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."
Different era, so your comparisions aren't valid.
Also, Ruth didn't play against or with Black, Latin or Asian players, nor did he have to face specialists, like Closers and Middle Relievers.
In those days, Pitchers went the entire 9 innings, so Ruth was facing the same old tired-armed Pitchers all season long.
Ruth was an out of shape lop who drank excessively and smoked and probably wouldn't even make a current Major League roster.
No he wouldn't, or at least it's pretty damned unlikely. Ruth was Cy Young quality for a couple of years, but he was already winding down by the time he started shifting to the outfield fulltime. Check out his walk and strikeout rates, for one. He certainly wasn't in Roger's or Pedro's class.
It's also unrealistic to think Ruth ever would have matched the type of home run dominance he displayed at his peak in any decade other than the 1920s. I speak of outhomering whole teams, or finishing 35 home runs ahead of the next guy. That couldn't have been duplicated in any other period of baseball. Ruth was simply playing the modern game, while the rest of the guys were still transitioning from the dead ball era.
I'd say no. The peak in Bonds's performance starting at the age of 37 is utterly unprecedented in baseball history, and it's hard to believe he could have done this in any way that was "fair" and "even".
You were okay until this. Ruth was a great athlete who did everything well except run, and even then it wasn't his speed that was the problem, but his judgment. Ruth was a notoriously aggressive baserunner, and most famously ran his team out of the 1926 World Series.
Nonsense, the only accurate comparison is comparing your accomplishments versus your peers. (Jesse Owens' times in 1936 Olympics wouldn't make a high school team today, so his dominance over his peers doesn't count, huh.)
Also, Ruth didn't play against or with Black, Latin or Asian players, nor did he have to face specialists, like Closers and Middle Relievers.
He played against the best players available in the world at that time.
In those days, Pitchers went the entire 9 innings, so Ruth was facing the same old tired-armed Pitchers all season long.
Many would argue it was far harder back then. There were only 8 teams a league, so you were always playing against all-stars. There are so many teams now, half the pitchers today would barely have made the college team back then. Look at the eras of today's pitchers. Back then the mound was higher, and the strike zone enforced was armpits to knees. From 1970 to 2002 it was 1/2 to 1/3rd that size. The umps cherry picked HR pitches for the hitters to obnoxious levels.
Ruth was an out of shape lop who drank excessively and smoked and probably wouldn't even make a current Major League roster.
What are you smoking, he was 6'2" 198 solid rock for years, and regardless of his weight, his stats have no peers.
If he sets the record, there should be a big fat "*" next to his name.
Ruth would have hit a lot more home runs if he'd only cut down on the smoking, the drinking and the sex, especially between the innings.
Bonds? Who cares.
He's a 'roid head. Just like McGuire, and Palmeiro and Sosa.
He's a cheater and a cheap thug who will never make the Hall of Fame.
Count on it.
Bonds will be a 1st ballot HOF'er
I'll wager anything on that.
Also, the Ground Rule Double rule wasn't introduced until the mid-1920's
How many of the Babe's HR's were actually balls that went over the fence on a bounce?
Kirk Reuter?! Woody tested for steroids? That makes me kinda giggle.
We haven't heard the last of Bonds' steroid use.
Yankee stadium from 1921-1937. Deep LC 498 ft, Center 463 ft, Deep RC, 488-502 ft. Outfielders played Ruth about 420-440 feet away. Today they play in little league parks by comparison. Bond's 400 ft posing HR's would have been embarrassingly short flyouts back then. Ruth probably had 500-750 flyouts that went 420 feet.
Bonds has been HR champ twice in 20 years. That's hardly dominating anything. He just happened to have enough chemicals in his body to stick around longer than most. Williams and Cobb were far more dominant than Bonds, and Ted missed 5 years of his prime in the war.
None. People have researched this and found that all of his home runs were clean shots.
Bonds has led the National League in home run percentage 8 times. The only reason he hasn't led in raw totals as much is because he gets walked so often. Of course he's been dominant.
Yankee Stadium didn't exist until 1923, and its dimensions were hardly so scary as the impression you give. LF: 281 ft. LCF: 395 ft. CF: 490 ft. RCF: 429 ft. RF: 295 ft.
Definitely an eccentric ballpark. Embarassingly easy at the corners, insanely difficult in the center. The numbers are taken from the 2005 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia.
If Bonds wants to be considered better than Babe Ruth, I just have one question for him: Barry what's your ERA?
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