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During the past week or so, fashion designer Marc Ecko has been tabulating votes to decide what to do with Barry Bonds' 756th home-run ball. The three choices offered in an online poll were: Bestow It, Brand It, Banish It.

The fans have spoken, and door-number-2 was selected; the ball -- bought by Ecko for $752,467 -- will be marked with an asterisk before being handed over to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. According to the site Ecko set up for the express purpose of voting, 34% favored giving the ball, unblemished, to the Hall of Fame. 19% of voters wanted the ball banished, and 47% preferred branding it. The asterisk merely serves as a permanent reminder that Hank Aaron's record was toppled by someone facing allegations of steroid use. Bonds has repeatedly denied knowingly taking any performance-enhancing drugs.

Ecko and Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey both appeared on NBC's Today show to discuss the matter. Petroskey noted that, regardless of the asterisk, "We're happy to get [the ball] ... we're a nonprofit history museum, so this ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Marc Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it."

Bonds, naturally, had a compelling opinion on the matter, telling The San Francisco Chronicle, "[Marc Ecko's] stupid. He's an idiot ... What he's doing is stupid."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Taking a $752,467 stand: Bonds' ball to be branded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>756756*Barry BondsBarryBondsbaseballBaseball hall of fameBaseballHallOfFameCooperstownHank AaronHankAaroninthenewsMajor League BaseballMajorLeagueBaseballMarc EckoMarcEckoMLBSan Francisco GiantsSanFranciscoGiantsWed, 26 Sep 2007 16:20:00 EST<![CDATA[Barry Bonds' home-run ball: Bestow it, brand it, or destroy it?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/what-to-do-with-the-barry-bonds-home-run-ball/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/what-to-do-with-the-barry-bonds-home-run-ball/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/19/what-to-do-with-the-barry-bonds-home-run-ball/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

On August 7, Barry Bonds - one of the most universally reviled professional athletes of our time - topped Hank Aaron's 33-year-old home-run record. For months or even years now, Bonds' breaking of this milestone has been a foregone conclusion, and even the mercenary angle surrounding the record-breaking ball was being discussed long before that fateful crack of the bat.

From the second Bonds' 756th home-run ball touched the ever-so-lucky palms of Queens, New York resident Matt Murphy, the debate began over what the ball would be worth. Many have pointed out that the truly valuable ball will be the last home run Bonds hits, as it will effectively represent the new record (until someone mercifully shatters that). Last month, our own Tom Barlow assigned a price tag of $0. But fashion mogul Marc Ecko shelled out $752,467 for the 5 ounces of cork and rubber, and it seems as though he may have dropped more than three-quarters of a million dollars out of spite alone.

While most sports collectors would encase the storied ball in plastic or save it for shipping to Cooperstown, Ecko is taking a democratic approach to his next move. Ecko has set up a website with three options:



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Barry Bonds' home-run ball: Bestow it, brand it, or destroy it? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>756756*Barry BondsBarryBondsBaseball hall of fameBaseballHallOfFameCooperstownHank AaronHankAaronmark eckoMarkEckoMatt MurphyMattMurphyWed, 19 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST