The Bonds 756 saga peers its head once again…..
While surfing the web i came across something that both made me laugh and kind of blew me away. When Barry Bonds was approaching 756 people were talking about what would happen if and when he hit home run 756 and passed Hank Aaron, what would happen to the baseball. Well when the homer run was finally hit and the ball found a new home it was mere days until the proud new owner declared that he was going to be auctioning off. While many put in their bids for the baseball, one emerged victorious, this person was Marc Ecko. While it seems like the story would end here and a collector would have added a new piece to his collection it took an interesting twist. a website emerged days later www.vote756.com. This website was created to decide what should happen to the baseball that was just won. There were three options of what to do with the baseball, first option was to send it to where it belongs which was the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. The second was again with to send it to the Major Leauge Baseball Hall of Fame only with a twist, branding it with a asterisk. This in reference to the on going litigation against Bonds on some accusations of using performance enhancing drugs. The third option was even more out there no pun intended than the second, it was to launch it into outer-space. Although if you ask me, Bonds already gave the baseball this ride. After months for people to vote, the decided to brand the ball. Which is a topic that will need its own post. I told you that to tell you Upper Deck trading cards have released a number of special inserts of their sweet spot baseball trading card set. The card shows the “sweet spot” with an asterisk on it. Upper Deck has yet to release the number of cards that were made. So far, three have made its appearance on the secondary market. The first one sold for $955. Most recently one surface on Ebay with a buy it now price of $1,200. This is the actual ball because that ball is destined for the Hall of Fame, but this is just an example of a company taking advantage of the situation.
It might just be me but it seems each off season the power players seem to venture to the american league. With baseballs winter meetings comes the talks and rumors of big trades and highly publicized players making moves. There are many scenarios discussed for player movement, but it seems whenever a big deal actually goes down it seems the AL is getting the marquee players. A prime example is the recent bolstering of a team that was in the world series 2 years ago and making a serious playoff run last year. They acquired possibly the hottest name on the free agent market Miguel Cabrera. He was mentioned to be acquired by a multitude of teams, with the strongest being the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, yet the Tigers sneak in after talks with the Yankees fell apart. The biggest part of this deal getting done was the pieces the Tigers had and were willing to part with. The traded away future studs Cameron Maybin who is a 5 tool player who can contribute this season and future staff ace Andrew Miller who can pitch this season and contribute as well. This trade seemly will help both teams, but this takes the Tigers to the level of the Yankees and Red Sox as favorite to win the World Series. When the trade was made they got a contract the Marlins were looking to get off the books, which came in the shape of Dontrelle Willis. This adds depth to a staff that is young and strong. This could mean a significant impact if they are getting the Willis of the first 2 years in the league in which he won rookie of the year and showed dominance, as opposed to the Willis that allowed many runs and lost games over the past two years. The significance of his pitching can be prove to not mean much if the line up produces like it can. He could end the season with 15-20 wins even with a ERA in the high fives. This is just one example of the American Leauge taking quality talent from the National League. I guess thats what can happen in a sport where an owner who can and is willing to spend can make a huge difference.