Final HR Ball To Be Sold

From USA Today:

The last home run hit at Yankee Stadium will be sold at an auction this weekend in New York after the man who snagged it decided he could use the money to pay off some debt and send his kids to college.

“We talked about it as a family and we said we can keep it locked up in a safe deposit box and when I die the kids can fight over it, or maybe it can go to a good collector with a massive Yankees collection, and we can take the money and do some good with it,” Steve Harshman, of Casper, said.

Harshman, a high school football coach and Republican state lawmaker, said he has heard estimates that the ball will fetch at least $200,000.

He said he wants to pay off a few debts, donate money to his church and charity and help pay for his children’s college educations.

Harshman snagged the ball hit by Yankees backup catcher Jose Molina on Sept. 21. He had traveled to the Bronx with his 11- and 9-year-old sons and his brother to fulfill a lifelong dream of his father, who died six years ago.

“The memory of it, that’s all we went for,” he said. “The memory of going to Yankee Stadium as a family. That’s the key thing.”

Auction house Guernsey’s will auction the ball on Saturday at Madison Square Garden along with other artifacts and memorabilia from the stadium, which is being replaced by a new stadium next year.

“There have been some things we’ve been excited about and the world didn’t share our excitement,” Arlan Ettinger, president of the auction house, said. “… Here, I think everybody agrees this item is of great significance. It’s not the cure for cancer, but in the world of baseball it’s a big deal. But what does that mean?”

Ettinger is optimistic the ball will be a hot item in a sale that will include the original blueprints for Yankee Stadium and the first World Series trophy to be publicly auctioned — the 1912 Boston Red Sox trophy.

Ettinger said it’s possible the person who holds the first home run ball at Yankee Stadium is eager to bookend his or her collection with the final home run ball.

That’s cool, I guess. Hopefully Mark Ecko won’t buy it, stamp an asterik on it and send it to the moon… What’s funny is, I bet Jose Molina never thought he’d hit a home run this season, let a lone one that would end up worthy of a $200,000 price tag.

Blog Bounce: Cracking The Code

Eddie over at Tigers’ Thoughts has been able to crack the Elias Sports Bureau’s calculation system for player rankings, and, with that knowledge, he has produced the probable rankings from the ESB. He has AL pitchers ranked, respectively, and Andy Pettitte was actually the 9th pitcher ranked and a Type A starter.

Who knew?

Mike Mussina was also a Type A player, by the way.

List Of Outfielders

If the Yankees were going to trade for an outfielder, which is a rumor we have heard from a few sources (1, 2, 3), here are a couple of names that will likely come up during the winter, as possible targets (in fact, most of these names have already come up, in some manner or capacity, therefore, I’ll just reiterate them and add a few of my own).

1. Nate McLouth
2. Matt Kemp
3. Andre Ethier
4. Jayson Werth
5. Shin-Soo Choo
6. Franklin Gutierrez
7. Jeremy Hermida
8. David DeJesus
9. Austin Kearns
10. Delmon Young

Well, 1-3 are probably improbable bets, as it would cost a wonderful arm (Phil Hughes) and some speedy legs (Austin Jackson) to nab them (or maybe even a “nonchalant” Cano). Overpaying would be an effective tactic, however, that wouldn’t be optimal, of course, and with Brian Cashman looking to defend his honor and his legacy, I wouldn’t expect any dumb trades (at least not yet).

Numbers 4-7 were recommended by Joel Sherman and the NY Post, so, as with all sources, you’d like a foundation to build these suggestions upon and, right now, there hasn’t been any information to really justify Sherman’s picks. Werth is an anomaly who probably won’t get dealt while Jeremy Hermida will probably be up for grabs (he is on the Marlins, after all). Gutierrez isn’t worth it (he can’t hit righties) and Choo is solid. Therefore, I doubt the Indians would move him, as an outfield that features Choo, Ben Francisco and Grady Sizemore would be pretty nasty.

8-10 are my guys, although only 2 of them—DeJesus and Kearns—seem like valid options. Austin Kearns is coming off of an injury plagued season in Washington and is owed $8 million in 2009. He has a $10 million option in 2010 and a $1 million buyout. He is SO talented, flashing glimpses of that talent in 2002 and 2006, yet he just hasn’t been able to put it all together as he inches towards 30 (he’s 28). His 2007 season was largely disappointing but he did manage to hit .301/.378/.454 on the road, with his overall numbers hindered due to poor home hitting (.228/.330/.365). Maybe a change of scenery could help him, especially with the Nationals having a glut of outfielders. Ever since he was traded to Washington, his progression hasn’t gone as well as it should have.

I’ve stated the case for David DeJesus before, noting his age, affordable price, talent, and fine 2008 season. The final player, number 10—Delmon Young—was thrown in for the hell of it after recently being named as a potential trade candidate. He is a huge talent with innate, raw ability, however, the Twins are looking for young infield help (SS, 3B) and the Yankees aren’t too strong in that particular area (outside of Cano).

So, there you have it. Rumormongering at its best.