Bonds 756th Home Run Ball Reaches Hall of Fame
Oh lookie, Barry Bonds’ ball is finally going to the Hall of Fame…
The souvenir arrived in Cooperstown, N.Y., after a strange day of back-and-forth statements between its owner, fashion designer Marc Ecko, and the shrine.
“We are very happy to receive the baseball as a donation, and not as a loan,” Hall spokesman Brad Horn said. “We look forward to adding [it] to our permanent collections.”
A driver walked up the front steps of the Hall, handing over the ball and a letter from Ecko saying it was an unconditional donation.
Bonds, then with the San Francisco Giants, broke Hank Aaron’s career homer record Aug. 7.
Ecko paid $752,467 for the prize in an online auction in September. Soon after, he asked fans to vote in an Internet poll on what he should do with the ball.
The winner: brand it with an asterisk, to reflect the steroid allegations surrounding Bonds, and give it to the Hall.
The ball indeed was marked, with the five-pronged asterisk dye-cut into the cowhide, from stitch to stitch where “Major League Baseball” is printed.
After months of discussions, the Hall said earlier yesterday that talks with Ecko had “unfortunately reached an impasse.”
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