The 756 Ball

As many baseball fans know, the sale of the ball that Barry Bonds hit into the stands at Pac-Bell park, which broke Hank Aaron's record for career home runs is over. It went to a fashion designer named Mark Ecko for roughly $750,000. Now Ecko, in a move that is both an expression of democratic spirit and self-aggrandizement, is deciding the fate of the ball based on an online vote. There are three options: to give the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame, to brand it with an asterisk and then give it to the Hall of Fame, or to blast it into space.

It is certainly tempting to question Ecko's motives. I'd never heard of the guy before this, so his little gambit has certainly paid off in the fame department. But I must admit I admire his brio a little bit. It could have gone to a collector who would put in his basement, never to be seen again. That there is a two-in-three chance that it will find a place in the appropriate venue for those who care about an artifact like this is encouraging.

There are those who think this whole thing stinks to high heaven. I was watching Pardon the Interruption the other night and columnist Mike Wilbon thinks the ball should go in the trash. But a thing is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, and one man's trash is another man's treasure. I voted to send the ball to the Hall of Fame unmarked, and I encourage every one else to do so as well, because then people who actually value the damn ball will be deciding how it is displayed. I'm no fan of Barry Bonds, and I think he has almost certainly benefited from banned substances, but like it or not, this ball is a bit of Americana and deserves to be handled by the proper authorities. The site for voting is here.