The Braves regret pitching to Barry Bonds over the weekend. AP

It took Barry Bonds 12 years and 2 1/2 months to pound out the first 400 home runs of his singularly stellar career. It will take him right around six years and -- oh, any day now -- to finish off the next 300.

From there, you have to figure, nailing down those final five dozen homers to surpass Henry Aaron is just a matter of time.

"Everyone has their time and era," a quiet Bonds said after slamming two more home runs Sunday against the always-accommodating Braves. "In all sports."

This is Bonds' time and Bonds' game. With his two homers Sunday, the Giants' left fielder is now within four wickedly effective swings of reaching 700 career home runs, something only Babe Ruth and Aaron have done. And Bonds is blasting homers now like no one before him: at an amazing clip despite seeing fewer hittable pitches than any slugger ever has.

Bonds alone has been issued more intentional walks (94) this season than any other team, and he'll break his own single-season record for total walks before the year is through (he already owns the career record for free passes). Maybe what's most amazing is that all the walks haven't hurt his concentration or his stroke. On that rare occasion when he sees a pitch he can actually hit, he almost always hits it. Hard, too. And far.

Braves starter Russ Ortiz found that out with two badly executed pitches on Sunday, one a changeup, the other a fastball, both down in the strike zone. Bonds crushed them.

Cubs righty Kyle Farnsworth gave up six runs on six hits in the ninth inning against Houston on Friday. When he finally got the last out, he took out his frustrations by kicking around some equipment. Bad, bad move. Being a cursed Cub, Farnsworth sprained his knee and may not be back by the end of the season. Rick Ankiel probably will return to the Cardinals this week after his strange fall from near-greatness. Ankiel was a rookie wonder for the Cards in 2001 until a postseason game against the Braves in which he threw five wild pitches -- in one inning. He was sent to the minors, where elbow injuries have kept him ever since. Sunday, he threw 53 pitches (44 strikes) in six innings for Class AAA Memphis in what will probably be his last minor-league start. He has an 0.79 ERA in 22 2/3 innings in seven starts this season -- with no wild pitches. "He gave me a diet book. I'm planning to ignore every bit of it." -- Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, on fit and trim 41-year-old Terry Mulholland

"I don't believe," the Giants' manager, Felipe Alou, said with a smile, "they were trying to groove it."

No, but the Braves were willing -- or at least they have been in the first three games of this series -- to pitch to Bonds. Jaret Wright did so in the opener of the series Friday, giving up a three-run homer. Bonds was held to a single in three at-bats Saturday. And Sunday, he had the two homers and two singles to go along with six RBIs.

With Hammerin' Hank looking on at Turner Field, Bonds' twin shots went 467 feet and 462 feet, the second- and third-longest home runs in the history of the park. The Braves were a little down afterward about letting Bonds beat them -- "We walked the wrong guys," Chipper Jones said -- but Bonds understood why they pitched to him.

"They're winning their division," Bonds said of the Braves. "There's no need ... there's really no need."

Though many teams will continue to pitch around Bonds, it's almost unimaginable that he will actually have fewer chances to hit next season. That means, the way he's going, he will eclipse Ruth's one-time record of 714 either late this year or early in 2005. And then Bonds will take aim at Aaron's mark of 755, a record that seemed out of reach when Bonds hit his 400th homer back in late August of 1998.

Sure, a lot can happen in a couple of years. Sixty homers is still a lot of longballs. There will be a ton of walks to endure. And Bonds, remember, turns 41 next season.

But Bonds went from 500 to 600 home runs quicker than anyone ever has (he did it in 710 at-bats, 411 ABs quicker than Ruth). He'll go from 600 to 700 quicker than anyone has. (This year he has 38 homers in just 304 at-bats.)

And after 700? Well, there's probably only one man who knows what comes after No. 700.

This is Bonds' time now. He's calling the shots.

• Lemme see ... the Astros and Cubs get into fights. The Cardinals and Cubs get into fights. There's a common denominator here somewhere. Don't tell me. Don't tell me.

• Chan Ho Park went six innings, giving up only four hits and two runs last Thursday in a win for the Rangers. It may not be worth $14 million a year, but if Park can do that a few times in September, it'll be worth plenty.

• Esteban Loaiza is 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA since being traded from the White Sox to the Yankees. And now he's been demoted to the bullpen.

• Jose Contreras, by the way, the man the Yankees traded to the White Sox to get Loaiza, is 4-1 with a 3.52 ERA since the deal.

• Hardball: If Major League Baseball picks Northern Virginia over Washington D.C. as the new home of the Expos, a D.C. council member says the district might not let the team use RFK stadium. Blackmail or politics? Is there a difference?

• The Phillies, trying to defuse a Philadelphia-area newspaper report, insist that manager Larry Bowa will remain the manager through the end of the season. That's actually what the newspaper, citing team sources, reported. But the paper went on to say that Bowa will be fired shortly after the season. The Phillies said they'd talk about that part once they get there. Always such happy news coming out of Philly.

• Paul DePodesta, the Dodgers' GM, is ready to sign Jim Tracy and his coaching staff for next year. Considering DePodesta didn't hire the skipper, that's a huge vote of confidence. And really smart, too.

• Three 50-hit months in a season for Ichiro. In another year, or with another team, he's MVP material.

Since the home run race of '98, I've learned to love a game in a non-baseball environment in a non-baseball country. Still, I can't imagine what the game was without the wild card, a separate NL and AL and all that stuff that you Americans are blaming Bud Selig for. Was it really that different of a game? Can you enlighten me about what those differences are?
 -- Cristian A. Huidobro, Santiago, Chile

	MAILBAG Comments, questions or obviously unfounded criticism? To e-mail Donovan, use the form below. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

In the old days, Cristian, players actually cared about their league and had a sense of loyalty to it. Players went all-out in the All-Star Game because league pride was at stake (which was a heck of a lot more important than home-field advantage in the World Series). There were AL umpires and NL umpires, too, and they called games differently. Heck, the umps even dressed differently. You had to win your division (or, before divisional play began in 1969, the whole league) to get into the postseason, too. No wild card. And if a team won 100 games, or 103, but finished in second place ... tough. When teams matched up in the World Series, they hadn't seen each other in the regular season, as sometimes happens now. That unfamiliarity helped create a certain buzz. There were constant arguments among fans about which league was better. That's all different now. Selig isn't to blame (or credit, if you like) for all of it, but he has had a large say in the metamorphosis of the game.

How old was the oldest player ever to win the MVP? How many more does Bonds have to win before the trophy is called The Barry Bonds Award? He has six, he should have eight, and he'll win it again this year. I've never seen anyone, in any sport, dictate a game like this man does. Someday we'll be excited to tell our grandkids that we saw the man play.
 -- Adam Strandberg, Chicago

Bonds turned 40 on July 24. If he is named the MVP this season, he'll be the oldest ever to win it. The oldest MVP was former Pirates slugger Willie Stargell, who was 39 years and eight months or so when he won the 1979 NL MVP, sharing it with St. Louis' Keith Hernandez. Bonds isn't the oldest MVP in any sport, though. In November 2003, Major League Soccer gave its top award to Kansas City Wizards midfielder Preki, who turned 40 on June 24 of that year. Can you get this stuff anywhere else?

Following up with the e-mail about the NL MVP, I think the voting comes down to one simple factor: If the Giants make the playoffs, Bonds is the MVP. If they don't and the Dodgers do, then Adrian Beltre is the MVP.
 -- Anuj Patel, Corona, Calif.

I'm not so sure. Even if the Giants dive in September, Bonds' numbers are so ridiculously fantastic that they could -- and to my thinking, should -- be enough. And it's not like the Giants will finish in last place. They'll be close. As far as I can see, as awesome as Beltre has been, Bonds will have to have an awful September to lose this MVP race.

Nice job on the mea culpa about the Braves and for not asking the big question to [general manager John Schuerholz]: So many division titles, but only one World Series flag? Actually, the Braves of the past 15 years were built for marathons, not best of sevens, which is why they don't get the street cred.
 -- Rick Goins, Cypress, Texas

I considered bringing it up with Schuerholz, but the story now is that the Braves have a shot at another World Series when many thought they had none. I mean, 13 division titles in a row. Wow. You're right, Rick, the postseason has been a problem for the Braves, to say the least. But the postseason is a whole 'nother animal. The Braves' success in the regular season ought to stand on its own.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.