Bidding for Big Papi's wheels goes flat

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Red Sox star David Ortiz and his team better hope that what happened during the eBay auction for his car isn't an omen for what is going to happen to the team's lead in its pennant race.

Since Tuesday, the popular ballplayer has been listing a Mercedes roadster he bought to celebrate the Red Sox's 2004 championship for sale on eBay Motors.

Red Sox star David Ortiz and his sports car that he's selling on eBay.

Bids for Ortiz's 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL65 AMG convertible got as high as $525,000 at one point for what is supposed to be a controlled auction for authorized bidders only. But Nima Karamouz, a friend of Ortiz and eBay veteran who was helping him list it on eBay, started cancelling bids for which he could not get verification of the bidders' ability to fulfill the bid.

As of Thursday morning, after a story about the auction in the Boston Globe, the top bid was still $465,600.05. But early Thursday afternoon, all active bids were canceled by the seller, leaving the car's listing at its $169,000 initial asking price.

"It's a double-edge sword when you have publicity like this. These high profile auctions, if they're not restricted, turn into amateur hour and it scares away the real bidders," Karamouz said Thursday. "It's just a function of the Internet, which has the ability to attract a lot of buyers and a lot of baloney, too."

Karamouz said one bidder claimed his bid had been submitted by his 7-year-old son.

Karamouz said he had been contacted by eBay (Charts, Fortune 500) security once the bids started going "into outer space." He said that Ortiz had been notified about the turn of events in the bidding and that he wasn't upset. He said if the vehicle doesn't sell, it will be relisted.

Ortiz's Red Sox have a 5-game lead over rival New York Yankees in the American League East, and although that's up a game from where the standings stood on Sunday, it's well below the 14-1/2 game lead the Sox held over the Yankees in late May. The two teams meet in New York for three games next week.

Ortiz's listing on eBay promises that he'll deliver his car to the successful buyer at Fenway Park, the Red Sox home, handing the buyer the keys and title himself.

The 6.0-liter 12-cylinder, twin-turbo charged engine has 604 horsepower and goes from 0-60 mph in just over 4 seconds, according to Ortiz's listing. But it has had the use one might expect from a little old lady, according to the site.

"This was a gift to himself after winning the 2004 World Series and was his prized possession over the past two years," said the listing. "This car has been pampered for its short life, taking Big Papi back and forth to Fenway Park. The car has a little more than 4,000 miles on it and has been always dealer serviced and is in immaculate, showroom condition."

DaimlerChrysler (Charts) sold only 10,080 of the SL class cars in 2005, down from 12,885 in 2004.

Used car price tracker Kelly Blue Book estimates that a dealer's asking price for a standard equipped version of that car would be $107,900, and that a private sale would likely go for $101,010. Ortiz's listing said he paid $205,000 for the car and spent an extra $35,000 in after-market accessories.

Among the extras that can't be found on the "typical" SL65 is an interior panel that the Boston Globe reported is embossed with a baseball diamond and the initials D and O.

Ortiz is known by the nickname Big Papi. Karamouz, despite being a friend of Ortiz, uses another baseball star as an eBay persona. His ID is rolliefingers1079, the name of a Hall of Fame relief pitcher from the 1970s and 1980s.

Ortiz won't be taking public transit to the games if the sales does go through. The Globe reports that he has a garage full of exotic cars.

And he hardly needs to make a profit from the sale of the car to make ends meet. He's in the middle of a four-year, $52 million contract under which the Red Sox will pay him $12.5 million this year, a relative bargain for the team in the current market for player salaries.