The 756 spotlight will be on Giants' announcers, too

	Jon Miller's ESPN assignments might preclude him from making the historic call. Mike Zarrilli/WireImage.com
	Tom Verducci The People's King: Aaron's home run mark of 755 will endure as a magical number. Serving Up History Catching up with Al Downing, Steve Trachsel and more milestone gopherball pitchers. In His Own Words Often surly and even melancholy, Bonds is always outspoken when it comes to Bonds. The Milestones Take a look back at Bonds' landmark home runs: from No. 100 to 715 and beyond. Hammerin' Hank A career retrospective of the man who first surpassed the Babe's longstanding record. Sports Villians Some consider Bonds one of the true 'bad guys' in the sports world, but he has plenty of company. SI Covers See each of Bonds' eight appearances on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Bonds makes history with No. 756 | VIDEO Heyman: Selig wiggles out of date with history Survey: Is Bonds the true Home Run King? Donovan: Bonds holds record, but he's no hero Taylor: Bonds' ability never in question React: Should Selig have been there? Time.com: Where are the HR balls now? Time.com: The Man With Million Dollar Balls Donovan: Bonds leaves no doubt in San Diego Tale of the Tape: Barry Bonds vs. Darth Vader Markazi: Downing relishes link to Aaron's 715th Baseball Prospectus: Heirs to the throne Freedman: Corporate America shuns Bonds Photos: The Growing Legend of Bonds Excerpt: Game of Shadows | Afterword

Get the number right. If there's one thing that will be running through Duane Kuiper's mind when Barry Bonds hits home run No. 756, it's making sure he doesn't screw up the number.

"Somewhere, there will be a piece of paper with a very large number on it," says Kuiper, who calls games for FSN Bay Area, KTVU-FOX 2 and KNBR Radio, the Giants' flagship station.

"When Bonds was on 714, the only thing that I did was write the number 715 down. I wrote it on a piece of paper and I wrote it very large. If you're going to make this historic home run call, you cannot screw up the number."

Forget Barry. These are heady times for the Giants' play-by-play broadcasters -- Kuiper, Dave Flemming, Jon Miller, Greg Papa and Erwin Higueros. None of the men is likely to call a bigger sporting moment, and the audio is bound to outlive them all. "Of course you think about it, but I don't think you dwell on it," Kuiper says.

While each Giants announcer has his own style when calling a Bonds homer, everyone is in agreement on one thing: There will be no scripted lines when the record-breaker takes place. That would be in contrast to Milo Hamilton, whose famous call of Hank Aaron's 715th homer ("There's a new home run champion of all time, and it's Henry Aaron!") was partly scripted. If Miller gets the call -- he usually calls innings 1-2, 5-6 and 8-9 on KNBR while Flemming gets 3-4 and 7 -- he says he will draw inspiration from Vin Scully, who called Aaron's 715th as part of the Dodgers broadcast.

"Vin's call is the best sports broadcasting I've ever heard," says Miller, who calls games for both KNBR Radio and KTVU-FOX2 as well as Sunday Night Baseball for ESPN. "It elevated our profession to something grander. He gave a vivid picture of how the ball was hit, who was going after it, where it was headed, and finally, that it was gone. Then he let the roar of the crowd and the scene play out. He captured the moment. I think that's what we all try to do."

From cashiers at his local Safeway to fans at AT&T Park, Kuiper says he is asked daily whether he has something special planned for the historic shot. "I've always felt like once you take your eye off the field and start looking down at what you are going to say, I think you miss a little bit of the moment," he says. "I just don't trust myself to do it and I don't want it to sound like I'm reading something. I wrote a little note in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when the Giants were winning. I wrote on top of my scorecard what I was going to say when they won the World Series and I never got a chance to use it. I realized it was a sign that I don't need to use this."

Adds Miller: "This is a very unusual record because of all the turmoil surrounding Barry. Has he taken steroids? Has he hit more home runs than maybe he should and so on and so forth? It remains to be seen what the moment itself will be like."

Higueros, the Giants' Spanish-language broadcaster, says he will also go with something spontaneous. He works every Giants home game as well as road games against the Dodgers. Higueros was part of the A's Spanish-language crew in 1991 when Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's career stolen base record. "I was thinking it about so much that I messed up on the call," he says. "I said he stole second and he stole third. I told myself that I would never again anticipate a call."