Original post

And the winner is....

Ok, so Mr. Bendy is the highest bidder. Since the post is no longer on the front page, and it has been 5 days, I think it fair to award the winning bid to Mr. Bendy.

This ball has some miles on it. Let's see....

The Dan Giese autograph: Yankee Stadium, A's and Yankees, I was near the A's bullpen area during batting practice and several players were out on the field. I said to Dan as he walked by..."Hey, this is better than selling used cars!" Dan smiled and walked over and started telling me how he was selling used Hondas and Mercedes. Nice guy, gladly signed.

Dallas Braden: The magic phrase with Dallas is "209". Dallas walked all the way over from center field and signed for me out of the whole crowd and walked away. I tried it again at the A's game the other day and he threw me a ball. I love Dallas. Mancrush!

Andrew Bailey: We chatted for a bit and he was the typical wide-eyed rookie walking onto the hallowed ground of Yankee Stadium.

Santiago Casilla: He doesn't speak english well, but he recognizes Oakland fans on the road!

The rest of the autographs were all collected at the A's Slegna game the other day where Jon threw out the first pitch.

I hate parting with this ball. I had intended to outbid anyone and keep it, but that seemed a bit self-serving. So, what I will do is award the ball to Mr. Bendy with a winning bid of $150 and I will match Mr. Bendy with a donation of $150.

So, Mr. Bendy, do me a favor: Paypal Nico or send him a check for $150 and let  me know where to send the ball, or where we can meet up. $300 more for Jon's recovery. Some more AN love for the Wilhite family!

Mrs. Wilhite, Jon, Kurt and Mike Wilhite

Kurt and Jon

Mr and Mrs Wilhite, Jon and some guy in a funny red suit (not Santa)

Jon stylin' in the dugout. There were LOTS of media people!

Go A's! Thanks again to AN, to Nico for spearheading the charge for AN and to my lovely girlfriend for all the pics!