Mark Redman, who makes his postseason debut today, says Barry Bonds is "just another guy up there with a bat."
By TOM JONES
Published October 3, 2003
MIAMI - Either Mark Redman is the coolest cat in town or he has been eating ham-and-stupid sandwiches.
The Florida Marlins pitcher, who goes this afternoon in Game 3 against the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series, opened up the lion's mouth and put his head inside with comments Thursday about Giants slugger Barry Bonds.
Someone asked him about Bonds, easily the biggest skyscraper in the major-league skyline. Redman, who has never pitched a postseason game, could've talked about Bonds as an intimidating presence. He could've mentioned all those homers Bonds has hit, all those runs he has driven in. He could've talked about how facing Bonds is as scary as a midnight walk through the woods.
Instead, he acted as if Bonds were just some schmoe who walked off the street and threw on a uniform.
"He's just another guy up there with a bat," Redman said. "That's all I see. I don't see who it is, what name it is. It's just another guy up there with a bat."
Is he serious?
"Why not?" Redman said. "He just wants to play just as much as I want to play. I mean, this is not a time to be intimidated by anyone. That's the way I look at it. You know, I worked hard to be here. He worked hard to be here, as well."
Bonds' work, though, has paid off as he continues his assault to become the greatest home run hitter in history. Despite playing in only 130 games this season and dealing with the death of his father, Bonds had another monster season with 45 homers (but only 90 RBIs) and a .341 average.
Imagine if teams actually pitched to the guy. He was walked 148 times and the Marlins certainly aren't subscribing to Redman's theory that Bonds is just another guy with a bat. In the first two games of this series, Bonds has walked five times, including three times intentionally.
Even Redman knows that he might be under direct orders from his boss to give Bonds nothing to hit.
"Good thing it's not my say," Redman said. "It's not my call. ... I'm a guy (who is) given the ball, supposed to throw strikes when I'm supposed to throw strikes. If I need to walk the guy because I'm told to walk the guy, then I walk the guy."
San Francisco manager Felipe Alou wasn't surprised by Redman's chest-thumping. He was a bench coach in Detroit last season when Redman was pitching for the Tigers. Alou said Redman is a big-time pitcher and he's curious to see how Redman does against Bonds today.
Meantime, Florida manager Jack McKeon laughed when told what Redman said.
"Well, I would expect he'd say that," McKeon said. "No, (the pitchers are) not intimidated. But you got to be realistic. You got to go with your head, not your heart. I think every pitcher in the game of baseball would like to go out there and say, "I'd like to challenge this guy and get him out.' But I think a lot of guys have been very unsuccessful in their attempt."
So how will the Marlins pitch Bonds today?
"We're," McKeon said, "going to pitch to him just like we've been pitching to him: cautiously, and if necessary, we'll take different measures."
If Bonds cracks one into the upper deck today, one of the different measures might be: keep your mouth shut before facing him.
