$753,000 Bonds 756 HR Ball to be Branded with Asterisk

An update to a Sept. 18 post: With 10 million votes cast (according to vote756.com) the public voted that Marc Ecko, owner of the Bonds 756 home run ball, should physically brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to the Hall of Fame. Voting ended at 12:01 this morning.

According to Ecko, 47 percent voted to permanently brand the ball before sending it to Cooperstown, 34 percent voted to send the ball intact to Cooperstown, and 19 percent said to launch the ball into space forever.

The Internet vote was held to gauge public sentiment concerning the validity of Bonds' home run record.

Time will tell whether Ecko follows through on his promise to effectively ruin any resale value for the three-quarter million collectible. Honestly, the most valuable ball Bonds will hit will be his last home run ball, which nobody knows when that will be . . . or has it already happened? That ball will be represent the HR record, tainted or not.

Bonds HR Ball Headed to Moon?

Marc Ecko, the fashion designer and graffiti glitterati who last week purchased Barry Bonds' HR #756 ball for $753,000, says he will abide by public sentiment and either:

1. Donate the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.


2. Brand the ball (shown right) with an asterisk and ask the Hall if it will accept it into the museum.


3. Put it on the space shuttle, satellite launcher or some other kind of rocket and put it into orbit around the earth.

Ecko, who once produced a hoax film depicting him tagging Air Force One with graffiti, said yesterday during an interview on The Today Show that he wants to "democratize" the ball that eclipsed Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. Thus, he has set up a website where collectors can vote on the fate of the ball

The vote ends Sept. 25, but vote early and vote often. I hit my vote several times and the website never kicked me back for multiple votes from the same IP address, nor does the site require any log in or email recognition. For a guy who thrives on marketing and publicity, it seems Ecko missed a chance to grab some names . . . and maybe even a future buyer for the ball.

-- courtesy Beckett.com