Posted on 09/21/2005 7:55:26 PM PDT by RGSpincich
Bonds, Alou lift Giants to win with home runs apiece Wednesday, September 21, 2005
By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -- Barry Bonds saw the paper asterisks fans waved at him. He heard the boos and insults.
And when Bonds rounded the bases after hitting an upper-deck homer in his 2005 road debut, he stepped on home plate, pointed to the sky with two fingers as he always does, then put a finger over his lips as if to say, "Shhhhhh!"
On a night filled with subplots and drama befitting a September game between clubs clinging to faint playoff hopes, Bonds hit his 706th homer, then drew a walk before Moises Alou's go-ahead, three-run shot in the ninth inning of the San Francisco Giants' 4-3 comeback victory over the Washington Nationals.
Bonds' homer was his third in 18 at-bats since returning to the Giants last week after missing most of the season recovering from three knee operations -- and being the subject of constant speculation about steroid use.
He directed his post-homer gesture at a particular fan he said was giving him a hard time all game.
"He was just heckling. I just told him to sit down and enjoy it," Bonds said.
He was the center of attention from batting practice on, including when Nationals manager Frank Robinson went to the mound to talk to Livan Hernandez (15-8) in the ninth inning with a runner on and two outs and Bonds at the plate.
Washington led 2-1, and Robinson told Hernandez not to pitch Bonds inside. Hernandez walked the slugger on four outside pitches, then watched Alou hit a first-pitch slider over the wall in left for his 18th homer.
"He hit it good," Hernandez said.
Bonds was booed when his name was announced during pregame introductions, booed each time he stepped into the on-deck circle, and booed when he went out to play left field.
Still, when he sent a 1-2 pitch from Hernandez into the seventh row of section 468 for one of the longest shots this season at RFK Stadium -- which is averaging the fewest homers in the majors -- most of the crowd of 32,403 rose to watch the flight. There was a lot of applause and throaty yells of approval, plus plenty of flashbulbs popping.
"It's amazing to see," said Jack Taschner (2-0), who pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. "Barry comes up, they boo, then Barry hits a home run and they all start cheering. It's amazing. It obviously doesn't affect him very much."
Bonds has homered in three straight games. He is third on the career list behind Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).
"Hopefully, I can just hang onto it as long as I can until the end of the season," he said.
In a great closing twist, the player who replaced Bonds in left for the bottom of the ninth, Todd Linden, made a diving catch of Brad Wilkerson's slicing drive just in front of the warning track to preserve the win with two runners on. Linden went one way, then spun around before laying out to make the grab.
"When he started getting turned around, I thought, 'Wow!' We might win this game," Wilkerson said. "It took the wind out of me a little bit."
The rest of the Nationals, too, probably. It was Washington's third consecutive loss, and the go-ahead run in each came in the opponent's final at-bat.
"We're losing ballgames on one swing of the bat," Robinson said.
Bonds was the first player to greet Alou when he arrived at the dugout, but Washington nearly made the celebration moot against Armando Benitez, scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth and threatening to add more before Linden's catch.
Asked what would have happened if he had still been in left field at the end of the game, Bonds didn't hesitate.
"We would have lost," he said.
Giants Notes
Bonds popped up to shallow center in his first at-bat and grounded out to shortstop Cristian Guzman -- shifted to the first-base side of second base -- in his third at-bat. ... Asked how Bonds has looked to him since joining the club last week, Giants manager Felipe Alou said: "To me, my personal estimates: 80 percent when it comes to baseball, running and throwing, outfield. Now hitting? 100 percent."
Plus another one tonight, #707. Makes it four in the last 20+ ABs. Say what you will but there is no denying his ability to make contact using the sweet part of the bat.
I hope Bonds hits 713 home runs and get hits by a bus. I can't stand that racist!
#707 (*)
* - 353 'roid enhanced.
Boo.
That is a false charge, imo. Some guy selling a book uses Bonds to push his book. The true statement was "I don't sign for White Sox people", he said this to the White Sox rep when asked to sign some memorabilia.
Say what you want about Bonds, but he's silencing his critics.
And yes, he has undergone Steroid testing earlier in the year and came up clean, and even at his age (41) he is playing at a level acheived by very few.
The guy may not be Mr. Congeniality, but he is arguably the greatest BB player of all-time.
And he don't deserve no respect.
Steroids.
Its going to be a sad day when that sorry ****** ****** passes Hammerin Hank.
A lot of current steroids aren't currently detectable by the testing methods we've got. Like HGH, which is what Bonds is suspected to have used.
Taken at face value, I think his 2001, 2002, and 2004 years are at least as good and probably better than any other season put up in history. But there's a pretty large gap between his late 30s peak and the rest of his career. Ruth and Ted Williams each have far more "super-seasons", and I think it's difficult to rank Bonds above them. And that's even ignoring the whole steroids issue.
ROFLMAO!!!!! I can't stand his attitude. He waited his entire career to play in a World Series, and what does he do when he gets there? He bitches and moans about the media. He doesn't deserve the record anyway, because he's juiced. I will never acknowledge or accept him as the homerun champion. He gets a great big asterisk beside his name in my book. Aaron never cheated.
This one is a nobrainer.
Don't know what you're talking about. When Bonds got there he had one of the best performances in series history.
And even without the steriods, he was one of the best players of all time.
It's an insult to compare Bonds to Ruth. Bonds has been HR champ twice in 20 years. Ruth would have made the Hall as a pitcher. He missed 4 of his prime youth years, and still turned around and was HR champ 12 out of 14 years. He averaged 2 to 3 times as many HRS as the nearest guy, and often hit more than entire teams. To be an equal comparison of dominance over their peers, Bonds would have needed to average 80-100 home runs a year for 14 years.
A true comparison to a player today, imagine after 4 years of dominant pitching, Pedro Martinez or Clemens hit 80-100 HRs a year for 14 years.
"Aaron never cheated"
Don't know if that's true or not, but players in the 60's and 70's weren't exactly choir-boys.
Amphetamine use was rampant, and it's naive to think that players didn't use anything and everything to get an edge.
And, if you look at which player position is testing positive for steroids in MLB, it's been mostly Pitchers.
So does their use of Steroids "cancel out" the edge Bonds got by allegedly using steroids?
And as pointed out earlier, Bonds put up some amazing numbers in the WS
The reason Bonds dislikes the media (as do many of us) is the way they treated his Dad, former Major Leaguer Bobby Bonds, who they crowned "The next Willie Mays"
When Bobby Bonds couldn't live up to the media's artificially high expectations, they roasted him in the press.
Bonds see's the media for what they are, and that is why he's not a media friendly ballplayer.
Players on the DL are still subject to testing, and I think Bonds was tested back in May. But like I said, not all steroids are detectable.
Gary Sheffield has also "admitted" to taking steroids in the same way Bonds has.
Bonds is subject to testing even while on the Disabled List, and he was tested earlier this season and came back clean.
Bonds Among Giants Drug Tested
POSTED: 8:21 am PDT May 26, 2005
UPDATED: 5:39 pm PDT May 26, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO -- Slugger Barry Bonds, shortstop Omar Vizquel, pitcher Kirk Rueter and closer Tyler Walker were among the San Francisco Giants subjected to unannounced drug tests before the club's 10-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, ESPN reported Thursday.
http://www.ktvu.com/balco/4535289/detail.html
Dude, see Bonds for what he is.. a very emotional immature person. Listen to the phone messages of him badgering his mistress and then listen to him bitching at the media and you have the same person. There is no question that he is one of the all time greats - pre steroids even. But he is also incredibly childish for a 41 year old man. He needs to be disciplined by a real adult because somehow he managed to miss out on that through his childhood.
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