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October 2, 2002
ATLANTA -- Barry Bonds cradled the 3-week-old child in his arms, joking that he'd teach him the right way to play the game. Listen to me, he said, not your old man.
"He wouldn't even let me hold my own kid," Gary Sheffield said, grinning.
Bonds and Sheffield are old friends who will be on opposite sides when the Giants meet the Braves in the opening round of the NL playoffs. Game 1 in the best-of-five series is today at Turner Field.
After the Giants arrived in Atlanta on Monday, Bonds immediately went to see Sheffield's new son, Jadon. Bonds is the child's godfather.
"That was his first chance to see him," Sheffield said. "He told him he was going to teach him to play baseball for real. Going to learn from a real baseball player, not like his old man. Told him he made me a lot of money."
Indeed, it was Bonds who inspired Sheffield to focus on long-term goals, such as reaching the Hall of Fame.
Sheffield stayed at Bonds' home during the offseason, following a workout regimen laid out by his host. They would get up at 6 a.m. -- Bonds made breakfast -- to run steps at Stanford Stadium and lift weights.
But for all Bonds' accomplishments -- 73 homers in a season, 613 in his career, an unprecedented four MVP awards and probably a fifth on the way -- he still is chasing something that Sheffield already has: a World Series championship ring.
"I don't even talk about it around him," said Sheffield, a member of Florida's championship team in '97. "You don't do that with friends. I don't bring up that type of thing because I know that's the one thing he wants most, because I know where his passion is."
Bonds has been at his worst during the postseason. In three trips to the NL Championship Series with Pittsburgh, he batted a cumulative .191 with one homer and three RBIs. In two first-round appearances with the Giants, he hit .207 with no homers in 29 at-bats.
Contrast that with Bonds' numbers this season: an NL-leading .370 average, 46 homers, 110 RBIs and major-league records for walks (198) and on-base percentage (.582).
"I think he's learning how to deal with it," Sheffield said. "He's not a loser. It's not that he can't come through in a big game. It's just that the ball doesn't always bounce your way."
Bonds is keenly aware of his reputation for choking in the postseason. He desperately wants to stifle his critics. He even talked about it with Sheffield during their visit Monday.
"When you won the wild card, you didn't even seem happy," Sheffield told his friend.
"I don't care about that. I just want to win the World Series," Bonds replied.