|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
King for today Bonds hits 71st, 72nd homers as Giants get eliminated
Updated: Saturday October 06, 2001 8:34 PM
Bonds was not in the lineup for Saturday's game. "It's just unfortunate we came up short," he said. "It was a great year all the way around."Many in the sellout crowd of 41,730 stayed for the postgame ceremony, despite the late hour. Friday's game lasted 4 hours, 27 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in major league history. It was already early Saturday when the festivities got under way. The Giants hadn't planned on Bonds homering twice -- a sign on a podium erected on the infield read "Barry Bonds 71 Home Runs." Bonds choked up as the fans chanted his name. "We've come a long way. We've had our ups and downs. Thank you," he said, before burying his face in his hands and bursting into tears. Bonds' record-breaker came at Pacific Bell Park on a tailing fastball from Chan Ho Park and landed in right-center. Bonds connected on a 1-0 pitch to break the mark that McGwire set a mere three years ago. It came on his first swing since hitting No. 70 in Houston's Enron Field off rookie Wilfredo Rodriguez. Both homers arced high over the field in the same direction. After hitting his 442-foot shot, an elated Bonds trotted around the bases and was mobbed by his teammates at the plate and his 11-year-old son, Nikolai -- much the same scene that played out in Houston. Bonds slipped into the dugout for a short time and talked by cell phone with his father, former major leaguer Bobby, before returning to the field.
"As a kid, 5 years old, I remember saying to him, `Boy, get out of my locker,'" said Mays, drawing laughs from the crowd and Bonds during the postgame festivities. "I want him to get to 75. I want him to put it where no one can get there. That's what I want him to do," he said. When Giants owner Peter Magowan took the podium, the crowd shouted "Sign him! Sign him!" Bonds is eligible for free agency after this season. Bobby Bonds was in Connecticut on Friday night for a golf tournament, but did see his son tie the record in Houston. Commissioner Bud Selig, who also was in Houston for the tie, was in San Diego on Friday night to honor two players. Rickey Henderson of the Padres broke Ty Cobb's runs record Thursday, and Tony Gwynn is retiring Sunday. "Barry has demonstrated on a national stage why he is one of the greatest players of our generation," Selig said. Even before these last two days, Bonds' season had been phenomenal. Bonds became the 17th member of the exclusive 500-homer club on April 17 against the Dodgers. On Sept. 9, Bonds hit No. 61, 62 and 63 at Coors Field in Colorado, surpassing Maris' mark and giving him the most homers in a single season by a left-hander. Since then, he has moved into seventh place on the all-time list with 566 home runs, two more than Reggie Jackson. Harmon Killebrew is in sixth place with 573. The enigmatic slugger was playing on only about four hours of sleep. After swatting No. 70 on Thursday night, Bonds arrived in San Francisco early Friday, then attended the burial of close friend and former bodyguard Franklin Bradley. Earlier this year, he lost an uncle and a cousin "You have to move on," he said before the game. "That's what they would want. That's what you have to do." Bonds also has drawn 177 walks, breaking McGwire's NL record of 162 and Babe Ruth's major league mark of 170. Bonds is a 10-time All-Star who could he headed to his record fourth MVP award. But he had never hit more than 49 home runs in a season, a feat he accomplished last year. Choking up on his 34-inch, black maple bat, Bonds blossomed this season. Bonds was meant to be a Giant, just like his dad and the Say Hey Kid. Originally drafted by San Francisco in June 1982, he decided not to sign and instead starred at Arizona State. Pittsburgh picked him sixth overall in the 1985 draft and he zoomed to the majors the next year, making it as thin, fleet leadoff hitter. Bonds became a free agent after the 1992 season and chose to join the Giants, and eventually bulked up to become the game's most feared slugger.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
