Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby has taken place at every Mid-Summer Classic since 1985. Beginning in 1998, a special event game ball was produced for use in the Derby. These baseballs, and the HR Derby itself, have evolved to include a variety of colors of leather. Currently, two types of baseball are used each year, a common all-white leather ball with red laces, and a special “Money Ball” or bonus ball which originally featured one “gold” (or yellow) leather panel.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever Rawlings MLB Home Run Derby Baseball, the official Rawlings 1998 All-Star Game Home Run Derby Baseball, Colorado Rockies Coors Field. (Though there is one from a few seasons prior that’s arguably the original.)
At its core, it’s a 1998 MLB All-Star Game ball, which features laces modeled after Colorado Rockies primary uniform color, purple and apparently Coors Field’s green (an unofficial Rockies color?). And for the first time in MLB history, purple ink stamping!
This version combines a 1998 Home Run Derby logo with a Service Merchandise sponsor logo on the top panel. Neat! And extremely rare—one of the rarest MLB official game balls ever used.
This is the 1999 Rawlings MLB Home Run Derby official game baseball. Used at Fenway Park, all HRD balls were marked with each participant’s initials. This one has “MM” for Mark McGwire. Awesome! And also, like it’s ’98 predecessor, extremely rare—one of the rarest MLB official game balls ever used.
From out of left field, we’ve discovered a “new” old, “gold,” home run derby ball. A Rawlings 2004 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby Baseball, gold-dyed and red-stamped. Wow! And weird! Likely the first ever run of MLB Gold Bonus Balls / MoneyBalls. And apparently they were used at the 2004 Home Run Derby in Houston’s Minute Maid (now Daikin) Park.
Rumors have it these were used as a sort of trial run or experiment before Rawlings nailed down the formula for gold leather baseball covers, which were more commonly and widely introduced the next season at the Midsummer Classic in Detroit.
This example is MLB Authenticated (and autographed by participant Lance Berkman). Consider these baseballs to be extremely rare, right up there with the 1998 and 1999 HR Derby balls. And likely even fewer produced or circulated based on our experience.
2016 Game-Used Rawlings MLB All-Star Home Run Derby White San Diego Padres Baseball
