Bonds' beef: his pitchers, not Rays'

Giants slugger who fumed over Travis Harper pitch behind his legs says he's upset his teammates aren't retaliating for him.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published June 20, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO -- Turns out Barry Bonds wasn't that mad at Travis Harper.

If anything, he was more angry with his own pitchers.

Bonds said accumulated frustration was the reason he reacted as he did Tuesday to Harper's ninth-inning pitch that sailed behind his legs, walking toward the mound pointing his finger and yelling at the Rays pitcher and causing both benches to empty in Tampa Bay's 8-3 victory.

"I just had a lot of buildup, that's all," Bonds said. "Too many balls have been thrown at me in one year, and that's enough. I just couldn't take it anymore. It probably wasn't an intentional pitch. I know (manager Hal) McRae over there. When balls get thrown at you quite a bit, eventually you're going to get upset. ... I'm just not allowing people to just throw darts at me anymore. I'm tired of it."

Having been hit six times and narrowly missed several others, Bonds was particularly upset because he felt Giants pitchers had not thrown enough retaliatory pitches to protect him. (Giants have been hit 33 times and have hit 10 opponents.)

"If our pitchers ain't going to do it, I'll defend myself," he said. And if such actions result in a suspension? "Who cares," he said.

With an 8-3 lead, two men on, one out and an advantageous 1-and-2 count, Harper said that he had no intention of hitting Bonds and that the pitch that forced Bonds to leap out of the way simply was a mistake.

"I'm trying to put him away there, I'm trying to get him out," Harper said. "The last thing I want to do is put him on and face (Jeff) Kent with the bases loaded. When you're coming in to a hitter like that, you can't leave the ball over the plate. I was trying to make sure I got it in there, but it got away from me."

Though the Rays thought Bonds' actions were unwarranted, they weren't surprised.

"The natural reaction when the ball is thrown at you or behind you is to react," Harper said. "That's fine. But you've got to understand what I'm trying to do out there, and that's not to hit him."

"I'm never surprised by what players do today," McRae said. "You would think players would think of the situation, the score of the game, and assume the pitcher didn't hit his spot, that the ball got away from him."

Giants manager Dusty Baker didn't blame Bonds or the Rays. "Every man has a breaking point," Baker said. "They're a young ballclub over there. You've got young guys in the big leagues that sometimes have control problems. That's what keeps youngsters out of the big leagues. It's over with. Nothing happened."

The incident took the focus off what was a solid overall game by the Rays. Greg Vaughn and Aubrey Huff homered to lead a 14-hit attack as the Rays grabbed an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning. Joe Kennedy evened his record at 5 with seven strong innings, showing an improved sense of knowing how to properly pitch with a big lead.

"The ability to put runs up early was the key to the victory," McRae said.

So was the way they handled Bonds, holding him to 0-for-4 plus a walk.

The victory marked the first time the Rays had won back-to-back games since May 21-22.