Barry Bonds 756th Home Run Ball

One pitch at AT&T Park

On August 7, 2007, Barry Bonds came up in the fifth inning against Washington Nationals left-hander Mike Bacsik with the count full. Bacsik's curveball had just been fouled off. The next pitch was meant to be an 86 mph fastball on the outside corner; it leaked back over the plate, and Bonds drove it 435 feet to right-center field at 8:51 p.m. Pacific time. It was his 756th career home run, one more than Hank Aaron.

There were 43,154 people at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Aaron congratulated Bonds in a recorded message. Commissioner Bud Selig was noticeably absent. The Nationals won the game 8-6.

Bonds was defiant about the doubts around him: 'This record is not tainted at all, at all. Period. You guys can say whatever you want.' Bacsik later called Bonds the greatest player he ever played against and said he was OK talking about the pitch, since it is part of baseball history.

Barry Bonds and the steroids era

Born July 24, 1964, Bonds debuted on May 30, 1986, and won seven National League MVP awards (1990, 1992, 1993 and 2001 through 2004). In 2001 he hit 73 home runs, breaking Mark McGwire's single-season record of 70. 2007 was his 15th season with the Giants and his 22nd in the majors.

His late-career surge came under suspicion through the BALCO steroid investigation. In 2007 he was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges; he was convicted of obstruction in 2011 and the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2015.

He played his last game on September 26, 2007, and finished with 762 home runs, the all-time record. He never reached the 75 percent of votes needed for the Hall of Fame during his 10 years on the writers' ballot. The ball he hit for No. 756 is in Cooperstown anyway.

From the bleachers to a branding iron

The ball was caught by Matt Murphy, a Mets fan from Queens, New York; reports give his age as 21 or 22. He put it up for sale, and on September 15, 2007, fashion designer Marc Ecko, a New Jersey native then 35, won it in an online auction for $752,467.

Ecko then handed the decision to the public. A website offered three choices: send the ball to Cooperstown unaltered, brand it with an asterisk and then send it, or launch it into space. About 10 million votes were cast. Forty-seven percent chose the asterisk, 34 percent chose to leave it alone and 19 percent wanted it shot into orbit.

Ecko said the record was 'shrouded in a chapter of baseball history that wasn't necessarily the clearest it could be.' Bonds called him 'an idiot.' Manager Jim Leyland said he disagreed totally because there should be no asterisk.

The asterisk was burned into the leather with a branding iron, above the manufacturer's logo, and the ball went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Hall president Dale Petroskey said the ball would not have come to Cooperstown if Ecko had not bought it and let the fans have their say.

A record ball with a mark of doubt

The asterisk is what makes this ball one of a kind. Record balls are usually valued for being untouched; this one was deliberately altered, permanently, as a public comment on the record it represents. The mark sits above the logo on the cover, where it is visible whenever the ball is displayed.

The asterisk echoes the long-standing belief that Bonds broke Aaron's record with the help of performance-enhancing drugs. In that sense the ball records two things at once: the home run and the argument about it.

The numbers

August 7, 2007

Nationals 8, Giants 6; attendance 43,154; time 3:12

The home run

No. 756, 5th inning, 3-2 count, off Mike Bacsik, 435 feet to right-center

2007 season

126 G, 340 AB, 28 HR, 66 RBI, 132 BB, .276/.480/.565, 1.045 OPS

Career

2,986 G, 2,935 H, 762 HR, 1,996 RBI, 2,558 BB, .298 BA

Awards

7 NL MVPs (1990, 1992, 1993, 2001-2004)

Timeline

1. Jul 24, 1964

   Barry Bonds is born.

2. May 30, 1986

   Bonds makes his major league debut.

3. 2001

   Bonds hits 73 home runs, the single-season record.

4. Aug 7, 2007

   Bonds hits No. 756 off Mike Bacsik in San Francisco, passing Hank Aaron.

5. Sep 15, 2007

   Marc Ecko buys the ball in an online auction for $752,467.

6. Sep 2007

   About 10 million fans vote; 47 percent choose to brand it with an asterisk.

7. Sep 26, 2007

   The vote result is reported: the ball will be branded and sent to the Hall of Fame. Bonds plays his last game the same day.

8. 2007

   Bonds is indicted on perjury and obstruction charges.

9. 2011

   Bonds is convicted of obstruction of justice.

10. 2015

    The conviction is overturned on appeal.

The world in 2007

• Jan 4, 2007

  Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House.

• Apr 16, 2007

  Thirty-two people are killed in the Virginia Tech shooting.

• Jun 29, 2007

  The first iPhone goes on sale in the United States.

• Aug 1, 2007

  The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapses, killing 13.

• Aug 9, 2007

  The Dow loses 387.18 points, its biggest one-day drop since February.

• Sep 24, 2007

  The Big Bang Theory debuts on CBS.

• Sep 25, 2007

  Halo 3 is released and takes in $170 million in its first 24 hours.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Barry Bonds 756th Home Run Ball is number 77 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (76 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• About 10 million people voted on what to do with the ball.
• Nineteen percent of voters wanted it launched into space.
• The pitch was supposed to be outside; it leaked back over the plate.
• The Giants lost the game in which the record fell: Washington won 8-6.
• Bonds played his final major league game on September 26, 2007, seven weeks after No. 756.
• The Hall of Fame has the ball, but Bonds himself was never elected by the writers.