Well, I guess that headline would be misleading, considering Gilbert hasn’t quite come to Barry’s rescue just yet. But he wants to. At least that’s what he told DC Sports Bog (& Grill) man Dan Steinberg. Apparently Gil’s incensed by Marc Ecko’s plan to brand the 756 ball with an asterisk and send it to the Hall and wants to buy the ball from Ecko. Gil’s reason:
“It’s history,” Gil began. “It’s still history. I mean, the guy’s a man before he’s some big slugger. I mean, how you just going to take what this man’s done for his career and, as another man, 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?
…
Gil said that he would be willing to pay $800,000 for the ball.
…
“If the Hall wants it, I’ll give it to the Hall, unmarked. If not, I’ll keep it. I’ll give it to Barry’s son. I don’t know, or at least do something positive with it, auction it off, build something, build some homes for the homeless, I don’t know. Do something positive.
They’re you have it. Gilbertology at its finest. While I side with Gilbert on almost every topic, this is one where I have to disagree with the man. Seriously, your head would have to be stuck pretty far up your ass to not believe Barry’s record is tainted. And as far as I’m concerned, a red flags goes up every time I hear someone defend Bonds. Are they doing so because they’ve used performance-enhancers before and they’re trying to justify the practice? Or maybe Gilbert’s just a really good guy — so I’d like to think.
(via Shoals at FanHouse; image courtesy Deadspin who also interviewed Agent Zero on Friday, take a look)
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[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today on Gilbert Comes to Barry’s Rescue*Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
Agent Zero your my boy and all BUT WHAT THE FUCK OVER? TAKE THAT MONEY YOU ARE GONNA PONY UP FOR THAT BALL AND DONATE IT BACK TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA…. GO WILDCATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Red flags or not, who is Ecko to brand the ball? Sure, he bought it, but ruining history? Everyone can have their opinions on Bonds, but the fact of the matter is that his steroid use IS ALLEGED to this point and to purposefully smear a piece of baseball history is childish. And you know the only reason Ecko is doing this is for the pub. I mean, who the hell discussed Mark Ecko in normal everyday conversation before this? Will someone buy Brett Favre’s TD record-breaking football and grafitti a pill on it because the dude used to be hooked to pk’s? I wouldn’t want someone defacing the Declaration of Independence because Thomas Jefferson screwed Sally Hemmings, who wasn’t his wife. We are talking about history, and Ecko is a fool and a child for doing this. And all to extend his own 15 minutes. He’s nothing more than an asshat.
10 million fans voted to brandish the ball with an *. The HOF has said they will take the ball in any condition…………..
I agree with Gilbert… “tainted” or not, I agree with him that the ball should not be tarnished. This makes me like Gilbert even more.
Just because 10 million fans voted, they only had x amount of choices. Asterisk, blast into space, or regular donation. That doesn’t mean the asterisk was the most representative choice. That’s like the U.S. government sponsoring a poll about George Bush’s presidency, with the three choices being Good, Awesome, or Best Ever.
And getting back to Gil’s intentions, here’s part of his argument that was left out by LB:
I’ll buy the ball from you Ecko for $800,000. If Barry Bonds is found guilty, I’ll give it back to you
So he’ll pay 800k, but just give it back if Bonds is found guilty. I don’t think he’s defending steroid use here. It seems like he’s generally pissed, as am I, about this whole “Ecko has the power” bullshit. And yes, even though there was a poll, Ecko laid out the three choices. None of those were Give the ball to Bonds, or Give it to Bonds’ son, or even Give it to charity.
Ecko is the biggest imbecile, and the people who want it branded are foolish as well.
“I mean, what if we took away your Ecko company?”