Posted on 05/07/2006 10:00:12 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(AP) PHILADELPHIA -- Barry Bonds is heading home, one behind the Babe.
Bonds hit his 713th homer Sunday night, moving within one of tying Babe Ruth for second place on baseball's career list.
The San Francisco Giants' slugger hit a mammoth shot in the sixth inning off Philadelphia right-hander Jon Lieber, sending a 2-1 pitch off the facade of the right-field upper deck during a 9-5 loss to the Phillies.
"They tell me that's the way the Babe used to hit them," Giants manager Felipe Alou said.
Bonds' fifth homer of the season was estimated at 450 feet, one of the longest ever at Philadelphia's hitter-friendly park. He needs 42 to tie Hank Aaron for the major league record.
"About tore that golden arches sign down out there," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I'm glad he's leaving town, too, because he's about to get hot."
The solo homer cut the Phillies' lead to 5-3, but they soon broke it open and pushed their winning streak to eight games for the first time in 15 years.
The last time Philadelphia won eight in a row was a 13-game run in 1991.
The Giants were headed back to San Francisco to begin a homestand, but Bonds is not expected to play Monday night.
Bonds had been held in check since arriving here on Friday. He went 3-for-9 in Philadelphia's three-game sweep with a pair of singles. He had gone 11 at-bats since his previous home run Tuesday against San Diego.
As he took his slow trot around the bases, some of the Phillies fans -- who had been needling Bonds with boos and derisive chants throughout the series -- stood up, cheered and clicked photographs.
He struck out swinging in his next at-bat against reliever Aaron Fultz in the eighth inning, sending many fans heading for the exits. He was taken out of the game before the bottom of the inning, replaced in left field by Jason Ellison.
Carlos Oliveras caught the home run ball, specially marked to assure authenticity. The 25-year-old Oliveras, an Airman 1st Class who lives on McGuire Air Force Base in Fort Dix, N.J., paid $20 for his seat in Section 202, Row 7.
He said he is a Bonds fan and would probably keep the ball.
"I never thought I was going to be lucky like that," Oliveras said.
It was Bonds' fourth career homer off Lieber. But the seven-time NL MVP came into the game 5-for-36 (.139) against the right-hander, his lowest batting average against any pitcher he had faced at least 15 times.
With his mother cheering in the stands, Bonds pumped his fist as he returned to the dugout, perhaps trying to inspire a slumping Giants team that had lost three straight, six of seven and eight of 11.
Now he is one homer shy of Ruth's 714, one of the most hallowed numbers in a sport ruled by them. Ruth hit No. 714 in 1935 and held the major league record until Aaron broke it on April 8, 1974.
Ruth's total is the record for left-handed hitters, and Bonds has said he's more interested in owning that mark than catching Aaron.
Commissioner Bud Selig has said baseball won't do anything special to celebrate Bonds passing Ruth because it would only put the Giants' star in second place.
Maybe it also has something to do with allegations of steroid use by Bonds and baseball's probe into whether he took performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds has long denied ever knowingly taking steroids, though the new book "Game of Shadows" reveals his alleged extensive doping regimen the authors say began after the 1998 season when Bonds saw the attention Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa generated in their race for the single-season homers record.
Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to his role in a steroid distribution ring, and a federal grand jury is looking into whether Bonds perjured himself when he testified to the separate grand jury that indicted Anderson and three others in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal.
Perhaps no pursuit of second place in anything has ever garnered as much attention as Bonds closing in on Ruth. The Phillies said they received about 200 requests for media credentials this weekend, about 125 more than for a typical game.
The Giants do plan a celebration when Bonds catches Ruth. The team was set to take an overnight, cross-country flight and face Houston ace Roy Oswalt at home Monday night to make up an April 12 rainout. But Alou said Bonds probably won't play against the Astros.
As Bonds walked out to left field before the bottom of the first, fans in the front row of the bleachers unfurled a huge sign that read: "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?" In addition, one `i' and the question mark were dotted with asterisks.
The sign came out again in the third. Another sign in left field read "LIAR."
Lieber (2-4) allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings. He is 2-0 in his last three starts after losing his first four outings.
Pat Burrell hit a two-run homer off Matt Morris (2-3) and drove in three runs for the Phillies. David Bell had three hits and scored twice.
Thanks for somone finally bringing that one out. The size of stadiums has shrunk big time. Yankee Stadium did favor 'Ruth' in his day, but overall, 490 for Center Field!!!
Yankee Stadium
1923-1936
* Left Field Line - 285 ft.
* Straightaway LF, corner of main stand - 395 ft.
* Straightaway LF, corner of bleachers - 460 ft.
* Center Field - 490 ft.
* Right Center - 429 ft.
* Straightaway RF, bleacher gate - 350 ft.
* Right Field Line - 295 ft.
Yankee Stadium 1988-present
* Altered to make Monument Park more accessible
* Left Field Line - 318 ft.
* Straightaway LF - 379 ft.
* Deep Left Center - 399 ft.
* Center Field - 408 ft.
* Right Center - 385 ft.
* Straightaway RF - 353 ft.
* Right Field Line - 314 ft.
Also, the balls are wound so tight these days that they fly farther than they used to. The old baseballs were more like a mush ball compared to todays "golfball" style action.
please explain further post #57...
I'm in MN hardly east coast bias.
Even these days, I’m sick of “plays of the day” on highlight shows that ignore West Coast games.
. A fair ball that bounces through or over a fence or into the stands is considered a ground-rule double instead of a home run. [6.09]
Ok, I learned something.
But this will get real ugly if Bonds gets close to Hank's record.
MSM = mainstream media.
Maybe, maybe not. With the huge money in the game these days the edge steroids can give a player could mean the difference between languishing in AAA or being a multi-millionaire in the Bigs.
Back in Ruth's time all but a handful of players had to take winter jobs -- most made only a few thousand annually, max. Baseball was literally "just a game" to them, so they'd be far less likely to risk destroying their health to get that edge.
Now I'm really hungry...
finding a better channel usually suited me.
Well, to be fair, he did play in one (Candlestick Park) that wasn't kind to hitters for a few seasons.
1 is pretty damn close.
Ruth is also one of the all-time leaders in steals of home.
I wonder how many times Bonds stole home?
go to bed before you type anything else.
ESPN did their usual "alternate universe" liberalism, trying not to show anyone booing Bonds tonight. The folks still got their signs up before the camera could cut away and one guy leaned over the dugout with a thumbs down, after Bonds homered, while lying Joe Morgan insisted the fans in Philly gave him a standing ovation. There was no curtain call, no sustained applause, nothing that would accompany a standing ovation. ESPN just outright lied. Typical lib media.
Bonds is a cheating jerk that is despised by a large percentage of baseball fans as an affront to the game. I went to a Diamondback game recently and even the laid back, unemotional Phoenix fans booed every appearance of Bonds.
Still has 42 to go before he ties Aaron.
Is that a joke?
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