McFarlane Nabs McGwire's 70th

NEW YORK (AP) - Todd McFarlane knows how fleeting his fame could be.

A few minutes after revealing he was the man who spent more than $3 million to buy Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball, McFarlane said his deal would be a giant mistake if someone hits 71.

"If the record falls," he said, "I go from being a nut who paid $3 million for the crown jewel of sports memorabilia to an idiot who spent $3 million on a $5 ball."

During a rambling one-hour news conference Monday in the Baroque Room of The Plaza hotel - the same place baseball launched its Jackie Robinson celebration two years ago - McFarlane sounded like anyone who calls all-sports radio stations.

Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn comic books, held an offbeat news conference, quickly admitting he was a "psycho fan" and a "sports geek" and saying his purchase "was a mixture of business, charity and self-indulgence to the Nth degree."

"Sports make you forget death, taxes and politics, and all the other garbage that goes on in life," he said.

The 37-year-old Canadian, who now lives in Tempe, Ariz., is a minority investor in the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. With a company that makes action figures, he said the timing of his announcement was tied to the yearly Toy Fair in New York.

McFarlane, who paid $3,005,000 last month for No. 70, did not see the ball until Monday, when he came to New York fresh from a stay at the Baltimore Orioles' fantasy camp in Florida. Behind him was a banner with "Todd McFarlane Productions" spelled out 103 times.

The balls were displayed in front of him in nine cases atop nine columns - white and gray for No. 70, black for the others - with four burgundy velvet ropes separating them from the crowd and five men in blue security uniforms standing to the side.

He said he would like to allow the Hall of Fame to show McGwire's 70th home run ball at times, would make it available to charities to raise money and would let individual major league teams display it.

The price?

"I'd like to be able to take 20 swings in every major league ballpark," he said.

McFarlane, who owns autographs from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, said purchasing the ball was cheaper than buying a sports team. He mentioned the proposed $800 million sale of the Washington Redskins.

"The way I look at it, I'm up 799 million bucks," he said.

He said he isn't worried about someone breaking the record McGwire set last September.

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