TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bringing Closure To Bonds Mess

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: September 19, 2007

Marc Ecko could have bought the Texas fishing license bearing Mickey Mantle's name for only $4,000. Orlando Cepeda's National League MVP plaque was available for only a few thousand more.

He even could have saved a half-million and gotten home-run ball No. 755 on the cheap.

Really, what would have been the fun in that?

'I thought it would be interesting for us to all have a pop-culture moment together,' Ecko told the nation in announcing he was the winner of the Barry Bonds lottery for ball No. 756.

Ecko got his wish, and for that Matt Murphy is happy. He's the 21-year-old who emerged from the scrum the night of Aug. 7 with the ball that broke perhaps the most hallowed record in sports.

While memorabilia collectors everywhere had to be cringing, baseball fans should be happy. With one swipe of his debit card, Ecko is doing what Commissioner Bud Selig never quite could bring himself to do - stamp the record as bogus in a way baseball fans will never forget.

Actually, brand the baseball is what Ecko is likely to end up doing, assuming he follows through on his plan. He is taking votes at vote756.com on what to do with the ball for which he paid $752,467. Would it really be a surprise if branding it with an asterisk and giving it to the Hall of Fame is the runaway winner?

The other two options are giving it to the Hall of Fame intact, or sending it into outer space, though Ecko seemed unclear as to just how he would find a rocket to accomplish that.

'This either makes him a lunatic or a genius, one of those two,' Murphy said. 'I'm leaning toward genius.'

Time will tell.

Keyword: Rays for coverage of Tuesday's late game against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT