What To Do With 756
Barry Bonds on Marc Ecko (who recently paid $750,000 for the record-breaking 756th home run ball):
“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.”
Ecko on Bonds:
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.’”
This, by the way, is what Ecko is doing with the ball: vote756.com
I voted to send it to the Hall. It’s history; and not all history is pretty. The asterisk is superfluous.
Written by Mike Monteiro on September 19, 2007 | 
3 comments so far. Add yours below.
Pete says:
Yeah I agree with you that it is history and I don't believe it should be destroyed.
I also voted and selected the idea of adding the asterisk. I think the use of the asterisk is historical whether he is ever proven guilty or not. It may not necessarily mean he was guilty or proven guilty but will express the feelings of the majority of fans at the time the ball made it over the wall.
The ball is a historical piece in baseball and the asterisk has now become a symbol in the history of baseball.
Just my feelings on the matter. Either way, yeah I hope they don't kill it.
September 20, 2007 8:22 AM
MDJ says:
If that newspaper is reporting Bonds' comments accurately (given Bonds' history of being a jerk-off, this is most likely the case), it is BONDS who is the stupid idiot. In addition to cheating his way into a new homerun record, public comments like these are what make putting an asterisk on the ball all the more appropriate. That asterisk should read, "Take this record with a grain of salt because the record holder is a cheater and a jackass." If Mark Ecko has enough money to spend $750k on a baseball, so what? Who is Bonds to judge how another rich person spends his money? Sounds to me like Bonds is actually afraid of that asterisk...
September 20, 2007 9:17 AM
The Other Steve Jobs says:
History has example after example of people in the media eye and how they are percieved by both the press and the people consuming the press's wares. And as fairly reasonable generalization, if you're percieved as an ass in the media, its more the likely proven out to be because you are an ass. And that will color how the world will percieve your actions, regardless of what they actually are.
I give you Bobby Knight v. Coach K. Vick v. Tomlinson. Barry Bonds v. Sosa/McGuire.
Or
If you're a pleasant, positive, and uplifting person versus being an asshole or a thug or a mentally deranged winningest college basketball coach of all time - your legacy will be different and people will want to either believe you're an angel or the devil. And i blame it on you.
hell, even my MOM liked that huge, nice man that was hitting all those home runs and it was really sweet of the black guy and him being so sweet to each other. I watched the game with my parents where they met up, and you know what? It *was* totally cool that they were having as much honest fun with it as the rest of us were... and its why far fewer people care about their steroid use while so many more detest Bonds.
Barry is an ass of galactic proportions, his excuses for why the media hounds him as the genesis of his asshat attitude are crap, and personally, i'd put the asterisk on the ball not even for his steroid use, but just because he is a total asshole jerk.
September 20, 2007 9:36 AM