The Ball

"In a small factory in Costa Rica, a worker stitches about fifty cents' worth of tanned cowhide over a tightly wound mass of string and rubber and sticks it in a box. Nine months later, that same sphere is auctioned for three million dollars. This book tells what happened in between - how that ball, now bearing secret infrared markings, found its way into an umpire's pocket, up to a pitcher's mound, off Mark McGwire's bat, into Phil Ozersky's glove, and then into Time, Newsweek, People, USA Today, Tonight with Jay Leno, and a bulletproof Plexiglas box guarded like the Hope diamond. It becomes the target of every fantasy about heroes, marketing, and money. Donald Trump gives it a press conference. The IRS threatens to tax it. One man wants to chop it up into a million pieces to be sewn into collectible dolls. Another who made zillions in comic books covets it. And at the heart of the story is the real hero, Phil Ozersky, who just wants to meet McGwire and then do a little good with the money."--Jacket.