Account
Mark McGwire's 70th HR Ball Once Sold for $3M and Is Now Valued at $250-$400K
June 16, 2020
Once one of the most valuable sports memorabilia items in the world, Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season has plummeted in value over the subsequent 22 years.
Per TMZ Sports, two prominent auctioneers value the ball between $250,000 and $400,000.
Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions was on the low end of that spectrum, estimating McGwire's then-record-setting ball to be worth $250,000 to $300,000.
David Kohler of SCP Auctions gave it the same minimum value but believed it could be worth up to $400,000.
McGwire hit two homers Sept. 27, 1998, to reach 70 for the season. Comic book creator and artist Todd McFarlane paid $3 million for the ball at an auction four months later, the highest sale price ever for a piece of sports memorabilia at the time.
Three years after McGwire set the MLB single-season home run record, Barry Bonds broke that mark by hitting 73 in 2001.
McGwire has also admitted to using steroids throughout his career, including during the 1998 campaign. The 12-time All-Star fell off the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot in 2016 after receiving just 12.3 percent of the vote in his final year of eligibility.
