BAY BRIDGE SERIES : GIANTS 4, A'S 2 10 INNINGS
Bonds finally blasts No.714 to tie Ruth
Published: Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 9:00 p.m.
OAKLAND - To understand the significance of what Barry Bonds accomplished, Jason Schmidt needed only to think back to all the times in his life that he stood on the mound unwilling to throw a ball over the plate.
That's when coaches - from Little League to the majors - would come out and summon the name "Babe Ruth," as in "Babe Ruth is dead - throw strikes."
"You say that, and now you're sitting with someone who has done what Babe Ruth has done," the Giants pitcher said. "It's pretty amazing."
Bonds ended nearly two weeks of anticipation by slugging the 714th homer of his career on Saturday afternoon, sliding alongside the legendary Ruth into the second spot on baseball's most hallowed leaderboard.
Thirty-two years after Hank Aaron eclipsed Ruth's once-unassailable total, Bonds has made it a threesome. Aaron, of course, went on to hit 755 homers, a mark that will be difficult for the 41-year-old Bonds to reach.
Saturday's milestone homer came in the second inning of the Giants' 4-2, 10-inning victory against the A's at the Coliseum, where most of the 35,077 seemed to put aside their hostility toward Bonds to honor the achievement.
"This is a great accomplishment because of Babe Ruth and what he brought to baseball and his legacy in the game of baseball," Bonds said in a press conference after the game. "This and a World Series ring for me would be the ultimate. He changed the game of basebal l. ... It's just great to be in the same class."
Although some view his next homer, the one that surpasses Ruth, as the big one, Bonds said this was the tough one: "I think trying to get there is harder than trying to go (past) him."
Bonds expressed as much relief as joy for the homer, which came after a string of 40 homerless plate appearances. With a corps of media from across the nation following him every day, Bonds said he became distracted by the attention.
Bonds has also been in a constant battle with an achy right knee, which has undergone three operations in the past 16 months, and a left elbow chock full of bone chips.
The 4-for-29 slump that followed No. 713 was more ammunition for those ready to pronounce Bonds a has-been.
Facing those questions, as well as constant talk about alleged steroid use, Bonds temporarily quieted his critics with a lightning bolt into the right field seats.
Leading off the second inning against A's lefty Brad Halsey, Bonds got a 1-1 fastball over the middle of the plate and did what a slugger is supposed to do. He hit it some 400 feet into the seats above the out-of-town scoreboard in right field.
"If anyone speculated that he had lost his power, that ball was hit by a slugger, a guy who has had power his whole career," manager Felipe Alou said. "I thought that ball was going to end up in San Francisco."
It ended up in the glove of 19-year-old Tyler Snyder of Pleasanton. (Snyder told reporters that he didn't care for Bonds, didn't want to give him the ball and didn't want to meet him. Then he left the ballpark, presumably to head for the nearest Ferrari dealership.)
After hitting the no-doubter, Bonds pointed to his wife and two daughters sitting behind the first-base dugout. When Bonds reached the plate, he met his 16-year-old son, Nikolai, a batboy for the day, and planted a kiss on his face. Bonds' teammates slowly filed off the bench and met him in front of the dugout, exchanging hugs and handshakes.
"It was pretty awesome," Mark Sweeney said. "It was special to be a part of that."
Omar Vizquel added: "Tying Babe Ruth is an incredible feat. I'm glad I got to see it. That's one of the reasons I came to San Francisco. I wanted to see the best home run hitter in the game hit those balls."
Schmidt, who has hit all of five big- league homers, said he has a hard time putting the accomplishment into perspective.
"You sit there and think about 714 home runs," he said. "As a pitcher, I'm not much of a hitter; but you get up there and face these pitchers and look at what they throw, for someone to accomplish that, it's incredible."
Bonds' homer made an impression on the A's. Although they had pitched to him with the game on the line Friday night, with Huston Street striking him out, they walked him intentionally with a base open in the eighth and 10th innings on Saturday afternoon.
Bonds struck out looking and hit a flyout to left in his other two trips. As the designated hitter, he had plenty of time in between plate appearances to go back to the dugout or the clubhouse and think about his place in history.
Or to think about hitting No. 715 to put Ruth in his rearview mirror. Or to think about catching Aaron. Or not.
"I don't have to worry about that right now," Bonds said. "That's far away. I'll just have fun now."
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