Bonds ball and asterisk to Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The ball Barry Bonds hit for his record-setting 756th home run will be marked with an asterisk and sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in New York.

Mark Ecko, who bought the ball for $752,467, set up a Web site for fans to vote on what should happen to the ball. Some 80 percent of the Internet voters said the ball should be sent to the Hall of Fame, with 47 percent saying it should be branded with an asterisk, Ecko said in announcing the vote results Wednesday.

The asterisk is meant to mark the controversy over Bonds' home run record and whether performance-enhancing drugs played a role the slugger's chase of Hank Aaron's all-time home run record.

"We're grateful to Marc for donating this baseball, which represents one of the game's most historic records," said Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey. "Baseball belongs to the fans -- it always has and always will. The asterisk represents the voice of the fans at this moment in time. … Our responsibility as a history museum is to present every story in proper context and this ball allows us to do that."

Bonds hit home run No. 756 on Aug. 7. He has added six home run since for a career total of 762 over 22 seasons.