Bonds' 756 ball to be marked

[Telexen]

"Citing the "passion" of baseball fans who voted online, fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed Wednesday morning that a big asterisk will be branded onto the ball Barry Bonds hit on Aug. 7 for his record 756th homer and that it will be presented that way to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum."

full article

Wonderful

[polobunny]

Nice, just what I voted. :P

"We're grateful to Marc for donating this baseball, which represents one of the game's most historic records. Baseball belongs to the fans -- it always has and always will. The asterisk represents the voice of the fans at this moment in time. The level of interest reflects the strong bond between baseball and American culture. Our responsibility as a history museum is to present every story in proper context, and this ball allows us to do that."

Yeah right, strong bond...

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Telexen

"Citing the "passion" of baseball fans who voted online, fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed Wednesday morning that a big asterisk will be branded onto the ball Barry Bonds hit on Aug. 7 for his record 756th homer and that it will be presented that way to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum."

full article

Wonderful

Ah cool. So the results finally came out then. I posted about this a couple weeks ago HERE. Anyone pissed off about what will happen to the ball but didn't vote have only themselves to blame. =)

[Jokerswild]

Baseball lost me as a fan with the first strike. Too much whining over a game.

[Telexen]

I think it was justified. It's not about the ridiculously overpaid guys like Alex Rodriguez (although obviously not him then)...the money was about the fact that owners were paying a chunk of their players relatively low wages with the league minimum ($109,000).

How would you feel if you were paid bottom of the line but happened to step up and produce just as much as someone who was making multi-millions AND you were working for an owner who paid most of his players the league minimum and had great profits from it.

Before you think that $109k is a lot of money, remember that MLB players go to work EVERY DAY for 7 -8 months a year.

It wasn't just about the players play though. Other issues included salary caps and revenue sharing. Both have proved to be valuable initiatives.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

Baseball lost me as a fan with the first strike. Too much whining over a game.

Too true. Ever since the 1994 World Series was cancelled because of a player strike, I pretty much gave up on baseball. It no longer became the quintessential American pastime where athletes played for the love of the game. The real victims of that strike was not the players, it was the fans.

[Panda Man]

Rich is going to flip when he sees this thread..... *grabs lawn chair and popcorn* :P


Football is the real American Sport!

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

Football is the real American Sport!

I would have to heartily agree with you on that one!

...we are talking American football right, not that bastardized crap they play in Europe, otherwise known as soccer?

[Jokerswild]

Problems with baseball.
1. Too many games
2. Players change teams too often
3. Games lasts too long
4. Owners and players both are greedy
5. Pitching is diluted
6. Too many teams in the playoffs
7. Yankee's < One team to rule them all
8. Price of actually watching a game live

If you really like baseball then watch a minor league game it's affordable as long as you don't drink or eat there. Even that has gotten weird as they won't even let you bring water into the stadium so screw them all.

[Telexen]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

Problems with baseball.
1. Too many games
2. Players change teams too often
3. Games lasts too long
4. Owners and players both are greedy
5. Pitching is diluted
6. Too many teams in the playoffs
7. Yankee's < One team to rule them all
8. Price of actually watching a game live

If you really like baseball then watch a minor league game it's affordable as long as you don't drink or eat there. Even that has gotten weird as they won't even let you bring water into the stadium so screw them all.

1. Not a chance. The amount these guys play is a testament to how tough baseball really is. It isn't a pathetic and talentless football game where they play once a week. You bust your butt and get hurt a little one night in baseball but you still have to go back out there tomorrow! Baseball's problem with the number of games is the developing trend that players (pitchers, mostly) aren't able to go as much as guys used to in other generations. A pitcher should be able to throw a complete game without getting too tired with a 5 man rotation. Guys used to do it easily with 4 man rotations.

2. No argument there. The driving force here is guys like Scott Boras who represents players and makes them think they deserve $20 million a year...then guys like Steinbrenner who actually pay it.

3. I'm not sure what you mean. It's really no longer than a football game. And hell...the last 3-5 minutes of an NBA game takes almost as long as the first half of the game :p ...MLB could decide they want to take care of it though and pressure umpires to keep the game moving a little bit. It's not just pitchers that drive this though. Hitters don't need to step out of the box and adjust their batting gloves after every single pitch.

4. See #2

5. Didn't see this point when I typed up my #1...agreed. Pitching just isn't what it used to be (that's not to say there aren't some great pitchers though).

6. No way! I think you can make a legitimate argument that the League championship series should be cut down to best of 5...maybe even cut the Divisional series to best of 3...but MLB would never go for it because of lost renenue. Selig did good with the 3 divisions per league and wildcard call though.

7. George's health is diminishing now...Not to say that someone else won't replace him, but I think when he rids of the Yankees (if he does before...well) we'll have less of a problem - but there's no way to make it completely go away. It's too bad for salary caps to help do anything but contain it.

8. It goes up and down. Baseball is popular again. If you get a cruddy team in your town you can get relatively cheap seats. I think it's sad though that teams don't realize they could fill some of those empty seats and actually end up making MORE money on ticket sales if they lowered the prices.