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Fate of Ball No. 756 Put to Vote

America to decide: Donate to Hall of Fame, brand with an asterisk, or launch into space?

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 18, 2007 6:59 AM CDT

(Newser) – Designer and prankster Marc Ecko successfully bid over $750,000 for Barry Bonds' record-breaking home-run ball. Now he's ready to get rid of it, and told Today's Matt Lauer that America will decide how: donate it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, give it to the Hall of Fame with an asterisk burnt into it, or launch it into space.

Ecko, who wanted "to give the ball to America," has created a web page that will accept votes through September 25th. Likening the vote to "American Idol," the wealthy entrepreneur explained his decision to part with the expensive collectible, telling Lauer that he “thought it would be interesting to have a pop culture moment together.”

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

In this file photo taken in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007, Matt Murphy holds San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds' record breaking 756th home run ball during a news conference. Baseball fans... (Associated Press)

Designer Mark Ecko arrives to the launch of Lorraine Schwartz%u2019s Bergdorf Goodman diamond Monkey collection at the redesigned Monkey Bar, Wednesday, June 20, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh) (Associated Press)

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Fate of Ball No. 756 Put to Vote