Fan Passes Up Cash, Returns Ball To Buhner

For most of his 58 years, Ron White hasn’t had much luck. But on Tuesday night there he was, in the upper deck of the Kingdome, with the ball from Jay Buhner’s historic home run sitting in his lap.

The home run turned out to be the hit that clinched the American League West division championship for the Seattle Mariners. It also broke the major league record for most runs in a season by a team, and made Buhner one of only 10 major league players to have hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons.

As the crowd noise died down after Buhner’s 484-foot shot, White said he was offered money for the ball.

”(A) guy said to me, ‘Would you be tempted by $100?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I’d be tempted, but no, I can’t.’ … I said the right thing to do was to give it back to Mr. Buhner, because I knew he’d really like to have it.”

That’s what White did, trading Buhner for a bat and an autographed ball.

Buhner intends to keep the ball and passed on his thanks to White.

Playoff rotation set

Randy Johnson will start Game 1 of the A.L. divisional playoffs Wednesday against Baltimore, with Jamie Moyer and Jeff Fassero following. It will be either Johnson or Ken Cloude for Game 4. Baltimore is expected to use a three-man rotation, using, in order, Mike Mussina, Scott Erickson and Jimmy Key.