Barry Bonds inched closer to Babe Ruth with his first home run of the season Saturday night in the Giants’ 6-4 victory over the Rockies.
Bonds homered off Rockies starter Aaron Cook in his first at-bat–an opposite-field solo shot that bounced into the tunnel adjacent to the left-field bleachers.
It was Bonds’ 709th career home run, five shy of Babe Ruth and 46 shy of Hank Aaron’s record.
Slowed by two sore knees and a swollen left elbow, Bonds had gone 35 at-bats without a home run, his last coming Sept. 27, 2005, off San Diego’s Adam Eaton.
Cook could have walked Bonds because there were two outs and nobody was on base. Cook’s 1-0 fastball crossed the plate belt high, and Bonds was showered with a combination of boos and cheers–mostly boos–as he slowly rounded the bases.
“Finally,” said Bonds, who has hit 48 home runs against the Rockies, including 25 at Coors Field. “I finally got to swing the bat a little bit more, which was good.
“I’m never really a first at-bat, home-run hitter. I just said, `I’ve got to try to put everything I can in this first at-bat, this first opportunity.’ I kind of die out the later part of the game. The pain in the knee is getting overwhelming.”
After the game, Bonds’ bat and his entire uniform–jersey, pants, hat, shoes and wristbands–were dated and marked with a 709 by a Major League Baseball official in the Giants clubhouse.
Asked about the chances of him playing in Sunday’s series finale, Bonds said, “Not good.”