Empty Your Piggy Banks: The Bonds Ball Goes Up for Auction Today

And the big question -- both for Matt Murphy and for baseball enthusiasts everywhere -- remains: how much is the No. 756 ball worth?

Mission Viejo-based SCP Auctions has negotiated exclusive rights to auction off No. 755, the ball that Bonds hit to tie Hank Aaron's home run record, and No. 756, the ball that broke Aaron's record. SCP and Sotheby's, its New York-based partner, will today begin an auction that runs through Sept. 15. The firms expect the price tag for No. 756 to reach $500,000.

What the balls will fetch is up in the air, in large part because of continued but unproven allegations of steroid use by Bonds. Longtime collector, broker and memorabilia show operator Mike Berkus, for example, reported widespread apathy among collectors during the National Sports Collectors Convention that was underway in Cleveland as Bonds closed in on Aaron's record.

Without being utterly serious about something that should be treated lightly, this is yet another instance in which Barry Bonds' swirling cloud of suspicions pollutes an incredible acheivement. We should be gearing ourselves up for an A-Rod-esque bidding war; instead we're lamenting collector apathy, and being apathetic ourselves. Sad, sad.

Well, except for Murphy. He's happy, at least.