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Out of the Park Dodgers pitcher part of baseball lore after historic homers
Updated: Saturday October 06, 2001 4:54 AM SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Chan Ho Park had given up plenty of big homers before, but this time the blast was historic. Park gave up Barry Bonds' 71st homer Friday night, taking his place in the history books alongside pitchers such as Tom Zachary, Tracy Stallard and Steve Trachsel. He also gave up Bonds' 72nd homer -- technically, yet another record -- less than an hour later. Park said he was not at all upset at giving up the record-breaking homer.
"Good for him, but it doesn't mean it's bad for me," Park said after his Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 11-10. "I didn't try to give up home runs, I just tried to throw good pitches." Bonds hit his record-breaking 71st homer, surpassing the mark set by Mark McGwire just three seasons ago, on the second pitch he faced from Park. The historic blast went into the stands in right-center and came in the first inning. Park, who was seen by a trainer earlier in the half-inning because of a spasm in his backside, showed little emotion as Bonds rounded the bases. In the third inning, Bonds led off with a blast to straightaway center off Park on a 1-1 pitch. Park allowed a home run by Cal Ripken in this year's All-Star Game. And he was the only pitcher in the 20th century to allow two grand slams in one inning -- both by Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals, on April 23, 1999. But Friday's homers, the 22nd and 23rd allowed by Park in 234 innings this season, put him in a very select group of pitchers who have allowed record-breaking homers. Zachary allowed Babe Ruth's 60th home run in 1927; Stallard gave up Roger Maris' 61st in 1961 and Trachsel was the pitcher when McGwire hit his 62nd in 1998. The place in history came on a night when Park could have been celebrating a big personal achievement -- in the top of the first inning, his bloop single knocked in two runs, doubling his RBI total for the season.
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