Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alyallen]

'idiot.' Sorry, only so much room on the subject line. Got to love this story though....

Bonds: Man who bought record-breaking home run ball is an 'idiot'
September 19, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds said the man who bought his 756th home run ball and announced plans to let the public decide its fate is an "idiot."

Fashion designer Marc Ecko had the winning bid Saturday in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions.

Ecko, 35, has set up a Web site that lets visitors vote on three options for the ball: give it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown or blast it into space on a rocket ship.

The asterisk would suggest that Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The Giants slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

"All of those options don't weigh anything," Bonds told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday night in Phoenix. "In baseball, that number (756) stands."

Bonds said Ecko could have found a better way to spend three-quarters of a million dollars.

"He's stupid. He's an idiot," Bonds said. "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."

Ecko did not directly respond to Bonds' comments Wednesday, but said in a statement he would make Bonds a custom T-shirt that says, "Marc Ecko paid $752,467 for my ball, and all I got was this 'stupid' T-shirt."'

Ecko plans to announce what he will do with No. 756 after voting ends Sept. 25.

Ben Padnos, the California entrepreneur who submitted the $186,750 winning bid on Bonds' record-tying 755th home run ball, said Tuesday he also plans to have the public vote on what to do with it.

On the Net:

Vote 755, http://www.endthedebate.com
Vote 756, http://www.vote756.com

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-bonds-756ball&prov=ap&type=lgns

[CentralCali]

Can't say as I blame Bonds for casting such an aspersion on the buyer for that remark about the asterisk.

[CeleryMan]

...is a marketing genius period. He singlehandedly acquired a mainstream customer demographic; namely "average joe america" through a meager $756k investment. The "Ekco" brand is officially now a house-hold name.

When Itaewon starts peddling knockoffs of your brand, you know you're doing something right.

[Alyallen]

[Hanson]

Bonds' 755th is also being voted on, but this one has only 2 options:

1) Send it to Cooperstown
2) Blow it up

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/20/MN1SS9636.DTL

[Alyallen]

Bonds ball to be branded with asterisk

By RICK FREEMAN, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 26 minutes ago

NEW YORK - 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_bonds756_ball

[sjrm]

I voted for it to be branded about 25 times.