It’s time to call a private investigator who can go undercover and find out who stole the buzz around Barry Bonds’ 700th home run.
Bonds is two homers shy of reaching a number that has been achieved only by Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. So where are the media hordes?
Oh, there’s an ESPN crew here or a national newspaper feature writer there. But this is nothing like 2001, when every move the Giants great made was chronicled, early in the season as he chased 500 home runs and five months later when he pursued the single-season record–and ultimately set the mark at 73.
Bonds himself has downplayed 700 even as he acknowledges it is a big number that has been difficult to achieve with so many teams refusing to pitch to him.
Asked if he will be relieved once he hits it, Bonds laughed and said: “Relief? I don’t need relief. Relief is when I got drafted. I didn’t have to ask my parents for any more money. I didn’t have to listen to them anymore. I could pretty much make my own decisions.
“Relief isn’t baseball. It really is an accomplishment, but if I’m satisfied I might walk away, and I’m not going to be satisfied with 700.”
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Bonds seems far more interested in discussing his team’s quest for a third consecutive playoff appearance.
Perhaps the memories of 2001 are fresh in his mind. The Giants were in a dogfight for a wild-card spot. Every game down the stretch was critical, yet all the buzz was about Bonds breaking Mark McGwire’s record of 70 homers in a season.
He accomplished it the night the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention. It was a bizarre juxtaposition.
“Once you get 500 home runs, everything becomes so overwhelming,” Bonds said. “You don’t want to think about a lot of stuff. You don’t want to lose focus because of these accomplishments.
“We’re still focused on the team, winning, getting to the playoffs. It’s very easy to lose focus when you’ve done something other people think is incredible.”
Perhaps the baseball world is preserving its enthusiasm for early next season, when Bonds zeroes in on 714 home runs.
That number, 714, stood as one of sports’ iconic numbers from 1935 until 1974, when Aaron became the home run king. When Bonds hits 715, only Aaron’s 755 will be ahead.
The Giants opened a three-game series in Arizona on Friday night, losing 2-1. Before he hits his 700th home run, Bonds is likely to break his own season walks record of 198. He is one short. Rather than whining about it, Bonds used the walks as a launching point to praise the Giants for being where they are.
“Nobody’s giving the team credit for what we’ve accomplished with all the intentional walks to me, with them not allowing me to do what I can do on an everyday basis,” Bonds said.
“I’m proud of the way we’re playing under the circumstances of what other teams have done to take the ball out of my hands. The organization should be happy. The city of San Francisco should be happy. It could have been worse. We’re still where we are.”
So how does Bonds view the Giants’ chances?
“It goes down to who’s hot at that time,” he said. “Even in 2002, we had to go down to the wire, and we were able to keep it going into the playoffs until the last two games against the Angels.
“Last year we had it pretty easy. Then we got into a playoff, and we were cold. Then Florida had to go down to the wire, and they kept it going and won the whole thing. I definitely believe in momentum.”
The 700 buzz might be weaker than it was for 70 or 500, but the Giants clubhouse is filled with people who understand what this means.
“A hundred years from now, it’s still going to be a feat,” center fielder Marquis Grissom said. “I wouldn’t want to be a young pitcher in this day and age facing Barry. You put the ball around the plate, and it’s going to go 450 feet. What he’s done on the field, what he brings to the game, is unmatched.”