Bonds HR Ball To Be Branded With Asterisk

Owner Of Record-Breaking 756 Home Run Ball Says He'll Send It To Hall Of Fame

(AP)  The ball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th home run will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame, its owner said Wednesday.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko, who bought the ball in an online auction, set up a Web site for fans to vote on the ball's fate, and the decision to brand it won out over the other options, sending it to the museum unblemished or launching it into space.

"We're going to be working with the folks at the Hall of Fame," Ecko said on NBC's "Today" show.

Ecko, whom Bonds called "an idiot" last week, had the winning bid Sept. 15 in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit Aug. 7 to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions that assumed Bonds' status as a lightning rod for the steroids debate in baseball would depress the value.

The asterisk suggests that Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Fans brought signs with asterisks on them to ballparks as he neared Aaron's hallowed mark.

Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey, also interviewed on the show, said accepting the ball did not mean the Hall endorses the viewpoint that Barry Bonds used drugs.

"We're happy to get it," he said. "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."

The Giants announced Friday they will part with Bonds after this season, the seven-time NL MVP's 15th in San Francisco and 22nd in the majors.

[Krazcarl]

752+thousand to get back at Bonds wish I had that kind of cash. I had a friend that was bodybuilder used steroids got up to pressing nearly 400 lbs. There is so much money to be made it works so it will be used as for the record I don''t care were not talking world peace energy solutions it''s a game you play as a child it amazes me that grown people even care it''s only baseball doesn''t matter who wins the series who breaks a record it won''t make my life any better unless I have bet riding, you folks need to get a life.

[slim1h2o]

They should put an * on his whole career! And of course on the recordbooks too.

[rushlimpdrug]

Bonds called Ecko "an idiot"?

Well isn''t Bonds just a bloated head?

[thinkharder-]

Sweet...nice to see a little justuce shine through in baseball.

[russ1985]

I don''t have a problem with the *. If he really thought that the "flaxseed oil" he was using on his chest was natural, why wasn''t he given it out all over the locker room. Weren''t other players "hurt" during the season? He didn''t because he knew he was cheating. So let the generations that follow know that this record was stolen by a cheater.

[cryonbrian]

I hope they put an * beside every New England Patriots Super Bowl wins!

[mtdrmbland]

******** That is Exactly what the ball needs on it. The people have spoken and Barry ought to see how the people feel about it. He is a great player. He would have made it into the Hall Of Fame without the roids...why chance it? Why think you are invincible? Why send your "best friend" to prison for at least a year for NOT testifying against you? That just leaves me little doubt that the "best friend" has something to hide and has probably been paid to be silent.

[jsmithcsa]

Bonds is right -- the guy is an idiot -- but Bonds is a bigger one for using steriods in the first place.

[bogusbones]

The people have spoken but that drug inflated "athlete" could probably care less.