The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-14
Big Price Paid
 For Ball Hit By ''Rome Run" Baker
Kids in Philadelphia Sold Many Spheres as Original
 Article

That ball which Frank Baker of the Athletics, hit over the fence in Shibe Park, and which brought victory to the Mackmen in the second game of the Worlds series with the Giants,
 already has resulted in the exchange of small fortune, and the chances are that it will be trafficked in during the remainder of the winter Doesn't make any difference where you go in the vicinity of Philadelphia, you find that ball. And it's usually
 for sale. The funny part of it is that
 while you are standing in the heart of the shopping district, admiring THE
 ball, some other fan will be standing upon the outskirts of the city also adTniring a sphere which Baker is
 supposed to have driven over the fence.
 In fact, that ball has appeared in
 so many places at the same time that
 the Philadelphia fans are beginning
 to believe that there is a Frank Bak-
 CT ball,' as the sphere has become
 known, for every Giant broken heart.
 Which are decidedly numerous. Billy Evans tells the tale of how every red-headed boy in Philadelphia is aping a harvest of dollars since Baker slammed the pill over the fence
 out of the park and down the street. You see, it was a red-headed boy WHo captured the Dali, Sdiu E1VdHS. '"That gives every red-headed boy with nerve and a new ball chance to make money" he continued.
 "The ball landed in Twentieth street A red-headed boy was stand ing out and grabbed it. His first inn
 pulse was to toss the sphere into the
 hands of the policeman and come in for the remainder of the game.
 "But he was a wise lad. He knew
 how the game was going, and he was
 just smart enough to figure that the
 mighty home run. would end the game and that he possessed the ball which
 had turned the trick.
 "So he didn't go to the gate. In- stead, he turned and walked up the
 street, and the policeman, being quite
 a fan, took after him. The policeman
 wanted the ball as 2 keepsake, and
 since the policeman gave the kid a
 hard chase the latter was mighty cer-
 tain that. he made no mistake when he
 decided that there were a lot of peo-
 pie who wanted that ball.
 'The next morning it appeared
 Whether it was the real ball or not
 will never be. known. But the papers
 printed a story about the disappear
 ance of the red-headed boy with the ball and the demand was created Every red-headed kid you saw had a ball in his hand.
 I'm the boy what got the ball what Frank Baker mt over the 1ence was the introduction. This is the ball.
 "Then the dictering began. If this fan looked prosperous the kid started at about $25 and came down a lit tie. Of course, he was willing to ac- cept anything upward of $125, the price which he paid for the sphere. And the rage was on. Sometimes the kid didn't even take time to get an American League ball. They would get any old kind. But the ball had to be doctored in one way. It was necessary to clout it with something hard so that there would be just the semblance of a flat spot. This to rep l resent the spot where the bat of the mighty third baseman came in con- tact with the sphere.
 Returning visitors say that the rage is still on. They claim that you can see the identical ball in any DOT ton of Philadelphia. Also that it is on exhibition in the suburbs. Some say that it had cr ssed the Jersey shore.
 "Some of the wild-eyed fans claim to have invested from s3o to $50 Merely another proof that red hair is occasionally lucky