pressdemocrat.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds slid into second with a stolen base and he slammed his hand on the bag in celebration, as 42,474 at Pac Bell Park went wild.
But Bonds and the crowd were celebrating two different things.
After a moment Bonds realized that the crowd was honoring him for his 500th stolen base, which made him the first man in major-league history to combine 500 steals and 500 homers.
Bonds was just happy that he was in scoring position in the 11th inning of a tie game against the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers. He then scored on Benito Santiago's one-out single, giving the Giants a 3-2 victory and a one-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.
"I was just happy to be in position to win -- I didn't grasp all of it," Bonds said. "Then I heard all the noise coming up and I thought, 'Oh, something happened.'"
Just a little history.
Bonds' 500-500 milestone pushed him even farther into a club of his own. No one else has more than 338-338. Willie Mays' 338 stolen bases are the most for any of the other 18 players in the 500-homer club. Rickey Henderson's 294 homers are the most for any of the other 39 players who have 500 stolen bases.
Bonds now has 500 steals and 633 homers.
"The numbers he has, you can't comprehend them," said Giants pitcher Tim Worrell. "When you first look at them, they are silly, Nintendo numbers. When you sit down to look at them, how can you say anything but he's the greatest player in the history of the game. What else would he have to do?"
Bonds followed in the footsteps of his godfather, Mays, and his father, Bobby, as one of the great power-speed men in baseball history.
Bobby Bonds, who has been battling cancer, was at the ballpark before Monday's game, although he had to go home before it was over.
For most of the night, no one saw much out of the younger Bonds. The Dodgers had held him without a hit or walk in his first four trips, and they had pitched to him in a couple of situations when he's usually walked.
In the fifth, he got the opportunity to hit for the first time all season with runners at second and third. He had been walked intentionally the other nine times.
Then he came to the plate to lead off the 11th, with the game tied, 2-2. The Dodgers weren't about to put him on, especially with the brilliant Eric Gagne on the mound.
Gagne, whom Bonds called the best closer in the majors, had allowed just eight walks and 18 hits in 39 innings this season, striking out 68.
But he walked Bonds on a 3-2 pitch. Knowing the Giants needed to get a runner into scoring position and knowing that Gagne isn't the best at holding baserunners, Bonds took off on the first pitch. Dodgers catcher Paul LoDuca didn't even make a throw.
"(Gagne) doesn't really pay attention (to the runners) because he doesn't have to," Bonds said. "I wouldn't, either. He can put a guy on third and then strike out the side anyway."
After an out, Bonds came sprinting home with the winning run on Santiago's single into left field, capping a victory that looked shaky for a few moments in the ninth.
Down 2-0 in the ninth, the Dodgers tied the game against Worrell without hitting a ball out of the infield, combining a walk, an infield hit, an error by Ray Durham and a run-scoring groundout. They would have taken the lead if not for a diving catch by Jose Cruz Jr. along the right-field line.
"That was pretty unbelievable," Worrell said. "Without a doubt, that saved the game. I thought it was a knock (a hit) off the bat."
In the end, though, the story of the game was Bonds breaking into uncharted territory. With the decline of the stolen base as an offensive weapon, Bonds is likely to remain alone in the 500-500 club.
"It's something very difficult to accomplish, especially since people don't run that much any more," said Giants manager Felipe Alou. "You don't see people stealing, even (those) with 100 home runs. ... For a guy to do 500 homers and steal 500 bases, you've got to play for a long, long time. Not only that, but every time you hit one of those 500 home runs, you can't steal bases."
BTW, last night,he put one in the bay; 440' to rt.ctr. |
