As of course you’ve heard by now, this summer Barry Bonds broke the all-time homerun record set by Henry Aaron and held since 1976. The 756th homerun came on August 7th, 2007. But what has happened to the infamous baseball since it sailed over the fence at AT&T Park in San Francisco? Here’s a breakdown:
Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old New Yorker (and Mets fan), books a flight from NYC to Australia with a layover in San Francisco. During said layover, he forks over a ridiculous $100 for a $12 ticket to get the chance to see Bonds smack number 756.
On Aug 7th, Bonds does exactly that and immediately chaos ensues as a throng of people throw themselves at the soaring ball.
Eventually Murphy emerges from the scuffle with a bloody face (and THE BALL) and is immediately ushered downstairs by security.
The Giants faithful are beyond peeved that a Mets fan nabbed it. Meanwhile, experts say the ball will sell for half-a-mil at auction.
Ebay expresses interest but the auction goes to Sotheby and SCP Auctions Inc.
Sept 15th, 2007: Marc Ecko, a fashion designer (also!) from New York, shells out a whopping $752,467.20 for the THE BALL (clearly it was that extra .20 cents that secured it). Ecko shells out a whopping $752,467.20 for THE BALL (sorry, but is there an Ecko in the house?).
Ecko starts a Web site where he asks people to vote on whether or not he should have THE BALL branded with an asterisk before turning it over to Cooperstown (that’s baseball speak for The Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, NY).
The options on the Web site are: A: “Bestow it intact to Cooperstown” - B: “Permanently brand the ball with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown” and C: “Launch it into space forever”
Ten million people cast their votes on THE BALL’s fate. Guess what folks? B comes up the winner!
Asked what he thinks of Ecko’s little Web adventure, American hero and idol for many children, Barry Bonds, weighs in: “He’s stupid. He’s an idiot… He spent $750,000 on the ball and that’s what he’s doing with it? What he’s doing is stupid.”
So let me put the question to all you smart _floss readers: Is Barry right? Is Ecko “stupid?” Is he “an idiot”? Should THE BALL be branded with an asterisk?
No. Mark Ecko isn’t stupid.
But Cooperstown is in NY. Not PA.
posted by Dennis Coleman on 10-4-2007 at 2:53 am
Hey guys the baseball hall of fame is in NY not PA
posted by steve on 10-4-2007 at 2:55 am
I live in Cooperstown - there will mass riots if you don’t change it to NY.
posted by Karen on 10-4-2007 at 3:36 am
Look at the size of Bond’s head. Jeez, they say pro cycling is dirty.
posted by fixedgear on 10-4-2007 at 5:34 am
What I don’t understand is that the guy who caught it said he HAD to sell it/auction it off because he said he couldn’t afford the taxes if he were to keep it. I have never heard this comment explained, ANYWHERE, and it bugs me to no end. Who would be taxing the guy? Can someone please explain this to me so I can sleep at night?
posted by Rachel on 10-4-2007 at 6:18 am
I think it’s pretty cool of Ecko to donate it (or even loan it) to the Hall of Fame. How many people would do that after paying three-quarters of a mill for it?
And, I’m sorry but just what is the deal with the asterisk, anyway??
posted by Robart on 10-4-2007 at 6:22 am
Rachel - the government actually taxes certain items you freely recieve - expensive gifts, etc. Basically, if that ball could legitimately be considered an item worth, say, half a million, then the IRS feels quite secure in demanding taxes against that new acquisition.
So figure 15% taxation (just tossing numbers around), he’d owe the government $75,000 just for owning that infamous baseball.
Death and taxes, always a certainty :P
posted by taer on 10-4-2007 at 6:35 am
Rachel the baseball would become an acquired asset and would then be taxable - much like if you win a car in the lottery the value of the car is taxable. The car however would depreciate not so the ball at least long term.
posted by Steve on 10-4-2007 at 6:41 am
The asterisk is to mark Bonds accomplishment and suspected use of steroids in accomplishing it, vs the clean Hank Aaron
posted by Steve on 10-4-2007 at 6:46 am
NY, of course! have only been to cooperstown twice. duh. thanks floss faithful for keeping me honest!
posted by David on 10-4-2007 at 6:54 am
I don’t think Ecko is stupid, nor an idiot. I wouldn’t have paid that much, even if I had it :-), but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid.
I think the Asterisk is a bit over the top (it was first brought about when McGuire broke the single season record, because he used a substance that was not illegal at the time, but was performance-enhancing). But again, he bought the ball, and can do as he pleases with it.
I do think Bonds needs to just go away. His attitude has beeen crappy for a long time, and this latest comment shows that he cares not for his place in baseball history.
posted by Rich on 10-4-2007 at 7:03 am
I think that it is stupid for Ecko to want to put the asterisk on the ball. But, as pointed out, it *is* his ball now. However, I would think that it would diminish the value to some degree, because he is altering the actual and true ball now. Because of this, I don’t think that the HOF should accept the ball if it is branded. Yes, it’s physically the same ball, but different due to the meaning attached to it. They should take the stand that they will accept and display the ball, but only if it is unaltered. Nothing says they can’t put a display marker explaining the situation around it at the time of the record breaking, but you don’t have to damage the ball to do that.
posted by thatothrgirl on 10-4-2007 at 7:54 am
Stupid….like A FOX!
posted by Griner on 10-4-2007 at 8:00 am
I, for one, love what Mr. Ecko did. I especially love that it’s going to be displayed at Cooperstown with the asterisk.
Here’s the history of the asterisk use in baseball and why it came up here (from Wikipedia):
On top of his lack of popular press coverage, [Roger] Maris’ chase for 61 [home runs] hit another roadblock totally out of his control: along with adding two teams to the league, Major League Baseball had added 8 games to the schedule. In the middle of the season, Baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced that unless [Babe] Ruth’s record was broken in the first 154 games of the season, the new record would be shown in the record books as having been set in 162 games while the previous record set in 154 games would also be shown. It is an urban legend, probably invented by New York sportswriter Dick Young, that an asterisk would be used to distinguish the new record.
posted by Debi on 10-4-2007 at 8:19 am
I don’t think it should be branded. It’s like doodling on the Declaration of Independence (extreme, yes, but you get my point). I think that Barry is right, he’s pretty stupid to do that. I think that Cooperstown should display the ball, but have it rest on the asterisk so it isn’t seen.
posted by Emily on 10-4-2007 at 8:47 am
Marc Ecko is a genius, not an idiot. Here’s why. He paid about $750,000 for literally millions upon millions of dollars in publicity!!!!! Not only for himself, but his numerous product lines as well.
Many people knew of Marc Ecko, but who really knew much about him? Marc Ecko has stated in numerous interviews that his goal is to emerge as the person behind Ecko clothes, and be recognized. And now, for less than a million dollars, pretty much every knows him.
Pure genius. Btw, Ecko’s company made billions last year alone, I think he can affor $750k for a ball.
Now who’s the idiot Bonds?? My favoirite is this, Ecko suggested a T-Shirt for Bonds that says, “Marc Ecko paid $750k for my baseball and all I got was this loudy t-shirt.”
posted by Chris on 10-4-2007 at 9:02 am
I don’t think the ball should be branded. Controversial objects don’t need to be altered to reflect the controversy. The asterisk makes it more about the dispute than the ball and the record itself.
No matter what, I’m glad it didn’t go out to space.
posted by Julia on 10-4-2007 at 9:06 am
I think B. Bonds is the idiot. If he really thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of millions of baseball fans. It is obvious that he is on illegal performance enhancing chemicals, and the record is now tainted.
Ecko did the right thing, he left it up to the fans to make the choice. So when Bonds call him “stupid” he is actually calling millions of baseball fans stupid
If this ball is going to be shown in the most hallowed halls of baseball, it should be represented in an open and honest matter.
posted by Rob on 10-4-2007 at 9:19 am
No neither are stupid, this is the closest baseball fans will get an asterisk next to barry bonds’ name
also barry bonds isnt stupid either, He has to be like the smartest person alive.
I mean look how big his head is. It looks like its been getting bigger over these past 10 years.
He must be really hitting the books.
posted by chuck on 10-4-2007 at 9:32 am
He’s not an idiot, he did get a lot of publicity, but he is an ass. History is what it is, commentary is subjective. Branding a piece of baseball history with a stupid pop-culture reference is a waste. If Bonds’s steroid use tainted the sport, so did Ecko’s stunt.
Personally I think Bonds earned some kind of record. He’s a great hitter and lets not forget he was batting against several steroid enhanced pitchers while he was using steroids himself. Its wrong for him to be ahead of Hank Aaron, but he still did something amazing that not just any man on steroids could have done.
posted by Evan on 10-4-2007 at 9:35 am
What would be a ballpark (ha) estimate of the revenue generated from advertisers on a website with 10 million hits?
posted by Chris on 10-4-2007 at 9:53 am
I don’t understand why Bonds is so angry for what the buyer is doing to one ball. Look what Bonds himself is doing to both of his.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 10-4-2007 at 10:42 am
Bonds hit #756 on 08/07/07 not 07/27/07
posted by Killian on 10-4-2007 at 10:59 am
I haven’t read all of the other responses yet, but I will.
Barry Bonds is a cheat.
His head should be tattooed with an asterisk. I would suggest his head be sent to Cooperstown, but they probably don’t have enough money to build a room big enough to hold that ginormous noggin (which is the result of steroid use).
Reminder: Babe Ruth was a drunk, but he didn’t cheat. Hank Aaron did not cheat and had to suffer indignities and racial slurs when he first came to Milwaukee. But he is a true gentleman.
Bonds is not an idiot. He’s a cheat.
posted by WizardBoy on 10-4-2007 at 12:14 pm
I’d be interested to see how many of the above posters who opposed Ecko’s actions are from San Francisco. My guess would be a all of them.
posted by Justin on 10-4-2007 at 1:01 pm
Bonds should have been thrown out long before 756, There should be two large asterisks so that the ball cannot be positioned without an asterisk being in view. Deeply stamped, dark, and large.
If Pete Rose was thrown out for only betting on games (gambling) then Bond not being thrown out of baseball is a slap to Pete Rose’s face.
(and that’s my 2 cents worth :-p)
posted by Tdave on 10-6-2007 at 1:13 am
p.s. I don’t even like Pete Rose.
posted by Tdave on 10-6-2007 at 1:17 am