Remembering Eddie Murray’s 500th and the $500K ball that wasn’t

OPINION:

Tuesday, Sept. 6, will always be significant date in Baltimore Orioles — and Major League Baseball — history.

Many people know that Sept. 6 — the year 1995 — was the day that Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games.

Many forget, though, that remarkably, one year to the day later — 20 years ago Tuesday — Ripken’s close friend and teammate Eddie Murray had his own moment of Sept. 6 history when, in a rain-delayed game against the Detroit Tigers, he launched his 500th career home run into the right field bleachers.

It wasn’t quite the glorious night at Camden Yards that it had been the year before, when Ripken, on a beautiful September evening, simply reached the official point in a game where it becomes official, the banners celebrating the lead up to the night dropped on the B&O Warehouse, and Ripken emerged from the dugout for a 22-minute trot around the ballpark, shaking hands and acknowledging family and friends in the ballpark.

Sept. 6, 1996, was rainy night at the ballpark. In those days, with the Orioles in the middle of a surge to win a wild card position in the 1996 playoffs, there were sellout crowds every game at Camden Yards.

Murray had been sitting on 499 for nearly a week, and there was much anticipation on this Orioles home stand for his 500th. The club was ready with confetti and other celebratory tools to mark the moment, and more than 46,000 people were in the ballpark that night hoping to see one of the legendary Orioles — who had left the team in a bitter trade in 1988, only to return as the designated hitter in a deal in July 1996 — accomplish his milestone before Baltimore fans.

In the seventh inning, Murray delivered that moment by slamming a first pitch fastball off Tigers pitcher Felipe Lira. But that moment came late in the night — after a 2 ½ hour rain delay — and only about 25,000 fans were in the ballpark to witness the home run.

Still, Murray seemed to appreciate the moment and its place in Baltimore baseball history. He came out of the dugout and waved to the crowd for several curtain calls during a 10-minute ovation.

Dan Jones may have been cheering more than everyone else.

The Towson salesman had caught the 500th home run ball. Maybe he would get to meet Murray, get a few autographed items in return.

Or, maybe the Psychic Friends Network founder would offer to pay him $500,000 for the ball.

The bizarre week that followed was capped by a press conference at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore with a businessman named Michael Lasky, president and chief executive officer of Inphomation Communications Inc., the infomercial company behind the Psychic Friends Network. Lasky had made on offer for the ball in The Sun in Baltimore.

“I valued it at that number, I have no idea why,” Lasky said. “I’m not a collector. I’m not a baseball fanatic. I just thought that’s what it was worth.”

At the press conference — complete with balloons, a band and an armed guard who brought the ball up to the podium where Lasky and Jones were waiting to complete the deal — Jones gave the ball to Lasky, who in turn presented Jones with a giant facsimile of a $500,000 check.

Lasky, as it turned out, was also known as Mike Warren, a syndicated sports handicapper. And the ball really didn’t go for $500,000. Jones accepted an annual annuity to supposedly be paid over 20 years, that would cost Lasky $280,000 but would grow to an estimated $500,000 over that time.

Jones was asked what he was going to do with the money. “I haven’t had a chance to think about it,” he told reporters. “Call me next week.”

No one has heard from Dan Jones since.

Lasky’s firm filed for bankruptcy two years later, with court documents claimed assets of $1.2 million and liabilities of $26 million. It wasn’t clear then if that bankruptcy affected Jones’ annual payments, but that was likely the last year of the reported $25,000 annual payment to Jones.

The ball? Its last resting place was reported to be the Sports Legends Museum outside Camden Yards.