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How much would you pay for four Red Sox tickets, 15 rows from the field, on a Saturday night?

$200? $300? $400? More?

Well, some people are paying $1,700, but they're really buying much more than Red Sox tickets. They're making lives better and maybe, just maybe, helping to solve a mystery that baffles doctors.

Let me explain.

The scene is last Sunday at Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton. About 140 hot, tired golfers have just enjoyed a round at the spectacular central Massachusetts course, followed by a meal of chicken, steak tips and shrimp. If you've been to a charity golf tournament, you know that the meal is usually followed by a raffle and an auction, to raise more money for the cause. In this case, the charity is Bailey's Team, a foundation started in 2001 by Doug and Sammi Robertson of North Attleboro after they first learned their son Bailey, now 8, had autism. Bailey's Team raises money for autism research and awareness and family support, focusing on folks in the Attleboro area.

But before the auction began, a video was shown, a video about Bailey Robertson and the impact autism has on his ability to deal with the world around him. About the mysteries of autism. About how the Robertsons cope.

In some ways, it was sad because everyone can relate to the stress caused a family member whose emotions suddenly spin out of control.

But in many ways the video was uplifting because the Robertsons do more than cope. They overcome, in their own day-to-day lives, and by helping in the lives of others.

Here's how Sammi Robertson explains it: "We have learned a great deal about how to support (Bailey), and how to support each other as a family; however, our lives have become very challenged as a result of Bailey's inability to communicate, process information and self-regulate when he becomes sad or frustrated. His coping skills can decline at any time, making his overall temperament very unpredictable. When he is frustrated or unhappy, life in our home can hit a new level of stress and anxiety for all of us. Thankfully, the more difficult experiences occur less frequently, and we are able to recover more quickly."

After the video, the auction began. The opening bid for the Sox tickets was $200. It quickly escalated, with two gentlemen going back and forth. $1,000. $1,100. $1,200. $1,250.

Gasps could be heard in the audience.

The bidding reached $1,700 when one party called it quits. Before the gavel could fall, however, the man who donated the tickets, Brad Stewart of Dean Warehouse Services, stood up. He agreed to donate another four tickets if both bidders would agree to pay $1,700 apiece for the two sets.

Deal.

Everyone stood and applauded. There were three more auction items and a lot of momentum for the Robertsons' cause. A painting of Augusta National Golf Course, home of the Masters, fetched $600. Three tickets to a New England Patriots game brought in $2,000. And four tickets to a Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium on a Wednesday night at the end of August earned a winning bid of $2,100.

That's $8,100 alone from the auction items. Sammi Robertson said she expects last Sunday's tournament will raise about $25,000 for their cause. The money will be split between the Arc of Northern Bristol County, which provides support for local families dealing with autism, and Autism Speaks, formerly known as the National Alliance for Autism Research.

That brings the grand total raised by Bailey's Team to about $350,000, an astounding amount of money, money which will provide help to families like the Robertsons and to maybe, just maybe, unlock the mysteries of autism.

But there was a lesson for the 140 sweaty golfers last Sunday: It's not what happens to you in life that's important; it's how you deal with it.

The Robertsons have shown that 350,000 times.

MIKE KIRBY is editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.