What the hell is going on American ball parks these days. First, they drop the legal drinking age to six months and now dads are catching home run balls with one hand while cradling junior in the other! What’s next? Are women are going to start delivering babies in the right field bleachers just to immediately have them signed by the Yankees?!?
Turns out that the fool who spent $752,467 on Barry Bonds’ home run ball No. 756 is no fool at all; in fact, the winner bidder was clothing mogul Mark Ecko. And Ecko is even being nice enough to share his purchase with all of us. He’s letting voters visit a special website and determine the fate of big-headed Barry’s infamous, steroid tainted homer.
His three options: To send the ball to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; To brand it with an asterisk — a reference to the belief of some Bonds detractors that the Giants slugger’s record is tainted by his alleged use of performance enhancing substances — and send it to Cooperstown permanently marked; or send it to space on a moon-shot greater than the one which sent the ball into history.
Ecko said he plans to announce the final tally after voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 25.
“I have my own opinion, I’ve been part of this debate just like everyone else,” Ecko wrote on his Web site “But I wanted to make it just a little more real. I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it. The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling.
Is there really any doubt what the American public is gonna do here? We’ve got six little words for ya: “Bang, zoom, straight to the moon”
Links:
[CBS5.com]: You Can You’re your Vote On Fate Of Bonds Ball #756
Joe Buck was on the Dan Patrick Show earlier this week and, inevitably, the topic of Barry Bonds and his 756th homer surfaced. Patrick lobbed Buck a potential long ball when he asked the distinctly recognizable voice of the MLB to describe exactly how he would make the call if he were on the mic when Bonds passed Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record.
For some reason, we don’t think that Buck is real thrilled about the idea of Bonds moving up the ladder. Perhaps it’s the way Buck had Bonds foul a pair of balls off his stick before he finally goes yard. Or maybe it was the less than enthusiastic “Yea, Barry Bonds is the new home run king.” You can just imagine the uninterested Buck looking through the funny pages of the day’s paper and sipping on a cup of coffee while he makes the call.
