Baseball: Gob-smacking price for a piece of gum

From the realms of the truly bizarre ...

A piece of bubblegum chewed by a Major League baseball star has been sold for US$10,000 ($22,500).

The gum was chewed by Arizona Diamondbacks player Luis Gonzalez, one of the finest hitters in the game.

But in a twist to the tale, the confectionery bought by bidder Curt Mueller was not the piece that originally went on sale.

The auction, to raise money for a school, was the brainchild of baseball fan Jason Gabbert. He said he spotted Gonzales discarding the gum during a game and persuaded a security guard to retrieve it for him.

But the guard denied the story and some concerned bidders asked for a DNA test before they put their money where their mouths were.

Gonzalez eventually settled the dispute by chewing another piece of gum live on TV and sealing it in a tube.

A flurry of late bidding saw Mueller hold off offers from the bubblegum makers and a college student to claim the gum.

The money will go towards new sporting facilities at Lakeview High School in Minnesota.