BREAKING NEWS – Safety, Liability Concerns Prompt

(Dallas, TX) - Concerns about the safety of fans in the stadium and potential legal liability have forced Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas to withdraw its previously announced offer of $1 million to purchase the baseball that Barry Bonds is expected to hit this season to establish a new career home run record of 756.

"There's a real concern that mania over the breaking of Hank Aaron's lifetime home run record coupled with a reward for the ball could lead to fans' injuries," said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auction Galleries (www.HA.com).

"After personally traveling to San Francisco and meeting with a senior Security Department official at AT&T Park about the potential for a melee in the stands, and discussing potential liability with our attorneys, we have reluctantly, but we feel prudently, withdrawn the $1 million bounty for the baseball. We didn't hear of any way to prevent possible public safety problems, and we don't want a fan or a child injured or killed," Rohan explained.

"We will be happy to speak with the eventual owner of that ball about consigning it to an auction, but we are no longer interested in buying the ball, and if there are indeed any injuries associated with any scuffle for the ball, we would decline to handle it at all."