What would you do with Bonds’ ball?

Even before he hit it Barry Bonds had a lot of controversy on him. And when he hit ball number 756 that controversy came to a head. Now it could of slowly tapered off, but Marc Ecko decided to extend the fate a little longer by buying the ball, and then offering to let people decide what to do with it.

You Can Cast Your Vote On Fate Of Bonds Ball #756

The fate of Barry Bonds’ record-breaking home-run ball is now in the public’s hands after its buyer announced Monday he was taking votes on whether to give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed himself as Saturday’s winning bidder in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron’s all-time home-run record of 755. The final selling price for No. 756 was $752,467, well above most predictions.

Ecko, owner of Ecko Unlimited clothing company, had not even taken possession of the ball before posting a Web site that lets visitors vote on which of the three outcomes they think the ball most deserves.

His three options:

1. To send the ball to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y
2. To brand it with an asterisk — a reference to the belief of some Bonds detractors that the Giants slugger’s record is tainted by his alleged use of performance enhancing substances — and send it to Cooperstown permanently marked
3. To send it to space on a moon-shot greater than the one which sent the ball into history.

Ecko said he plans to announce the final tally after voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 25.

“I have my own opinion, I’ve been part of this debate just like everyone else,” Ecko wrote on his Web site “But I wanted to make it just a little more real. I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it. The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling.”

For his
part,
Bonds has
denied knowingly using
performance-enhancing drugs.For his part, Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

As for the 35-year old Ecko, he is known for his pop culture pranks — including an infamous Internet video that showed him apparently infiltrating an airport tarmac and spray-painting graffiti on Air Force One. The incident turned out to be a hoax.

But the auction house which handled the sale confirmed that Ecko is indeed the ball’s buyer.

“I think it’s brilliant what he’s doing,” David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, said Monday.

Kohler said he had already logged onto the Web site and voted to send the ball to the Hall of Fame, without the asterisk.

Bonds hit the homerun on Aug. 7, and Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a bleachers scuffle at AT&T Park with the ball. He decided to sell it, he said, because he couldn’t afford the tax bill that would result from holding onto the ball.

“This either makes him a lunatic or a genius, one
of those twoThis either makes him a lunatic or a genius, one of those two,” Murphy said when told of Ecko’s stunt. “I’m leaning toward genius.”

Murphy said he planned to vote to send the ball to Cooperstown.

But Ecko said what really interests him is seeing what happens when an “American Idol” approach comes together with a serious public debate over drugs in sports.

“My vote really doesn’t matter,” said Ecko, who identifies himself as a New York Yankees fan. “The American public will tell us what to do with it.”

San Jose resident and baseball fan Andre, 38, who declined to give his last name, said he would like to see it go to space.

“You have people upset with Bonds and the steroid use,” Andre said. “And you have baseball fans who just want to see baseball and enjoy the thrill of the game. (The ball) is not that important. Even Bonds himself said it’s not that important.”

You can cast your vote on Ecko’s Web site.

I voted B… what did you vote? Steroids can effect a man’s career, but good living and hard work is really what extends it and allows your talent to show. But the drugs do help a little in recouping energy and drive. And he may not be taking it now, but it may of helped him through what may normally be a dry stretch. So it wasn’t fully him that whole career.

Tags: Baseball, Interesting, Irony, Sports