WPRO’s Gene Valicenti spoke with Mike Shuster, the Warwick man who caught Alex Rodriguez’s 660th home run at Fenway May 1.
A-Rod’s home run ties him with Willie Mays for fourth on the MLB’s all-time list.
Shuster says he was approached by a man to sell the ball for $10,000 cash. Shuster turned it down.
“Somebody was prepared for the moment at the game,” said Shuster.
“But you turned it down?” asked Gene.
“When somebody walks up to you with that amount of cash you figure it’s probably a good idea to walk away” replied Shuster.
Shuster said he went to the game because he heard Mays’ record could be tied that evening and figured it would be worth it to see MLB history; even if he is a Red Sox fan. He says after he caught the ball he was immediately flagged down by Fenway personnel.
“Fenway Park has a very regimented and strict policy and procedure in place for this,” said Shuster “I turned around after I came to after I realized what happened and I had a flagger pointing at me.”
He says he was then taken down to the Yankees clubhouse to negotiate a price for the ball.
“They offered me an A-Rod bat or a David Ortiz bat.”
“Free parking in the Bronx is all they offered you?” asked Gene.
“That’s the price of free parking in the Bronx,” laughed Shuster.
Shuster believes the ball is worth falls somewhere between the $30k to $50k range; perhaps $100k at the highest. However he says he won’t part with the memorabilia just yet.
“I also see it as a market game where the ball is not worth a lot today […] if these steroid guys don’t get barred [from the hall of fame] then the perception might change overtime.”
He is considering having the ball autographed ball A-Rod to increase the value.
