:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/7432809/20120614_kdl_ah7_239.jpg)
On Thursday evening Jim Thome homered for the second game in a row versus the Minnesota Twins, bringing his season total to to three and his career total to 607. It may be the final home run of his esteemed career, particularly if rumors of his retirement following interleague play turn out to be true.
This morning comes the news that the ball is still missing.
The exhaustive search for Jim Thome's 607th home run ball proved fruitless Thursday night.
Long after the Phillies' 6-1 victory over the Twins, an eight-person search party had temporarily removed the purple flowers where the ball had landed above the right-center field wall. They'd strapped one worker into a harness, hoping for better luck with an aerial view.
They'd looked under every leaf and found one ball that was deemed too water logged to be Thome's. Two security guards near the scene said No. 607 was officially lost.
In spite of number 607 being "officially lost", Jim Thome saw what many of us saw. When questioned, his official statement read:
"I think it's in some plant or something."
It is currently unknown whether foul play is suspected, but an investigation is ongoing.
NONE OF THIS STORY IS MADE UP.