What to do with 756

[Mike Schwartz]

The guy who bought Barry Bonds' famous HR ball on E-Bay is a well_to_do designer who is giving us all the opportunity to decide what will happen to #756

http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/

How would you vote?

[john williams]

According to my DDC22 756 is unassigned and hasn't been used since DDC19.

[Mike Schwartz]

huh?

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

huh?

Exactly.


The clueless qoute for the ages.

[GoodSpeak]

What is the total vote tally, Mike?





Isn't it interesting how we can't access it.








Hm.

[GoodSpeak]

BTW....I voted 10 times to bestow it.

[Mike Schwartz]

Try this from MLB...........I have the guy's website clearly showing at JC on the PC where I posted.

I'm undecided on voting to *BRAND* the ball or send it into space.
I'd be afraid that if they marked the ball, the HOF may not display it.





Ecko puts fate of 756 ball in fans' hands
09/17/2007 7:40 PM ET
By Mark Newman / MLB.com

Fashion designer Marc Ecko paid $752,467 over the weekend for the baseball that Barry Bonds hit for his record 756th home run. Ecko said he did it purely for the people of the world, giving them a chance to vote on the following:
a) Bestow it as-is upon the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Let it be celebrated there for generations as the artifact that resulted in the most traditionally hallowed record in North American sport.

b) Brand a prominent asterisk into the hide of the ball with a hot iron, and deliver it to Cooperstown in that condition -- as a way of protesting a record that many believe came with the benefit of illicit performance-enhancing chemicals.

c) Blast it into space on a rocket.

What, we can't just play pitch-and-catch with it? It's still a baseball. Same number of stitches as usual. Made in Costa Rica, just like the rest. Branded by Rawlings and signed by Commissioner Bud Selig, as usual. If this were really the baseball of the people, then it seems like passing it around from town to town would be best.

But no, those are your three choices and three choices only.

Ecko told the NBC "Today" show on Monday that the majority will decide the ball's fate, and that he will carry out said mandate. He said he will even drive the ball to Cooperstown personally if that is the chosen destination. Just as Bonds' 73 ball that he hit in 2001 to set the single-season homer record resulted in a critically acclaimed baseball comedy movie called "Up for Grabs," the 756 baseball is now destined for an eventful conclusion. And it's up to you.

"I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it," Ecko, a known practicioner of goofy pop-culture pranks, wrote on his Web site. "The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling."

If you think about it, choice No. 1 has a built-in advantage. It is the only "positive" outcome for those in Bonds' corner -- and that includes all of you Giants fans. The other two choices are decidedly anti-Bonds. They could easily cancel each other out, the way a team with two bona fide Most Valuable Player candidates sometimes will cancel each other out, resulting in the award for someone on another team.

These three choices also mean that there is a high probability that the ball will wind up at Cooperstown no matter what, because two of the three choices result in that destination. So no matter what, it either goes to upstate New York or ... just up.

And if it's the ultimate "Up for Grabs" verdict by fans, then here are just 10 things about all of this that make you go hmmm:

1. If the ball is sent into outer space, will it replace Pluto as the ninth planet in the solar system?

2. What if the ball eventually falls out of orbit, hurtles back into the atmosphere and actually falls into fair ground at one of the 30 Major League ballparks? What are the ground rules for that? What if a fan caught it in the stands as a foul ball? Could he or she put it right back on the auction block? What if the ball's original owner caught it again? Would he keep it this time?

3. Would NASA participate and carry it to the International Space Station, where astronauts such as Michael Lopez-Alegria have enjoyed MLB.com Gameday Audio while conducting their experiments?

4. Would the ball become a comet and eventually speed beyond the galaxy, resulting in the greatest fastball of them all?

5. Will Selig own the only signature in space? Surely there is at least something bearing a signature on the Space Station or left behind on the moon by the Apollo crews.

6. Would it be called a "moon-shot?"

7. Is there an opportunity for Roger Clemens to be involved, thus generating even more publicity? After all, he's "the Rocket."

8. Could an interstellar tracking device (ITD) be implanted in the ball? Why not just unstitch it, remove the cork in the center and replace it with an ITD that enables NASA to monitor the ball's travels? And put one of those FOX or TBS microcamera lenses on it so it can return imagery as it passes through Saturn's rings, because Bonds is still looking for rings.

9. Whenever the ball passes between the Earth and the sun or the moon, will it officially result in a partial solar or lunar eclipse?

10. If an alien finds this baseball, will it become known as the Abner Doubleday of its own planet? Will there be new Giants fans in space?

Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a scuffle with the ball on Aug. 7. He decided to sell it, he said, because he couldn't afford the tax bill that would result from holding onto the ball.

Some tax experts said Murphy would have owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes based on a reasonable estimate of the ball's value, even if he had never sold it. He may also have faced capital gains taxes as the ball gained value.

"This 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."

Ecko said he voted immediately for the asterisk.

For just $752,467, baseball fans now get to play a new game. This seems like it will be a lot of fun, even though it's just a ball.

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Exactly.


The clueless qoute for the ages.

Now, now, Goody........we're getting very thin skinned [again] about your hero Barroid.
Maybe we can start a leave Barroid, Brit, & Tim alone thread.

Would you like that with a big glass of warm milk?

[Mike Schwartz]

Monday, September 17, 2007
Ecko sets up Web site, allowing public to vote on fate of 756 ball

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- 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.


This ball is either headed for the Hall of Fame (as is or with an asterisk) or to outer 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 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. He said he plans to announce the final tally after voting ends Sept. 25.


"I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it," Ecko wrote on the Web site. "The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling."


Ecko, 35, 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.


"This transaction is happening and is going to be done by the end of the day," David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, said Monday.


Kohler called Ecko's decision "brilliant" and said he had already visited the Web site and voted to send the ball to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.


Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a scuffle with the ball on Aug. 7. He decided to sell it, he said, because he couldn't afford the tax bill that would result from holding onto the ball.

Some tax experts said Murphy would have owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes based on a reasonable estimate of the ball's value even if he had never sold it. He may also have faced capital gains taxes as the ball gained value.


"This 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.


Ecko himself said he voted to brand the ball 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. Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.


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."

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

BTW....I voted 10 times to bestow it.

You've got some work to do...............I voted many more times to 'banish it'

[tippy]

Hi Mike,

My suggestions are as follows:

1. Bake it in pie or 2. Bestow it on the bleachinest starhole you can find.

[Robert de St. Loup]

Burn it, then get Keith Richards to snort it.

[Gentle Giant]

Bring it to Las Vegas, and let OJ steal it.

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by tippy

Hi Mike,

My suggestions are as follows:

1. Bake it in pie or 2. Bestow it on the bleachinest starhole you can find.

BLEACHED BALLS....
What a concept (he said...feeling a new thread coming on)!

[Mike Schwartz]

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Report: Bonds says Ecko 'stupid' for getting rid of $750K ball


ESPN.com news reports

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds thinks Marc Ecko, the man who purchased the ball from his 756th home run, is wasting his money, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Ecko, a fashion desiginer, purchased the baseball for $750,000 and is taking votes on the Internet on what he should do with it: Give the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.

Bonds says he doesn't care that the options include an asterisk -- implying that the home run record should be viewed with skepticism in light of his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. But he questioned why someone would spend $750,000 on a baseball and then propose ways to get rid of it, the Chronicle reported.



"He's stupid. He's an idiot," Bonds said, according to the newspaper. "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."
"All of those options don't weigh anything," he said, according to the report. "In baseball, that number [756] stands."

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.'"

There are questions about whether Bonds will return to San Francisco next season, given his age and health and the last-place Giants' need to rebuild. Bonds says he wants to return, but does not know if that's going to happen, he said, according to the Chronicle.


"Ask [Giants owner] Peter Magowan. He hasn't told me anything. I don't know why you keep asking me. I don't own the team," Bonds said, according to the report.

[bostontricky]

What's the big deal? A-Rod's less than 250 home runs behind Bonds, and he's 11 years younger. Barroid's going to be lucky to have this record for six, seven years tops...