Bonds #756 ball sold for over $750,000 US...

[OILFAN #81]

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=218409&hubname=

Went for more then they had previously estimated.

[Dr GonZo]

That's including a 20% commission... that's a heck of a lot $$$ to put an auction.

[Drunk Skunk]

Marc Ecko bought it, taking votes to either send baseball to Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk then send it to the Hall of Fame, or shoot it into space

[habernac]

to the moon, Alice.

[octothorp]

I voted for Asterisk. Since there will be a Bonds ball in the hall even if it's not this one, it would be great to see this one in there to really preserve the anger that baseball fans have toward this accomplishment. Sending the ball to space would be a neat statement but would be forgotten fairly quickly. I'd rather make sure that Bonds is branded a cheater forever.

[Burninator]

Would the HOF even display the ball if the guy put an asterisk on it?

I like the space idea. It's so hilariously over the top.

[Locke]

They should check it. Its either corked or full of steroids.

As for my vote; cheaters should go as far away from sports as possible. Send it into space.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I voted for Asterisk. Since there will be a Bonds ball in the hall even if it's not this one, it would be great to see this one in there to really preserve the anger that baseball fans have toward this accomplishment. Sending the ball to space would be a neat statement but would be forgotten fairly quickly. I'd rather make sure that Bonds is branded a cheater forever.

guilty til proven innocent.
look I am with you on this, but the fact remains, that it has yet to be proven that Bonds is juiced. I think he is and so does a majority of the baseball/viewing public but there is no evidence at this time to support it.

[ken0042]

I like the idea of shooting it into space; just so long as it doesn't end up in orbit. If its in orbit it will eventually fall back to earth and burn up. If we can send it into outer space, that might end up being a "lost treasure" for future centuries to try and find.

[Clever_Iggy]

I think it has to go to the HOF. If Bonds is never proven guilty then that ball is the ball that broke the alltime homerun record (like it or not). If he is proven to be guilty of using steroids, then I cant think of a better symbol of this era of baseball than that ball... and it should be in the HOF.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Sample00

guilty til proven innocent.
look I am with you on this, but the fact remains, that it has yet to be proven that Bonds is juiced. I think he is and so does a majority of the baseball/viewing public but there is no evidence at this time to support it.

Sure there is.

Except it has only been presented to the Grand Jury behind closed doors. (One of the former lawyers for Victor Conte (owner of Balco) illegally leaked the Grand Jury testimony to the guys who wrote Game of Shadows). Until something happens to legally release the information, there is nothing anyone can do.

[Table 5]

shoot it in to space. send barry too.

[HOOT]

I love the * idea...would the HOF actually put it in like that?

[Frequitude]

The ball that broke Hank Aaron's record belongs in the hall of fame.

Brand Bonds and shoot him into space, but that ball belongs to future generations of baseball fans in its original condition.

[Dion]

Barry Bonds calls the guy who bought No. 756 "an idiot."

"All of those options don't weigh anything," Bonds told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday night in Phoenix. "In baseball, that number (756) stands."

Bonds said Ecko could have found a better way to spend three-quarters of a million dollars.

"He's stupid. He's an idiot," Bonds said. "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."

Ecko did not directly respond to Bonds' comments Wednesday, but said in a statement he would make Bonds a custom T-shirt that says, "Marc Ecko paid $752,467 for my ball, and all I got was this 'stupid' T-shirt."

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7235950?MSNHPHMA

[HOOT]

Ecko has become my new hero for the tshirt idea!

[Neeper]

Who cares about the record. A-Rod's gonna smash it before his career is over.

[octothorp]

And the asterisk wins. It's being donated to the hall, and the hall has graciously accepted it, asterisk and everything.

"We're grateful to Marc for donating this baseball, which represents one of the game's most historic records. Baseball belongs to the fans -- it always has and always will. The asterisk represents the voice of the fans at this moment in time. The level of interest reflects a strong bond between baseball and American culture. Our responsibility as a history museum is to present every story in proper context, and this ball allows us to do that."

I applaud the hall for this, concerning themselves with the context as opposed to trying to preserve the image of the game.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=219233&hubname=

[HOOT]

In the end, 80 percent of voters decided to send the ball to Cooperstown, with 47 percent in favor of marking it permanently due to the controversy surrounding Bonds and whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to break the home run record

This is what I was curious how the votes broke down.

47% - Brand it
34% - Send to HOF
19% - Send to space

Would really be interested in the actuall number of votes.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by HOOT

This is what I was curious how the votes broke down.

47% - Brand it
34% - Send to HOF
19% - Send to space

Would really be interested in the actuall number of votes.

It was actually:

47% - Brand it
33% - Send it to HOF
20% - Send to space