SAN FRANCISCO -- Call it the $52,500 catch.

That's how much -- minus commissions -- Charles Murphy will receive for the ball Barry Bonds hit to tie Mark McGwire's single-season home run record.

Last fall, Murphy rejected a "ridiculous" $100,000 offer for No. 70, which he caught at Houston's Enron Field. Instead, visions of a seven-figure bonanza guided him to the auction block.

Maybe the Houston real estate agent should have taken the deal. A three-week online auction that ended early Friday morning generated just two bids for the ball. The winner got it for $52,500.

On Friday, Murphy put a happy face on his missed opportunity.

"The worst thing that could've happened is that they wouldn't have sold it and it would come back to me," he said Friday. "And that would be delightful too."

Bonds hit the home run Oct. 4 and ended the year with a record 73 home runs. He has continued his torrid pace this season with five home runs in nine games.

Perhaps for that very reason, the ball was cold on the auction block.

"We were hoping for more than that," MastroNet president Doug Allen said of the final bid. "It's all based on what the bidder's perception is."

Allen said bidders were attracted to more affordable Bonds collectibles, including a jersey and bat. He said the bidder asked that his name not be revealed.

Before Murphy caught the ball, Houston furniture magnate Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale offered $100,000 to whomever snagged the prize.

Murphy still says he's glad he didn't sell on the spot, especially for what he has called McIngvale's "ridiculous" offer.

By holding off, he was able to showcase the ball at his son's school. He said the kids learned a lesson, "that super things can be achieved in life."

In the back of his mind, Murphy might also have been thinking how McGwire's 70th home run ball was purchased for $2.7 million just three years earlier.

But that McGwire ball was the last of his record-setting season. Bonds hit three more. No. 73, which could be worth more than $1 million unless someone breaks Bonds' record this season, remains locked in a custody dispute between two fans who lunged for the ball.

Murphy said the first thing he would do with the money was pay income tax.

"There are millions, maybe even billions, of people who would be delighted to pay American income tax," he said. "And I'm one of those people."