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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (18382)	4/30/2003 1:29:27 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Another perspective from a Chicago newspaper... _____________________________________________________ Baker a winner in S.F. return BY MIKE KILEY STAFF REPORTER The Chicago Sun-Times April 30, 2003 suntimes.com SAN FRANCISCO--Kerry Wood got a piece of Barry Bonds, hitting him in the right shin in the third inning on the bounce. Bonds pretended that he wanted to take a chunk out of Wood, walking onto the grass edge Tuesday night and looming menacingly like a pro wrestler with a sense of bluster. Wood walked methodically toward Bonds, challenging him quietly as he asked for a ball from the umpire. It was much like the chess match currently in vogue in the Cubs clubhouse, but this mild confrontation was more fuss than furor, so much so that when Wood hit Bonds with a pitch in the left shin (again on the bounce) in the sixth they walked away from each other with nothing left to say. The Giants repeatedly threatened to pop Wood in the first four innings, but he stubbornly stood up to them with a sometimes nasty breaking ball and they left nine men on base in that span. Manager Dusty Baker showed his old fans in a crowd of 39,839 that he hasn't lost his touch as he made a competitive return to his former home field and won 4-2. Left-hander Mike Remlinger replaced Juan Cruz in the seventh with runners at second and third and two out. That turned switch-hitter Ray Durham from a left-handed batter into a right-handed hitter, and Durham popped out. Sammy Sosa's defense saved Cruz earlier in the inning. The Cubs right fielder made a diving catch of Edgardo Alfonzo's blooper to limit the damage against Cruz to two hits rather than three in a row. Joe Borowski pitched the ninth inning for his fourth save. Corey Patterson narrowly missed hitting a three-run homer in the third. He rebounded with a one-out double in the sixth and scored the go-ahead run on former Giant Ramon Martinez's single to left fielder Bonds, whose arm was no match for Patterson's speed. Moises Alou added an RBI single in the fifth, which was just his fourth hit in 20 career at-bats against Giants starter Kirk Rueter. Alou also homered in the eighth for a second RBI. That was revenge for Alou's output in the third, when a run scored from third only because Alou grounded into a double play with bases full and none out. Wood had a different kind of run-in with Rueter than he did with Bonds. Rueter was originally called out after Wood lost the handle picking up Rueter's bunt down the first-base line. He charged into him in the base line and eventually retrieved the ball in time to toss to first baseman Eric Karros for the out in the fourth. The Giants protested, the call was overturned probably because Wood had lost possession of the ball by the time he interfered with Rueter's progress and Wood was given an error to put two men on base with none out. Eventually, Bonds was intentionally walked to fill the bases with two out, but Wood followed by walking Jose Cruz Jr. to push home the go-ahead run. The Giants led 2-1. Both times that Wood hit Bonds, the Giants' outfielder wound up in scoring position. But he never crossed the plate on either occasion. The Giants left the bases full in the third and wasted Cruz's double. It's not every day that people shout from the rooftops: "I'm a Cub and proud of it.'' But that in effect was Baker's message when he returned to the play his former team. He came back to Pac Bell Park, the scene last October of the World Series when he managed the Giants, and talked about how becoming a Cub has transformed him. "I wouldn't change a thing now,'' Baker said. "It was meant to be. Whatever has happened, I'm glad it happened. It's made me seem more human in the eyes of people. Therefore, I'm respected more now than before.''