Baseball

Barry Bonds collector decides to sell wares

Kranz claims slugger treated him poorly, says ‘I can’t stand the guy’

Toru Kawana / AP

Jeff Kranz holds a baseball glove that was autographed by San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds, at his home in Phoenix. The private collector is parting with perhaps the country's best collection of Bonds memorabilia, saying the slugger treated him poorly during a 2003 investigation of alleged unauthorized collectibles sales.

updated 8:57 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - A baseball memorabilia collector is parting with the highlights of his Barry Bonds collection, saying the Giants star treated him poorly during a federal investigation into sales of Bonds collectibles.

“I can’t stand the guy,” said Jeff Kranz of Phoenix, who began collecting Bonds baseball cards in 1988. Kranz also said the value of his collection has decreased because of Bonds’ alleged steroid use.

The collection is being auctioned online by Lelands, based in Seaford, N.Y. It includes the jersey Bonds wore when he hit his first home run in the Giants’ current ballpark, a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform he wore in 1992 and a Bonds glove from 1987 backed up by a photo of him signing it.

Kranz is selling his top six Bonds collectibles, which the auction house said could be worth as much as $50,000. Kranz has auctioned other Bonds items recently and sold some items privately to collectors.

Kranz was on a first-name basis with Bonds, often following him to spring training camp in Arizona and watching him play in different stadiums. That relationship eventually soured.

In 2003, Bonds spotted a fan wearing a jersey bearing his autograph and went to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco, where he filed a complaint about Steve Hoskins, a sports memorabilia dealer and a Bonds business partner.

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Bonds accused Hoskins of forging his signature on at least two endorsement contracts and selling his gear without permission, according to Laura Enos, one of Bonds’ lawyers.

Hoskins met with federal prosecutors and presented records of all disputed transactions and the investigation was dropped a year later, according to Michael Cardoza, a lawyer for Hoskins.

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Another Bonds’ attorney, Michael Rains, said Hoskins is a witness in a grand jury investigating Bonds for possible tax evasion regarding cash from memorabilia sales he allegedly gave his former girlfriend to buy a house.

Kranz estimates he purchased about 40 percent of his collection from Hoskins. He said authorities confiscated 14 items during the investigation and they weren’t returned for two years.

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Kranz also said he never heard from Bonds, who claimed he’d help him during the probe.

“If my stuff was fake why didn’t they take all of it? “ Kranz said Thursday. “He’s known I’ve had this stuff for years. “

Lisa Nitta, a representative for Bonds, declined to comment.

Bonds’ 715th home run ball fetched a winning auction bid of $220,100 on eBay this summer. Bonds’ record-setting 73rd home run ball of the 2001 season sold for just over $500,000.