants did in 2000. That season, the Giants said goodbye to Candlestick Park and inaugurated the brand new, state-of-the-art Pacific Bell Park. Ever since it was built in 1960, old Candlestick had been dogged by constant complaints from fans because of the poor seating plan, bitterly cold weather conditions, and lack of any distinctive features that made it uniquely San Francisco. All those concerns were addressed in the design of Pac Bell, specifically when it came to distinctive features, for the backdrop of the new ballpark was San Francisco Bay. With the water tantalizingly close just beyond the outfield wall, it was only a matter of time before someone hit a ball into the bay – and everyone knew that someone was Giants’ slugger Barry Bonds.
It only took nine games for Barry Bonds to pole one into the drink. In the first homestand, Bonds hit three homers, but none reached the area of the bay now dubbed “McCovey Cove.” In their second home stand, Bonds added two non-wet homers before he finally did the trick on May 1, 2000, against the New York Mets. The blast came in the 6th inning against Rich Rodriguez. With two men on base, Bonds teed off on Rodriguez’s first pitch and sent the ball over the right field wall and out into the San Francisco Bay. Out on the water, Joe Figone and several other industrious boaters anxiously awaited the first water-bound ball. Listening in on a portable radio, Figone was tipped off that a Bonds home run ball was on its way. With fishing net at the ready, Figone piloted his Giants flag festooned dingy over towards the stadium wall to be in the right place at the right time to fish out the historic first Pac Bell Bay ball.
This is that historic home run ball and the radio Joe Figone used to get the tip on the approaching ball. The Rawlings Official Major League Bud Selig ball shows great game use. There is surface wear and abrasions present and overall toning, just as expected on a Bonds water-borne home run ball. The radio has been authenticated by the firm of Arthur Anderson, which was responsible for all authentication during the 2000 time period. As such, the number on the certification sticker does not come up in the new MLB Authentication database. There is, however, solid provenance on the ball and the individual who scooped it out of the cove. The lot is accompanied by the radio as well.