No. 756 will not be food, nor will it ever be the same

Barry’s 756th won’t be eaten. Well, at least it won’t be made into spaghetti sauce. When Harry Carey’s Restaurant in Chicago got its hands on the infamous “Steve Bartman ball” four years ago, they decided to blow it into smithereens and make overpriced sauce.

Instead, fashion designer and rhino-conservationist Marc Ecko bought Bonds’ historic ball for $752,467. He promptly created an online ballot at vote756.com. Site visitors could choose between sending an unblemished ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., branding the ball with an asterisk and then sending it to Cooperstown, or putting the ball in a rocket and launching it into outer space.

The fans spoke, and they decided to put hot metal to hide. Number 756 will forever be emblazoned with a burnt orange asterisk, a mark that has become symbolic of the steroid era.

Of the over 10 million voters, 47 percent agreed they wanted to brand the ball with an asterisk, compared to 34 percent who wanted it preserved and 19 percent who wanted to launch it into space.

While it is undoubtedly right that the ball should wind up in Cooperstown, I feel a branded asterisk is foolish. We all know that the ball and the record are marred — there’s simply no doubt about it. Barry Bonds (allegedly) cheated his way into the record books, and that ball is a symbol of his sham. To me, the ball already has an asterisk.

To physically abuse a piece of baseball history does nothing to fix the problem. Were the Smithsonian to brand the Articles of Confederation, burn 19th century Pro-Slavery petitions or record over the Watergate tapes, the history wouldn’t change. They would be meaningless statements, further tarnishing the already-tarnished.

In branding the ball, Ecko himself will taint the books, transforming the ball into something completely different. While such a defiant gesture may put Ecko in some history books, his publicity stunt is transparent to any real baseball fan.

Baseball has always been a forum for debate. Fans argue over everything, from the rookie status of Dice-K, to Julio Franco’s age, to whether or not Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. And they will undoubtedly debate the merits of Barry Bonds’ records for years to come. Why brand a ball that’s already under such scrutiny?

As Barry himself said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, “‘He spent $750,000 on the ball and that’s what he’s doing with it? What he’s doing is stupid… In baseball, that number (756) stands.’”

And stand it will. That is, unless A-Rod remains hot.

Bobby McFarlane is a Lovett College junior.

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