The story is widely disseminated by now, but just in case: Barry Bonds was chicken-blocked by a crew of old Dodgers at a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Totally adding fuel to the rivalry fire, Bonds was denied service because of a group of caravaning Dodgers greats already in attendance. So Barry signed some autographs outside for awhile, until somebody asked him to sign “on the sweet spot” of a ball.

The entire event was relayed in the blog Vin Scully is my Homeboy, and the blogger’s affinity for “toast bread” was discussed on Deadspin, making it the most famous piece of toast … ever.

But forget about toast, this story was all about the sweet spot. Who knew such a seemingly innocuous request could send the home run king scampering back to his very large home? Here’s more about the sweet spot from WikiAnswers:

The sweet spot is the shortest distance between two seams on a baseball. This location on the baseball is the most preferred for signatures by collectors because it is centered as to the point of view, and pleasing to the eye when displayed. The other “sweet spot” is were the manufacturing stamping is placed on the ball.

Sure enough, a quick perusal online shows sweet spot balls are worth more. So next time you see Barry on the street, take the chance and ask him to sign on the sweet spot. Say you didn’t know anything about it until the Roscoe’s event.

The carats tell the story:

Barry Bonds in the sweet spot: $529.

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Roger Clemens in the sweet spot and Barry Bonds off the sweet spot: Starting at $200.

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Some guy scribbling Barry Bonds’ fake signature on a ball and putting in on eBay: $15.99.

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By Peter on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 2:26 pm.
Tags: San Francisco Giants