If you catch No. 715, don't quit your job

(Aaron Bracy) - Don't make any plans for retirement if you happen to catch Barry Bonds' 715th home run this weekend at Citizens Bank Park.

According to two leading sports memorabilia experts, it is highly unlikely that the home run ball that moves Bonds past Babe Ruth into second place on the all-time home run list will fetch the millions some have said it might.

But it still will pad some lucky person's pockets.

The record price for any baseball is the $3.1 million paid for Mark McGwire's 70th home run in 1998, then a single-season record. Bonds' 73rd homer that broke McGwire's mark in 2001 went for $450,000.

No. 715 likely won't get that much, partly because of the perception that Bonds used steroids to break the record.

"If there was no suspicion of guilt, it would be one of the most valuable balls imaginable," said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, Inc. in Exton, Pa. "The perception sometimes is just as important as facts and, fairly or not, his reputation has been damaged."

Hunt predicts the record ball will be sold for "several hundred thousand" dollars. He said the tying ball, No. 714, likely would sell for at least 50 percent less.

Jared Weiss, president of Steiner Sports Marketing & Memorabilia in New Rochelle, N.Y., expects a smaller return, estimating "50-60 thousand" for No. 715 and "10-15 thousand" for No. 714.

"The character of the person and how they relate to fans directly correlates to what memorabilia goes for," Weiss said.