BA(RR)Y WATCH

Pre-Game Hullaballoo and Kerfuffle

--Bonds has already hit two home runs tonight, but they didn't count. During batting practice Bonds took 28 swings and hit two balls out, both to right-center field.

--If you look out behind where Bonds positons himself in left field, there are two pieces of signage on the wall worth noting. The first is a silhouette image of Bonds himself, at the completion of a home-run swing. Given how much scruting Bonds has received for his abnormal growth over the past decade, it's funny that the image of Bonds is also larger than he is.
Directly to the left of that image is an ad for "BUD LIGHT". Now, if you're an enterprising graffiti artist, all you'd need to do to create a little controversy (and mirth) would be to blot out the last two letters on that sign, and then, in the space between the "BUD" and the "LIGHT", you'd spray-paint the letters "SE". Then you'd have...

--At 4:15 p.m. I entered the Giant locker room, which was oversaturated with media. All of us had one thing in common (besides poor hygiene): we were at least 15 feet away from Bonds, who was seated at his corner locker talking to his son Nikolai, who is a Giant bat boy (don't worry, he's a lot older than Dusty Baker's son was when he had this gig). Finally, after about 15 minutes, ESPN's Orel Hershiser crossed the moat of contempt and, gesturing to the open space, asked Bonds with a smile, "Is this where the police line starts?"

--Take Bonds' age (43) and the magic home run number (756) and you have a straight in poker.

--Barry Bonds, among other things, has the most symbolically accurate initials in baseball history. BB, as you know, is the scorekeeper's symbol, for walks. Bonds is baseball's all-time leader both in bases on balls (2,526) and in intentional walks (676). Plus, bb is short-hand for baseball.

--There's a neat item in one of the local papers about how Japanese baseball players consider an intentional walk a dishonorable act. Apparently, a few years ago a pitcher was ordered to intentionally walk a batter in the Japanese league and he began crying on the mound. American pitchers have no such reservations and, besides, there's no crying in baseball.

--What's on the other side of McCovey Cove, you ask? Well, that's a good question, because just across that tiny splinter of water sits "Barry Bonds Jr. Giants Field". It's a field, donated by the Giants, for young kids to play on. And the best thing about it is its size. Standing at home plate, you and I could easily slug a ball over the left field wall and into McCovey Cove. The fence can't be more than 150 feet from home plate. It would be our chance to feel like Barry Bonds, just for a moment.

--Giant owner Peter McGowan stood on the sun-splashed diamond and answered the media's questions for a good twenty minutes this afternoon. I'll spare you the entire transcript, but the words that are worth preserving for prosperity are these: "When he (Bonds) breaks the record, he will achieve something meaningful that will stand the test of time."

We shall see. We shall see.

Also, responding to pitcher Matt Morris' glib remark the other night that the Giants are pleased that Bonds has yet to break the record (because it keeps fans coming to the AT&T Park), McGowan said, "As if we're delighted to be in last place...that's just bullshit. We want to win."

Okay, it's 6:58. Game time nears.