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SAN FRANCISCO -- The fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball is now in the public's hands after its buyer announced Monday he was taking votes on whether to give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed himself as Saturday's winning bidder in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price for No. 756 was $752,467, well above most predictions.

Ecko had not even taken possession of the ball before setting up a website that lets visitors vote on which of the three outcomes they think the ball most deserves. He said he plans to announce the final tally after voting ends Sept. 25.

"I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it," Ecko wrote on the website. "The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling."

The 35-year-old Ecko is known for his pop culture pranks, including an infamous Internet video that showed him apparently infiltrating an airport tarmac and spray-painting graffiti on Air Force One. The incident turned out to be a hoax.

But the auction house that handled the sale confirmed that Ecko is indeed the ball's buyer.

"This transaction is happening and is going to be done by the end of the day," David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, said Monday.

Kohler called Ecko's decision "brilliant" and said he had already visited the website and voted to send the ball to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a scrum with the ball on Aug. 7. He decided to sell it, he said, because he couldn't afford the tax bill that would result from holding onto the ball.

"This either makes him a lunatic or a genius, one of those two," Murphy said when told of Ecko's stunt. "I'm leaning toward genius."

Murphy said he planned to vote to send the ball to Cooperstown.

Ecko himself said he voted to brand the ball with an asterisk, a reference to the belief of some Bonds detractors that the San Francisco Giants slugger's record is tainted by his alleged use of performance-enhancing substances. Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Ecko said what really interests him is seeing what happens when an American Idol approach comes together with a serious public debate over drugs in sports.

"My vote really doesn't matter," said Ecko, who identifies himself as a New York Yankees fan. "The American public will tell us what to do with it."

On the Web:

Vote 756
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The ball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th home run will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame, its owner said Wednesday.

Ecko, whom Bonds called "an idiot'' last week, had the winning bid Sept. 15 in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit Aug. 7 to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions that assumed Bonds' status as a lightning rod for the steroids debate in baseball would depress the value.

Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey, also interviewed on the show, said accepting the ball did not mean the Hall endorses the viewpoint that Barry Bonds used drugs.

"We're happy to get it,'' he said. "We're a nonprofit history museum, so this ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Marc Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it.''

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WASHINGTON -- If Gilbert Arenas has his way, the baseball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th career homer will never be branded with an asterisk.

Arenas' solution? He wants to buy the ball.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball in an online auction, then set up a Web site so people could vote to determine its fate. Ecko announced the winning choice this week: branding the ball with an asterisk before it's sent to the Hall of Fame.

"I don't think he should mess up history like that," Arenas said Friday.

"It's history. It's still history. I mean, the guy's a man before he's some big slugger," he added. "I mean, how you just going to take what this man's done for his career and ... say, 'Hey, you were accused of this. You allegedly did this. I want to take this away from you.'? I mean, what if we took away your Ecko company? I mean, why graffiti the ball?"

Later Friday, Arenas posted an entry on his blog making the same point.

"I'll buy the ball from you Ecko for $800,000. If Barry Bonds is found guilty, I'll give it back to you. I'm not going to let you go around like some little superhero," the blog says. "I'll put it in my hall of fame. The Gilbert Hall of Fame for Athletes no matter what you did."

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The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2006-2007, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

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Barry Bonds would boycott Cooperstown if the Hall of Fame displays his record-breaking home run ball with an asterisk.

That includes skipping his potential induction ceremony.

"I won't go. I won't be part of it," Bonds said in an interview with MSNBC that aired Thursday night. "You can call me, but I won't be there."

The ball Bonds hit for home run No. 756 this season will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Hall. Fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball in an online auction and set up a Web site for fans to vote on its fate. In late September, he announced fans voted to send the ball to Cooperstown with an asterisk.

Of course, the asterisk suggests Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Fans brought signs with asterisks to ballparks this season as he neared Hank Aaron's career home run mark.

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Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball -- which owner Marc Ecko said he would brand with an asterisk and send to the Baseball Hall of Fame to comply with the results of an Internet poll -- could be on display at the Cooperstown, N.Y., museum by Opening Day.

"We'll display it, but the text accompanying the ball will cover when it was hit and how it ended up in Cooperstown," Jeff Idelson, the Hall's vice president for communications and education, told reporters. "It's meant to be educational."

Ecko, who bought the record-breaking ball for $752,000 at an online auction, still has the ball, Idelson said.

Ecko had asked fans what he should do with the ball. He proposed blowing it up, blasting it into space or branding it with an asterisk -- reflecting suspicions that Bonds broke Henry Aaron's home run record with the help of performance-enhancing drugs. Online voters picked the asterisk option, and Ecko said he would carry out their wishes.

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Asterisk or not, the ball Barry Bonds launched for his record-breaking 756th home run won't land in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall said Tuesday recent talks with fashion designer Marc Ecko, who bought the souvenir for more than $750,000 last September, had "unfortunately reached an impasse."

"The owner's previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan. As a result, the Hall of Fame will not be able to accept the baseball," the Hall said in a statement.

"Should the owner choose to unconditionally donate the ball to the museum at a future date, we would be delighted and of course, accept his offer," it said.

Nearly all of the Hall's 35,000-plus artifacts were presented on a permanent basis. The shrine does make exceptions, especially when it has nothing else to illustrate a story -- Willie Mays loaned the glove he used to make his famous, over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series.

Bonds donated the batting helmets he wore when he hit his 755th and 756th home runs last August, breaking Hank Aaron's career record.