On this Day
More Sports News
Featured Sports Web Guides
Lenny Ignelzi/AP
Bonds’s Ball in the Hall After All
July 02, 2008 10:06 AM
by
Josh Katz
Barry Bonds’s 756th home run baseball is now in the Hall of Fame, complete with promised asterisk, arriving hours after the Hall announced that the ball’s owner would not donate it.
30-Second Summary
Yesterday, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum said it had “unfortunately reached an impasse” in its talks with Ecko. According to the Hall, Ecko had previously pledged to donate it, but that “changed to a loan,” and the organization generally only displays memorabilia that is permanently in its possession.
As an exception to that rule, Willie Mays loaned the glove he used to make his storied 1954 World Series basket catch.
But soon after the Hall made its annoucement, Ecko made a statement saying that he was “surprised” by the news. He claimed that “the only ‘open issue’ was whether the Hall would be comfortable displaying the ball,” according to the International Herald Tribune.
Ecko has donated, not loaned, the ball to the Hall of Fame, and an asterisk is laser-engraved into the artifact. Ecko had his personal driver take it to Cooperstown Tuesday night.
Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record and hit his 756th career home run on Aug. 7, 2007, but his achievement was fraught with allegations of steroid use. Matt Murphy from Queens, N.Y., caught the ball and decided to sell it; Ecko then won the online auction in September by purchasing the ball for $752,467.
Ecko asked fans on the Internet what he should do with the baseball. The fans voted to stamp an asterisk on the ball and then send it to the Hall of Fame, over the other two options of giving it to Cooperstown unbranded or blasting it into space.
Bonds called Ecko an “idiot” for his actions, and has said he would “boycott the Hall if it displayed the ball with an asterisk,” according to the Associated Press.
As an exception to that rule, Willie Mays loaned the glove he used to make his storied 1954 World Series basket catch.
But soon after the Hall made its annoucement, Ecko made a statement saying that he was “surprised” by the news. He claimed that “the only ‘open issue’ was whether the Hall would be comfortable displaying the ball,” according to the International Herald Tribune.
Ecko has donated, not loaned, the ball to the Hall of Fame, and an asterisk is laser-engraved into the artifact. Ecko had his personal driver take it to Cooperstown Tuesday night.
Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record and hit his 756th career home run on Aug. 7, 2007, but his achievement was fraught with allegations of steroid use. Matt Murphy from Queens, N.Y., caught the ball and decided to sell it; Ecko then won the online auction in September by purchasing the ball for $752,467.
Ecko asked fans on the Internet what he should do with the baseball. The fans voted to stamp an asterisk on the ball and then send it to the Hall of Fame, over the other two options of giving it to Cooperstown unbranded or blasting it into space.
Bonds called Ecko an “idiot” for his actions, and has said he would “boycott the Hall if it displayed the ball with an asterisk,” according to the Associated Press.
Headline Link: Ecko sends ball to Cooperstown
Marc Ecko had the ball driven up to Cooperstown hours after the Hall announced it had hit an “impasse” with Ecko. “At this time, the ball is en route to the Hall of Fame,” Ecko said Tuesday afternoon. “I hope that they will accept it and honor their commitment to display it at some point in time.”
Source: International Herald Tribune
The Hall of Fame said on Tuesday that talks with fashion designer Marc Ecko “unfortunately reached an impasse.” According to the Hall, “The owner’s previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan. As a result, the Hall of Fame will not be able to accept the baseball.”
Source: MSNBC
Background: Bonds’s controversial route to the record
Steroid allegations
In 2006, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams released “Game of Shadows,” which described Bonds’s performance-enhancing drug use in vivid detail. Bonds used a wide range of PEDs, including Winstrol, human growth hormone, and BALCO designer steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear.”
Source: Sports Illustrated
Fans hungry for the ball
In July 2007, The San Francisco Chronicle profiled the “seasoned group of ballhawks,” primed to catch Barry Bond’s 755th home run to tie Hank Aaron, and then his 756th to set a new record. “San Francisco has become the ball-catching capital of the baseball world, thanks to Bonds and a ballpark that offers many interesting ways to snag cowhide,” according to the story. Once Bonds makes history, the expert ball catchers are ready to take that history home and convert it into “wads of cash,” according to the story.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Bonds hits 756
Barry Bonds made history Aug. 7, 2007, when he hit his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron’s record. "Right now, I'm very happy that it's all over with," Bonds said after the game. “I’m really happy with my teammates. That's the most important thing. And the fans, like I said, the fans here are my family. No one will ever take that away. No one can ever take that away.”
Source: San Francisco Giants Web site
Ecko lets fans choose fate of ball
Mark Ecko bought Barry Bonds’s 756th home run ball in an auction, and then asked fans on the Internet to vote on what he should do with it. Bonds called Ecko an “idiot” for holding the auction. The fans voted for an asterisk to be placed on the ball.
Source: ESPN
Bonds charged with felony, perjury and obstruction of justice
The legitimacy of Bonds’s home run record and other statistics were dealt a new blow when he was charged with five felony counts of perjury and obstruction of justice after a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes. “This record is not tainted at all—period,” Bonds said the night he broke the record.
Source: NPR
Related Link: ‘Griffey’s 600th Home Run Is Latest Disputed Souvenir’
Although the legitimacy of Ken Griffey, Jr.’s 600th home run was not surrounded by steroid charges, the ownership of the ball was disputed when two baseball fans sparred over who rightfully caught the baseball.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
