As Barry Bonds chases the home run record, Time Mag revisits Todd McFarlane’s baseball collection:
So, are you fired up about Number 756?
No, the ball that’s interesting to me is the last one Barry hits. That becomes the new number they print in the record books. 756 is cool, but 62 was cool when McGwire hit it, and I put my money on 70. This one is a pretty good ball. It’s a helluva-story ball. It’s a conversation-starter ball. But it’s not the ball. If you’re going to spend gobs of money, why not wait until the end?
Nice to know Todd McFarlane is still spending his fortune in a truly worthwhile way instead of, you know, donating it to feed and clothe the homeless, help fund research to cure cancer and other illnesses, or to provide aid to victims of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
But hey, a fist-sized ball of cork, rubber, twine and leather that was hit by an obnoxious jerk that cheats by mutating his body with steroids and using an elbow device to keep his swing consistent is what really matters in life, isn’t it?
I CAN HAS FMUS BASEBLL????
I hate to be put in the position of defending Todd &*#$ing McFarlane, but c’mon, Charles. Do you know the first thing about what McFarlane donates to charities? Me neither. Maybe he has an Uncle Scrooge-style Money Bin and never gives a dime. Maybe he’s an enormous but very private philanthropist. Nobody really knows but him and his accountant.
Or do you have the same absurd knee-jerk reaction to anyone wealthy who doesn’t give every last cent to cancer research?
Doola, perhaps McFarlane does donate to charities and perhaps he doesn’t, but yes, if he’s willing to spend millions on a frickin’ baseball, then he has a seriously screwed-up sense of priorities. All he’s doing is selfishly indulging himself on a vanity item to sit on his mantlepiece or wherever because he can, instead of using that very same money to benefit people in need and society as a whole.
And no, McFarlane’s not alone in this regard. There are plenty of celebrities and sports figures that are paid far too much money than they know what to do with.
Yikes! He just equated Bonds taking some steroids to Ty Cobb, one of the, if not THE most infamously, hate filled, racist baseball players in history! O.O