What to Do With the 756 Ball?

What to Do With the 756 Ball?
By Jake Bailey, TheSportsStand.com (9/19/07)

The debate has raged on for a long time on what should become of the ball that became Home Run number 756 off the bat of Barry Bonds. The destiny of the 756 ball that Barry Bonds hit is now in the hands of the world. Marc Ecko, the fashion designer who, by the way, designs some amazing lines of clothing, recently purchased the ball for $752,467. He is involving us and letting us decide. All we have to do is vote at the website dedicated to this. He gave us three choices and I will break down each of them.

1. Give the Ball to The Hall of Fame (Bestow It): Pretty simple here, not much to explain. Just take the ball as it is and give it to the Hall of Fame. It's a historic ball and deserves to be there.

2. Brand the Ball with an Asterisk (Brand It): With this choice, Ecko will brand the ball with a big asterisk and then give it to the Hall of Fame. It will leave a permanent mark and people will forever remember the "dirt" that surrounded this accomplishment. If Commissioner Bud Selig refuses to put the asterisk on the accomplishment, then we will.

3. Blast it into Outer Space (Banish It): This is perhaps the most interesting choice of all. If selected, Ecko will put it into a rocket ship and blast it into outer space. The ball will forever be gone. Similar to the situation in Chicago with the Steve Bartman ball except they blew that one to shreds.

I personally would go with choice two. As much fun as it would be to blast anything, not just a baseball, into outer space, it would not be proper justice in my humble opinion. It is a historic accomplishment and I believe it should be in the Hall of Fame no matter what based on that merit alone. 755 was, for the longest time, one of the most revered records in sports history, not just the MLB. With all the smog and controversy surrounding the ball, I think the asterisk is most fitting. Also, it will forever remind us of the steroid era and the taint that was "possibly" (even though we all know, in fact, actually was) on the ball. Plus, it would forever humiliate Barry Bonds for the cheating man that he is. Just giving it to the Hall of Fame wouldn't be enough and blasting it into outer space may allow people to forget about the great historical achievement that it actually was, however it was achieved, and some may actually forget that Bonds probably cheated (even though we all know he did). If any have read my previous articles about the whole "Bonds using steroids" situation, you know my stance on it. Although one does wonder what blasting the ball into space would be like...man people do have creative ways to deal with baseballs don't they?

If you want to voice your opinion on what to do the ball, go to Vote756.com and let your voice be heard! Also, props to Marc Ecko on this excellent idea and for allowing all of us to be a part of it.

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