San Francisco – At 3:14 p.m. MST, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds swung violently, dropped his bat and stared as the ball screamed into the right center-field bleachers.
Clapping his hands twice and smiling, Bonds knew he had just eclipsed Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs. The fans knew. They quickly stood up and roared. The team knew. Orange, black and silver streamers littered the field, the foghorn blared, fireworks raced into the clear blue sky and two banners – one portraying Bonds and another Hank Aaron – unfurled from the light structures.
Bonds slowly rounded the bases and was greeted at home plate by his teenage son Nikolai, who was hopping and dancing. Bonds hugged teammate Todd Greene, then took two curtain calls from the adoring fans.
“I have a lot of respect for Babe Ruth and what he did for baseball,” Bonds said, “but Hank Aaron is the home run king.”
The reaction to Bonds’ accomplishment outside San Francisco stood in contrast.
When Bonds moved into second place all time, becoming the greatest left-handed home run hitter ever, the moment was defined not by a celebration, but an investigation.
Bonds made history while the subject of a probe by former Sen. George Mitchell, placed in charge of getting to the bottom of what is now referred to as baseball’s “steroid era.”
Commissioner Bud Selig launched the investigation in spring training. He wasn’t at AT&T Park, sticking to baseball’s policy of not acknowledging those who rank second in categories. It was a delightful coincidence as far as Selig’s predecessor was concerned.
“Bonds should be honored very carefully. It should be a one-handed clap,” former commissioner Fay Vincent said. “I think most people believe he was using (performance-enhancing drugs) and that there is a cloud of suspicion over what he has done.”
That’s an issue that has haunted Bonds and baseball well before the book “Game of Shadows” alleged, through painstaking details of his daily regimen, that the slugger began using steroids and human growth hormone after the 1998 season. Bonds’ connection to the BALCO scandal – he told a grand jury in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs – has diminished his historical impact in the eyes of many.
Everyone from Philadelphia pitcher Cory Lidle and Boston’s David Wells have cast doubt on Bonds’ performance.
After Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was indicted, then-Rockies pitcher Turk Wendell told The Denver Post in 2004: “If my personal trainer got indicted for that, there’s no one in the world who wouldn’t think that I wasn’t taking steroids. I mean what, because he’s Barry Bonds, no one’s going to say that? I mean obviously he did it.”
Outside of the Bay Area, Bonds has been booed lustily this season. In San Diego, a fan threw an enormous plastic syringe at the 41-year-old as he entered the dugout. In Phoenix, a 23-year-old man was arrested for throwing Icy Hot balm at Bonds’ feet, furious over Bonds refusing him an autograph as a kid.
Philadelphia fans, famous for their venom, unrolled a banner across three sections in left field that read: “Ruth did it on hot dogs & beer. Aaron did it with class. How did you do it?”
“The difference with (Mark) McGwire chasing the single-season home run record and Barry is that everybody was happy for Mac,” said Giants pitcher Matt Morris, who was with the Cardinals in 1998.
Added Dodgers pitcher Brett Tomko: “I was (with the Giants) when Barry hit his 700th home run and I was amazed. Nobody even went out to home plate. When Barry does stuff, there is a mixed reaction. Some people think he cheated and others marvel at the feat of (passing Ruth).”
Bonds’ personality only complicates the situation. He’s boorish with the media, often isolates himself from teammates and comes across as arrogant. As Houston Astros Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton said, “He invites you to not like him.”
Bonds has his supporters. Cardinals star Albert Pujols said the media “should leave him alone,” and Rockies reliever Ray King believes Bonds has been the target of a “witch hunt.”
As of now, Selig has no plans to place an asterisk next to Bonds’ statistics. It’s ultimately going to be up to the public what to make of them.
“There will be some people who don’t want it to count, and there will be some people who will celebrate it,” former teammate Dustan Mohr said. “I personally think it should celebrated because everything that everybody has against Barry, there’s no hard-core evidence he did anything.”
“And besides, let’s say hypothetically that he had done something, there’s no proof that anybody could just take something and all of sudden be able to hit home runs.”
