Earlier this season, a gaggle of San Francisco Giants fans gathered at The 21st Amendment, a brew pub on Second Street, just a few blocks from AT&T Park.
For this rowdy group, Barry Bonds is a player to be cheered, admired and saluted. His quest to bypass Hank Aaron as baseball’s all-time home-run champion, which he accomplished in San Francisco on Tuesday night, has been cause for celebration all season.
“He’s been the best player in baseball for years,” said 25-year-old Steve Brooks, his Willie Mays jersey worn proudly, his Giants cap spun backward. “Other people just want to try and take him down. He deserves a lot more respect than he’s getting. The media (have) made him the bad guy.”
Inside AT&T Park, public address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon brought the crowd to its feet and sparked a thunderous ovation when she belted out her introduction: “Now batting … No. 25 … Bar-ry Bonds!”
Bonds’ march to becoming home run king has bred an interesting phenomenon this summer. Inside AT&T Park, Bonds is revered; outside of it, he’s often reviled.
At New York’s Shea Stadium, a fan displayed a giant, inflatable syringe, a reminder of steroid-use accusations that have hounded Bonds for years.
In June, when Bonds stepped into the batter’s box at Boston’s venerable Fenway Park for the first time in his career, boos rained down. Red Sox fans came armed with homemade signs, too.
“Call Hank Aaron and Say You’re Sorry,” read one.
“Balco Boy,” read another, referring to the Bay Area lab that supplied athletes with steroids and has been linked to Bonds.
An ESPN/ABC News national survey found that more than half of baseball fans, 52 percent, were rooting against Bonds as he moved toward Aaron’s mark.
Through it all, Bonds shrugged off the animosity.
“I feel disappointed some of these fans that are influenced by third-party judgments and haven’t given me the chance, to know me,” he said.
Bob Gordon, 55, of Stockton, Calif., began attending Giants games when he was 13. He’s among the vast majority of San Francisco fans who rooted for Bonds throughout the chase.
“I think we all support him,” Gordon said. “As far as him being too quiet and not working with the media, and not being communicative, I think that’s just a bad perception. I think the guy just wants some private time.”
As for the steroid allegations – which were spelled out in detail in the book “Game of Shadows” by San Francisco Chronicle writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams – Gordon shook his head.
“The finger shouldn’t be pointed just at Bonds if others were doing it, too,” he said. “It’s never been proven about Barry anyway.”
