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Barry Bonds (Juiced Merge)

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Cincy

5/11/06

No. 714 still looms

Bonds is getting the pitches, but ...

BY TIM DAHLBERG | AP SPORTS COLUMNIST

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->SAN FRANCISCO - The latest update on the brick wall in right field was this: Splash hits, 40, rubber chickens, 19.

It wasn't high-tech, but that was about all anyone needed to know Wednesday night in the park by the bay.

The numbers hadn't changed from the night before.

That meant the Cubs were pitching to Barry Bonds. And the balls were staying in the park.

The crowd came expecting more. They stayed until the bottom of the eighth inning of the San Francisco Giants' dreary 8-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs in the hope they would see history before pouring out of the park en masse.

Jesse Jackson was on hand, and so was Gavin Maloof, owner of the Sacramento Kings. Willie Mays was there, too, to wish his godson well.

Another 39,650 or so paid money for their tickets, carefully pocketing the stubs that might some day prove they were there the night Bonds finally caught the Babe.

They booed when Carlos Zambrano walked Bonds on five pitches in the first inning. Then they stood quietly as Zambrano went right after Bonds in his next three at-bats to postpone once again the inevitable No. 714.

The Giants were down seven runs by the time Bonds got up for the last time, a situation where Bonds would usually already be taking a shower in the clubhouse.

These aren't usual times in the ballpark by the bay, though, and Bonds stayed in for one final pop up to third base to close his evening.

"No fans left, so Barry couldn't leave either," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "You had 40,000 people waiting for that at-bat. I wasn't going to be the one to take Barry out, at home especially."

Bonds, of course, could have taken himself out. He pretty much does what he wants on this team, an honor earned by the 537 home runs he has hit for the Giants over the years.

He didn't, though, for reasons that he kept to himself. Bonds actually kept everything to himself, disappearing from the lockerroom before any of the media horde following his march to Ruth's milestone could track him down.

If Bonds had talked, he certainly wouldn't be grumbling about the Cubs pitching around him.

Zambrano walked Bonds in the first inning when he was struggling with his control, then got burned when a second 40-something Giant, Steve Finley, singled home the only run the Giants would score all night.

After that, Zambrano went right after Bonds, getting him to 0-2 counts twice and throwing a first strike before retiring the slugger on the final popup.

The fans on top of the right field wall never got a chance to hang a rubber chicken up all night, a trend that seems to be developing this season as Bonds struggles at the plate. He's been walked intentionally only 14 times through 34 games, a ratio that pales compared to the 120 free passes he got in 147 games in 2004, his last full season.

"We weren't exactly running right at him, but we weren't running from him either," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.

Zambrano wasn't happy to give up the one walk he did to Bonds, and said he wanted to make sure it didn't happen again.

"I'm second in the league in walks and more walks is no good," Zambrano said. "They drive me crazy all year, the walks."

Zambrano struck out Bonds looking in the fifth inning and let him hit only one ball out of the infield, a lazy line drive out to right center. Cameras flashed around the stadium with every pitch, but on this night there would be no historic home run.

There was relief in the Cubs' clubhouse afterward, but it wasn't because Bonds has been denied. There was another number on the minds of Baker and his players, namely the losing streak they brought into the game.

"I was thinking more about our eight-game losing streak," Zambrano said when asked if giving up home run 714 was on his mind.

When Bonds made his last out, fans streamed toward the exit and the kayakers who filled McCovey Cove paddled away. They'll return Thursday for an afternoon game against the Cubs, one of four the Giants have left on what was expected to be an historic homestand.

Bonds is supposed to play a rare day game after a night game. The way the Cubs are pitching him, he figures to see plenty of pitches.

Pretty soon, one of them is going to make a big splash.

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected]
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Wow - I just noticed that Barry's only 1 HR behind Babe Ruth. That's second place on the all-time list.

Why doesn't ESPN say anything about this? :tongue2:
 
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ABJ

5/15/06

Bonds remains stuck at 713 after homerless homestand

JOSH DUBOW

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds was nearly as quiet on his way out of the ballpark as he was with the bat for an entire homestand.
Bonds remained stuck at 713 career home runs after a week in San Francisco, sending the chase for Babe Ruth back on the road.
It seemed like a sure bet when the Giants came home that Bonds would hit a homer to tie Ruth - or two to pass him - for second place on the career list. But the banners to honor him will remain rolled up and waiting to be unfurled from two light towers in center field on each side of the main scoreboard at least until the Giants return to town.
Bonds offered few insights after his sixth straight homerless game, a 6-3 loss to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. He went 0-for-2 with two walks and finished the homestand 1-for-18 with eight walks.
He nodded his head when asked if he was disappointed that he didn't tie the record at home, and shook his head when asked if he was frustrated. He said little else.
"I'm late guys. I gotta go. The bus leaves in five minutes," he said.
Coming into the week, Bonds had played at least six games on a homestand 37 times since the Giants opened their waterfront ballpark in 2000. And only three times did he fail to homer. Now make it four.
"Hopefully he can get it done when we get to Houston. He's going to hit another homer," teammate Steve Finley said. "With Barry, people are looking at his results as home runs. It's not that easy to hit home runs."
It's just that it always was for Bonds, who appears to be slowing down as he approaches his 42nd birthday in July and is playing on a surgically repaired right knee.
The recent slump has dropped his average to .217 this season and the most feared slugger of his time looks little like his old slugging self.
"I will say the last at-bat, his bat looked slow," manager Felipe Alou said. "I'm not going to comment any more about Barry."
Bonds will try to end the drought when the Giants open their series Monday in Houston. Rookie starter Taylor Buchholz, who retired Bonds twice last month in his only appearance against the seven-time NL MVP, will try to avoid being the 420th pitcher to give up a homer to the slugger.
"I'm just going to try to act like it's a normal at-bat," Buchholz said. "I guess if it happens I'll be the answer to a trivia question. But I'm not going to let him have it if I can stop him."
Alou said he wasn't sure whether Bonds would be in the lineup Monday after starting six straight days to end the homestand, including twice in day games following night games.
Bonds wasn't sure he would need a break and said he hoped to play as many games as he could during the six-game trip to Houston and Oakland, where Alou wants him to be designated hitter for all three contests.
Bonds is hitless in his last 15 at-bats with seven walks since his seventh-inning single Tuesday night against Scott Eyre of the Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth when reliever Steve Kline (1-1) made a wild throw to third on a bunt by Kenny Lofton, allowing two runs to score on the error. Bonds barely moved to back up the play and by the time shortstop Omar Vizquel retrieved the ball in left field it was too late.
Bonds drew his 17th intentional walk of the season in the first, grounded out to Dodgers starter Jae Seo to end the third, walked again in the sixth and popped out to third in the eighth before being replaced in the top of the ninth.
"With runners on I didn't want to give him anything to hit. My main concern was to keep the ball low," Seo said through an interpreter. "I didn't want to see myself on a highlight on ESPN giving up the home run."
Jeff Kent broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run to left in the sixth, his second homer in as many games and sixth of the season. Olmedo Saenz hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to drive in the Dodgers' first run.
Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to nine games with an RBI single in the eighth, the eighth straight game he's driven in a run. Rafael Furcal singled in a run in the ninth.
Mike Matheny blooped a tying RBI single off Odalis Perez (4-1) - pitching in relief for the first time since Sept. 30, 2001, with Atlanta - in the seventh.
Joe Beimel pitched two innings for his first career save. The lefty got Bonds out all three times they faced off, twice Friday and once Sunday, and has held him to 1-for-8 with 2 walks and one homer - in 2001 - in his career.
"Both times I faced him I had a pretty good lead," Beimel said. "The last thing on my mind is to worry about giving up a home run, because if he hits it, we still have a lead. If I come in and start messing around with him and pitching around him and put a couple of guys on, that's when bad things start to happen."
Ray Durham, who returned from a hamstring injury Friday, hit a solo home run leading off the ninth for the Giants.
San Francisco starter Jason Schmidt allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings.
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Canton

5/16/06

Bonds feeling haunted: “Babe ... hovers over people a lot.”

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By JIM LITKE AP Sports Columnist[/FONT]


HOUSTON (AP) — Catching a ghost turned out to be no easier on the road than it was at home.
At least not for Barry Bonds.
En route to a 10-1 win over the Houston Astros, guys hitting around Bonds in the Giants’ lineup Monday night demonstrated that with good timing and a little pop in the bat, driving a baseball beyond the outfield fences in Minute Maid Park hardly required Ruthian power.
But it must have looked and felt otherwise to Bonds.
In one of those ever-rarer interviews the slugger has granted recently — outside of those earnest bits he does for his infomercial, “Bonds on Bonds” — he mused before the game:
“This thing, it’s like chasing two ghosts, you know. I can imagine what Roger Maris went through. Babe Ruth, I think he just kind of hovers over people a lot.”
When a young reporter asked a follow-up question moments later, Bonds shut him down in a hurry.
“You wouldn’t even understand it, kid,” he said. “I don’t even know how much you know about baseball, really. It’s too long.”
What’s too long, to be sure, is the homerless skid the greatest power hitter of his era finds himself sliding on. At his current pace, Bonds’ chances of ever matching the 755 homers put up by Hank Aaron — the second “ghost” — have all but disappeared in the distance.
During Bonds’ single-season record of 73 homers in 2001, he averaged one for every 6.5 at-bats. Coming into the season, his career average was one for every 12.7 at-bats. Since pulling within one of Ruth’s 714 mark on May 7, Bonds has gone without in seven games and his last 22 at-bats.
Bonds made no secret of hoping to catch the Babe during a seven-game homestand last week, before the nightly drama headed back into enemy territory, where it has come to resemble a witch hunt more than a home run chase.
“San Francisco is my biggest supporting cast. I’ve been able to do it for them forever since I’ve been here. There’s nothing more gratifying than, you know, having them able to catch a ball on your turf,” Bonds said.
But a moment later, he added, “The way I’m swinging, it looks like I can wait.”
If there is a lonelier athlete on the planet, he should introduce himself to Bonds. Less hostile than the fans in Philadelphia and about as indifferent as those in Milwaukee, the Astros’ faithful razzed him almost as if it were an obligation.
He stuck his head out of the dugout and got booed. He walked to the plate and hand-lettered, neon-yellow signs with asterisks scrawled across them sprouted in the grandstands like daisies in a meadow. He looked at a called strike three and was cheered. He headed back for the safety of the dugout and sprinkled in amid the asterisks are even cruder sentiments — “Got Respect?” “Cheater” and “SteroidsImposter.”
The biggest surprise of the night might have been that the crowd didn’t boo the mid-inning announcement of the changes in the Giants’ lineup when Bonds was replaced in left field just before the Houston seventh.
And just in case those same fans had a parting gift in mind, Bonds showered soon after and left the park just about the time his teammates made it back into the locker room. While his teammates plowed through the postgame buffet, at the far end of the clubhouse, manager Felipe Alou, Bonds’ designated mouthpiece was quickly tiring of fielding questions about his star’s lengthening slump.
“Barry will be the guy to answer that. I’ve been talking about the same thing too long,” Alou said.
But taking responsibility doesn’t seem to be Bonds’ strong suit at the moment. The Giants seem to be playing for his benefit instead of the other way around. He shows up at the ballpark when he wants, plays when he wants, picks his spot in the order — Bonds was back at cleanup Monday night after a one-game experience as the No. 3 hitter — and leaves when he wants.
He admits to being impatient, swinging at pitches he would take in seasons gone by, “taking more chances than I ever have in my whole entire career.” But Alou acknowledged that last week was the first time he ever talked about hitting with Bonds since taking over the club in 2003. Fat lot of good that did either of them.
Meanwhile, propped up in front of the slugger’s locker — actually three lockers, an empty cubicle on either side serving as a buffer zone between Bonds and his teammates — were three dark maple bats with the handles meticulously taped and who knows how many more homers left in the barrels.
We’ll learn that answer soon enough, about the same time Bonds learns whether it’s fatigue or the inevitable decline of advancing age that has him in its grip. It’s a daunting, haunting proposition either way, one captured perfectly in a sign that he could read with just a quick glance into the seats behind home. “Bonds,” it read, “Babe is watching.” ———


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Bonds hit in shoulder to end wild at-bat against Astros' Springer </p>

May 16, 2006 </p>

HOUSTON (AP) -- Barry Bonds was plunked in the right shoulder to end a wild at-bat against Astros right-hander Russ Springer on Tuesday night. </p>

With the San Francisco slugger leading off the fifth inning, Springer's first pitch sailed behind Bonds' back, drawing a warning from plate umpire Joe West. </p>

The next four pitches all came inside, including one that hit Bonds' bat handle on the third delivery for strike one. The fifth pitch hit Bonds as he turned to protect himself. </p>

That's when Springer and manager Phil Garner got ejected -- and the Houston crowd gave Springer a standing ovation. </p>

Throw him a parade too.
 
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Russ Springer you make me proud.


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ABJ

5/17/06

Column: Bonds conserving his anger, too

JIM LITKE

AP Sports Columnist

<!-- begin body-content -->HOUSTON - The best ones are always the last to know.
Of all the doubts that trouble Barry Bonds before his head makes a king-sized dent in the pillow every night - aching knees, bone chips in his elbow, fatigue in every other joint and muscle, a reputation that is beyond repair - the most troublesome of all must be this:
Has the last bit of his prodigious talent already been used up?
Bonds turns 42 in July and all that remains evident from the complete skill-set that once marked him as the best all-around ballplayer of this era is his ability to hit a baseball. Hitting them hard enough to leave the park, despite two crackling singles and a fly ball to the warning track Tuesday night, remains another matter.
Stuck in a holding pattern behind Babe Ruth at 713 home runs, Bonds is about as popular as a delayed flight at the moment. He got hit by a pitch square in the top of the right shoulder at the end of a dicey confrontation with Houston reliever Russ Springer in the fifth inning of the Giants' 14-3 win, and Springer's ejection was greeted by the Astros' faithful with a standing ovation.
Bonds trotted to first without so much as a glance back in Springer's direction, as sure a sign as any that the Giants' slugger is conserving his energy, not to mention anger, after playing eight games in eight days. It's clear why Bonds insisted on being in the lineup here, because the Giants have given him plenty of at-bats by scoring 24 runs on consecutive nights. But after another flyout in the sixth, he took the rest of the night off.
Whether Bonds is interested in retaliation somewhere down the road remains to be seen. He avoided reporters after the game, though not his teammates for once, sharing a few bites of the postgame meal before ducking out of the clubhouse. His quick exit was matched by Springer's, who hit Bonds in a game two years ago and rushed out to take care of family matters with his wife scheduled for surgery Wednesday.
Giants manager Felipe Alou, Bonds' designated speaker, declined to weigh in on the confrontation until he had a chance to review the play, but added he was encouraged by the way his star took his cuts.
"You've got to get back to being a good hitter and the long ball will take care of itself. He was waiting for the ball to get to him," Alou said. "He was very compact tonight."
For all that, Bonds is a paltry 4-for-22 and 0-for-the-long ball since his last homer May 7 in Philadelphia. Opponents still believe he has plenty left - "He's too smart of a hitter, he knows his swing too well and he's too talented for it not to happen," Houston's Brad Ausmus said - but the fans seem less convinced.
The booing was less shrill in the second of this three-game series, and the hand-lettered signs with "asterisks" - and worse - written across them, so plentiful on opening night here, had all but disappeared.
One kid took the trouble to dress up as a syringe, but an usher talked him out of the costume even before the game began. It was the only easy-to-read reference on this night to the steroid cloud that follows Bonds wherever he goes.
A night earlier, in a reflective moment, Bonds talked about how hard it was chasing "two ghosts," meaning not just the Babe and his 714 homers, but leader Hank Aaron and his 755. He knows that the flesh-and-blood version of those two legends, at around the same age Bonds is now, managed just six and 20 home runs in their respective final seasons.
He has five so far, and by whatever means, Bonds has defied most of the conventional wisdom about sluggers losing power as they get older. But he's playing on borrowed time, again by whatever means, and Bonds knows that better than anyone.
Last week, he scratched catching Aaron off his to-do list and Bonds has increasingly talked up the idea of moving to the American League, where as a designated hitter, he figures he could play 155 games. More to the point, Bonds is in the final season of a five-year, $90 million contract in San Francisco and the Giants are hardly going to pay anywhere near that much for someone who already plays left field and runs the bases like he's impersonating a ballplayer.
A move to Oakland would allow him to stay in the Bay Area, and teams like Tampa Bay, Detroit and Kansas City could use the drawing power a villain like Bonds would instantly bring. But good luck to the aging slugger trying to wrestle more than a million or two per season from any club that owns a TV set. Because it's fast becoming apparent to anybody watching that even Bonds is learning the one lesson writ large across the pages of baseball's history books:
Time eventually catches everybody, and once a hitter's power and momentum slow, the tumble down the mountain happens with breathtaking speed.
---
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected]
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I was home for lunch and was flipping past ESPN where they had Baseball tonight on from last night. They said Bonds and Springer have met 3 times now; the outcomes have gone like this: HR, HBP, HBP. Coincidence?
 
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I think anyone that throws a ball at Bonds should recieve an extra harsh punishment. Not just ejected but some large suspensions. Springer is not a hero, he is a coward, I hope the league doesn't go soft on him. Unlike Barry his crimes have been proven. What if he throws up in and in at that speed and catches bonds in the face; is that still cool? There is proving a point, but you don't do it at 92 mph, completely unacceptable.
I liked everything Pujols said in this article on ESPN... I dislike the espn headline fore the article.....


Pujols on Bonds: 'He's probably made some mistakes'

<!-- end pagetitle --> <!-- begin bylinebox --> Associated Press

<!-- begin presby2 --><!-- end presby2 -->
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<!-- begin text11 div --><!-- begin leftcol --> <!-- template inline --> ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols defended Barry Bonds on Wednesday, saying he respects the accomplishments of the San Francisco Giants' slugger.
Pujols was in the St. Louis lineup after a nasty slip and fall and felt good enough to discuss the widespread belief that Bonds' pursuit of Babe Ruth's hallowed 714-homer total is tainted by alleged steroid use. Bonds is one shy of tying Ruth for second on the career list. Pujols also addressed whispers that have followed him since he broke into the major leagues in 2001 that he fudged on his age.
Last year's NL MVP said people have been "too hard" on Bonds. He and the Cardinals play the Giants for the first time next week in San Francisco.
"I know he's probably made some mistakes in the past, but come on, give the guy a break," Pujols said. "Respect the numbers in the career he has put up."
Pujols feels like he's under suspicion, too, because people don't believe he's really 26.
"You know how many times I hear -- and I'm sick and tired of people saying it -- that I'm not 26?" Pujols said. "I know how old I am and I know that I don't use any of those bad things people are talking about that I use."
Pujols said in the current climate, players seem to be guilty until proven innocent.
"People talk. That's their job, to write something stupid without finding out," he said. "Like Barry, people are talking about him and they haven't found anything out about the guy. They're talking about making the guy a bad guy. Prove the point first and then you can write anything about it. But before, leave the guy alone."
Pujols added that Major League Baseball could test him for illegal drugs "every day if they want."
"I don't need any type of things like that to help me out with my game," said. "I don't need to do anything more than what I've done in the past or doing right now.
"I'm happy with my career so far and what I've done in my career, and I don't need anything extra."
Pujols, who leads the majors with 19 homers and 48 RBI, also fouled a ball off his left shin on Tuesday and was a lot more sore than usual. But he was determined to keep playing.
"I'm a little banged up," Pujols said. "But when I'm out there performing I'm going to do my best and I'm going to forget about any pain that I'm going through."
Not long after a rain delay of 101 minutes Tuesday night, Pujols slipped on the plastic on-deck logo that had become dangerously slick while chasing Jose Reyes' foul pop near the Cardinals' dugout in the eighth inning.
Pujols said the thought crossed his mind that the logo was going to come into play just before he slipped. He landed hard on his back and was down for several minutes before deciding to stay in the game.
"Right before I called for the ball I knew I was going to step on it, I think, and I knew I was going to have problems with it," Pujols said. "Hey, it happens. I'm glad it only had to happen one time before they took it out."
Pujols said his upper back took the brunt of the impact, and he also felt his neck pop, but somehow he avoided banging his head, too.
"It could have been worse," he said. "I could have broken my neck, I could have broken my back. The good Lord was watching me."
Pujols had back issues before the slip. He missed his only game of the season earlier this month due to a lower back strain.
"This doesn't help," trainer Barry Weinberg said. "Someone with a good back would be sore today. So, I'm not surprised that he's sore."
Manager Tony La Russa, who's been testy recently when he feels Pujols gets too much attention, seemed to believe reporters were interested in Pujols' condition because of his star status.
"It doesn't concern me any more because it's Albert," La Russa said. "So maybe we should pull the whole team off the field after rain delays and forfeit?"
Just like he wanted to be in the lineup on Wednesday, Pujols said he did not want to leave the game on Tuesday.
"The last thing I want to do is my spot comes up with the game on the line and me being out of the lineup when I know I could have stayed there and hit," Pujols said. "If I can't play, I'm going to come out.
"But if I'm able to do some damage I'm going to stay in there, and I felt I was fine."
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BuckWrestler141 said:
I think anyone that throws a ball at Bonds should recieve an extra harsh punishment. Not just ejected but some large suspensions. Springer is not a hero, he is a coward, I hope the league doesn't go soft on him. Unlike Barry his crimes have been proven. What if he throws up in and in at that speed and catches bonds in the face; is that still cool? There is proving a point, but you don't do it at 92 mph, completely unacceptable.
I liked everything Pujols said in this article on ESPN... I dislike the espn headline fore the article.....
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yes
 
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BuckWrestler141 said:
I think anyone that throws a ball at Bonds should recieve an extra harsh punishment. Not just ejected but some large suspensions. Springer is not a hero, he is a coward, I hope the league doesn't go soft on him. Unlike Barry his crimes have been proven. What if he throws up in and in at that speed and catches bonds in the face; is that still cool? There is proving a point, but you don't do it at 92 mph, completely unacceptable.
I liked everything Pujols said in this article on ESPN... I dislike the espn headline fore the article.....
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So now we're going to make sure that no one can pitch on the inner half of the plate to Bonds because if they happen to hit his body armor they'll be suspended for 25 games or so? That's perfect...why not just throw him batting practice pitches until he breaks the record? Now anyone who throws at someone's head (of ANY player) deserves VERY harsh discipline for taking a man's livlihood in their hands. But baseball is already pussified enough with angry roid ragers (er, batters) charging the mound every other game without significant penalty. If Bonds gets hit on the arm, he isn't even going to feel it, much less be hurt by it. If Springer threw at him, and especially his head, intentionally, then by all means, let him face the music. But you can't suspend some middle reliever from Milwaukee for a quarter of a season just because he dared throw an isnide curveball to Barry Bonds.
 
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