The memorabilia one collector he says he got from Bonds is up for sale after the slugger's unsubstantiated claim that much of it is fake.
Jeff Kranz says he met Barry Bonds in a Cincinnati hotel room prior to a Reds/Giants game in 1993 and paid him $40,000 to autograph 1,000 items -- bats, balls, ticket stubs, and other pieces. After that, Kranz says, he left his full-time job to focus on collecting and reselling Bonds memorabilia.
The business was profitable for over ten years but now, thanks in part to the famous visit by FBI agents and Bonds' ongoing troubles, values have sunk to the bottom of McCovey Cove.
Now, with Bonds under the eye of federal investigators, Kranz is dumping his remaining stock through a Lelands auction. He says Bonds is to blame for a collapse in the market value and feels "betrayed" by the outfielder.
At one time, Kranz nearly had the market cornered on Bonds. According to him, it included:
166 game-used bats
11 game-used fielder's gloves
33 baseball jerseys (Giants and Pirates)
30 pairs of baseball pants
66 pairs of cleats
11 baseball caps and six batting helmets
15 pairs of batting gloves and 20 pairs of wristbands
Long-sleeved and short-sleeved windbreakers
Miscellaneous baseballs
Photos
Lithographs
Ticket stubs of Giants games
All-Star Game and College World Series programs
Sports magazine covers
Wheaties boxes
Baseball cards
Bonds items currently on eBay
