Mental Floss

Just what did ever happen to baseball #756?

By David K. Israel

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As of course you've heard by now, this summer Barry Bonds broke the all-time homerun record set by Henry Aaron and held since 1976. The 756th homerun came on August 7th, 2007. But what has happened to the infamous baseball since it sailed over the fence at AT&T Park in San Francisco? Here's a breakdown:

Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old New Yorker (and Mets fan), books a flight from NYC to Australia with a layover in San Francisco. During said layover, he forks over a ridiculous $100 for a $12 ticket to get the chance to see Bonds smack number 756.

On Aug 7th, Bonds does exactly that and immediately chaos ensues as a throng of people throw themselves at the soaring ball.

Eventually Murphy emerges from the scuffle with a bloody face (and THE BALL) and is immediately ushered downstairs by security.

The Giants faithful are beyond peeved that a Mets fan nabbed it. Meanwhile, experts say the ball will sell for half-a-mil at auction.

Ebay expresses interest but the auction goes to Sotheby and SCP Auctions Inc.

Sept 15th, 2007: Marc Ecko, a fashion designer (also!) from New York, shells out a whopping $752,467.20 for the THE BALL (clearly it was that extra .20 cents that secured it). Ecko shells out a whopping $752,467.20 for THE BALL (sorry, but is there an Ecko in the house?).

Ecko starts a Web site where he asks people to vote on whether or not he should have THE BALL branded with an asterisk before turning it over to Cooperstown (that's baseball speak for The Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, NY).

The options on the Web site are: A: "Bestow it intact to Cooperstown" - B: "Permanently brand the ball with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown" and C: "Launch it into space forever"

Ten million people cast their votes on THE BALL's fate. Guess what folks? B comes up the winner!

Asked what he thinks of Ecko's little Web adventure, American hero and idol for many children, Barry Bonds, weighs in: "He's stupid. He's an idiot"¦ He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."

So let me put the question to all you smart _floss readers: Is Barry right? Is Ecko "stupid?" Is he "an idiot"? Should THE BALL be branded with an asterisk?