Slugger Bonds loves the game, but hates the home run spotlight

Giants star does take pride in the 1996 Home Run Derby when he beat McGwire

GREG JOHNS

Originally published July 10

SEATTLE -- His is the biggest story in baseball this year, at least among non-Japanese topics.

He is going where no hitter has before, with 39 home runs by the All-Star break. He surpassed 500 home runs for his career and is on pace to break Mark McGwire's record of 70 blasts for a season.

Yet Barry Bonds remains the reluctant home-run hitter. Don't bet on Bonds to get to 60, let alone 70 this summer. It's not a place he wants to go.

Maybe there's a reason he has remained at 39 the past 13 games. The sizzle turned to fizzle about the time everyone hopped on the bandwagon.

Listening to the veteran San Francisco Giant on Monday at the All-Star press conference, one gets the feeling Bonds can think of a lot of things he'd rather do than chase Big Mac and the Babe.

"For me, it's draining," Bonds said of the attention springing from his historic early-season pace.

There is a lot of Ken Griffey Jr. in Bonds, who'll start his eighth All-Star game in left field tonight as the NL's leading vote-getter.

He who loves playing baseball, but hates talking about it, at least as the game pertains to himself.

He has earned a reputation for being surly with the media, but insists he's always just been himself.

Monday, he was more than accommodating with waves of reporters and he made it clear that seeking 70 home runs is the last thing on his mind.

"There are times you almost don't want it to go on because you don't want to feel separated from your teammates," Bonds said. "That's the truth. You're only human."

Bonds reached the semifinals of Monday's Home Run Derby, but came up short against eventual-winner Luis Gonzalez in the second round, though his 476-foot blast into the upper deck in right field stood as the longest shot of the day.

So is Barry Bonds a home-run hitter?

Not in his mind. Not when compared to McGwire, who missed this year's festivities after an injury-plagued first half.

"Mac hits a ball 500 feet. And if Mac misses a ball, it goes 402," Bonds said. "Barry Bonds hits a ball 440 feet. And when Barry misses a ball, it's a pop up to the shortstop."

Bonds, the non-slugger, does take pride in the 1996 Home Run Derby, when he beat McGwire.

"That was one of the highlights of my career right there," said Bonds. "I have the batting gloves from that day in a special case in my house."

So OK, sometimes Bonds likes being a home run hitter. But this stuff about chasing McGwire's record? Bonds looks at himself and Gonzalez, who has 35 homers at the break, and laughs at the notion. Doesn't matter he's on pace to hit 72.

Bonds has never hit more than 49.

"It's not easy to stay focused for 162 games. I don't care who you are," Bonds said.

Maybe this is just Bonds' way of dealing with the pressure. He says he hasn't hit a home run since starting to do press conferences in his first day at visiting ballparks to reduce the media crush.

Nor is Bonds pulling for Sosa to get into the chase in order to take some of the heat off himself.

"It's a team sport and it takes a team to win. I don't care what anybody says," Bonds said. "I would stay at 39 home runs to go to the World Series with this team. And I would be the happiest man you've ever seen. Guaranteed."

Greg Johns can be reached at gjohns@juno.com.

"I don't give a damn what Sammy Sosa does. Not in a negative way. But we're not in a home-run derby," he said. "We're all in the business of trying to do the best we can for the team we play for."

That's why the home-run chatter leaves him chapped.

On the web:

John Hancock All-Star FanFest.

MLB.com: All-Star Game 2001

All-Star Game 2001 Player Profiles.

The Olympian Online: Mariners.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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