John Smallwood | Talking head at Dodger Stadium
BONDS TO MEDIA: 'THE SOONER I TALK, THE SOONER YOU GUYS WILL GO'
LOS ANGELES - Barry Bonds made a valid point.
The reason the San Francisco Giants slugger hasn't had
anything new to say about his pursuit of the major league baseball's all-time home-run record is because nobody has asked him anything he hasn't
already
answered a dozen or more times.
He's right.
This isn't like when Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record. Aaron entered the 1974 season just two homers away from passing 714.
It was going to happen early.
But Bonds came into this season 22 homers short of passing Aaron's 755.
This was always going to be a dragged-out process - one that has now stretched into August.
That's a lot of repetition of the same routine with a lot of the same questions being asked over and over.
It's getting monotonous for both sides, as Bonds pointed out before last night's game at Dodger Stadium. It was his first session with the media since hitting homer No. 754 last Friday.
"You don't have fun answering the questions every day," Bonds said. "I'm just trying to talk so you guys can get the hell out of here. You all are really clogging up this locker room. Everybody would really like you guys to leave so we can get ready [for the game]. So, the sooner I talk, the sooner you guys will go."
He talked for about 12 minutes. His answers weren't all that
enlightening, but on the other hand the questions weren't all that provocative.
Neither side was really at fault.
It's simply that until Bonds at least hits one more home run to tie Aaron, there isn't a whole lot more to say or ask. In the Giants' 6-4 loss last night, Bonds was 0-for-3 with an intentional walk before leaving for a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. He is 1-for-12 since hitting No. 754.
Much of the questioning in the pregame session was aimed at getting Bonds to offer some insight on what it's going to be like if he breaks the record in front of hostile crowds in Los Angeles or San Diego.
"I'm not answering those
questions," Bonds said about the jeering he's received everywhere except San Francisco. "The only thing that bothers you is when there are kids around and you get adults acting like children.
"Other than that, [fans] pay to get their seats."
Of course, Bonds would prefer to set the record in San Francisco. It's his hometown.
He took offense, however, to a suggestion that he didn't "want" to break the record on the road.
"Where did you get that information from?" Bonds sharply
retorted. "Oh, third parties. What people? Oh, the media. Well, why would the media
assume that? What would give them any reason to believe that?"
When it was suggested that perhaps Bonds didn't want to have his historic feat met with a cavalcade of boos, he said: "Where would you get that suspicion from? Did I give you that suspicion? Did anyone playing this game in this uniform give you anything to put those thoughts in your mind?''
So, does Bonds think Dodgers fans would cheer if he ties the record in Dodger Stadium, or then breaks it there?
"If I hit it here, does it matter? I don't know [what Dodgers fans would do]. Why don't you ask them? I don't have an opinion on how they'd react."
But Bonds does have an opinion on what should happen to the historic home-run ball. Not only did he say the fan catching the ball should keep it, but that he would not want it back.
"The ball wouldn't be mine," Bonds said. "I had a little kid come up to me and say he'd give me the ball back.
"I said, 'You're stupid. You'd have more money than your parents. I'll be your trustee.' If it goes into the stands, the fan should keep it."
Bonds scoffed at a reporter who asked him if he'd feel the same way if the ball went into the Giants' bullpen and was picked up by a teammate.
"Most teammates would give it back," Bonds said, hinting at an ulterior motive for the question. "You're just trying to twist the conversation.
"If you've been around the game, writing about it for
newspapers long enough, you know the history of the game. You'd understand how it works."
As the interview session was winding down, Bonds made a comment about wanting to see the Yankees and wondering if Alex Rodriguez had hit his 500th home run. He didn't.
A reporter asked Bonds if he could relate to Rodriguez.
"Now you're just trying to stay here longer," Bonds said with a smile. "Let's not get into a long conversation about that because you're just trying to stay here longer." *
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