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60th home run puts Bonds in elite group

The Giants slugger is fastest to reach 60 and has 21 games to beat Mark McGwire's 70.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 7, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was, when you think about, just one swing. One swing that sent a baseball over a brick stadium wall. One swing that made a grown man's heart race and his eyes moisten. One swing that made history, and furthers the potential for more.

Barry Bonds hit his 60th home run Thursday, becoming the fifth major-leaguer to reach the mark. It is a milestone Bonds admitted he once thought impossible, one that put him in the company of ballplayers with whom he never thought he belonged.

As soon as Bonds hit the home run in the second inning off Diamondback and former Rays starter Albie Lopez, the significance of the accomplishment began to overwhelm him.

Babe Ruth had done it. Roger Maris had done it. Mark McGwire had done it twice. Sammy Sosa had done it twice. And now Barry Bonds has done it.

"When I went around the bases my heart was just racing," he said. "You never dream you'd be in anything like this, with people of that caliber. Never in your lifetime. You couldn't write a better story. You couldn't have dreamed of anything better. It's just unreal."

After Bonds crossed home plate, he looked at the Pac Bell Park videoboard, which displayed his photo next to Ruth's.

"It almost made me cry a little bit," Bonds said. "It just overwhelmed me that my picture is even near his picture."

Bonds got to 60 quicker than the others, doing it in 141 games. He became the oldest of the five at 37 years and 44 days.

The Giants won 9-5. "He could have waited until tomorrow," said Arizona manager Bob Brenly, who left with a 11/2 game lead over the Giants. "But it's good for Barry and it's good for baseball."

Lopez said it wasn't a bad pitch, just a curveball he left a little too high in the strike zone: "He doesn't miss many balls. A dubious honor."

Because McGwire and Sosa have surpassed 60 twice in the past four seasons, some say the accomplishment is not quite as monumental. "It doesn't mean as much as it used to," Giants manager Dusty Baker said, "but to me it still means a lot."

As magnificent as the moment was, before a packed crowd in a beautiful stadium on a sun-drenched afternoon, it will only increase the attention and expectations of what Bonds can do. And increase the scrutiny of how he handles it.

After many years of working hard at it, Bonds has developed a reputation, among other adjectives, of being surly and churlish and rude.

But Thursday, he sat in a news conference with his precocious 2-year-old daughter, Aisha, on his lap, allowing her to introduce him -- "Now batting, No. 25, Barry Bonds ... and the crowd goes wild!" -- a smile almost constantly on his face.

Sure, he seemed to go overboard in selling the idea that he is more concerned with his team's chances for the postseason than his home run total. He took a jab at the Giants by mentioning the distractions of not knowing where he will play next season. And he responded to a question about his legacy by saying, "I'm not retiring; my book hasn't ended yet."

But for the most part he seemed happy and humbled. Whether it was a made-for-the moment presentation or a legitimate attitude adjustment will become more clear as the spotlight warms in the coming days.

Bonds talked about how as a youngster he thought 60 homers was impossible. "There was just no way." He talked about watching in awe McGwire's march to 70. "How could you not?" He talked about how he doesn't have the power McGwire has. "I can hit it a long ways at times, but I'm not as consistent as he is."

And, after spending months dismissing the subject, he talked about the possibility of surpassing McGwire's record. Bonds needs 11, and the Giants have 21 games to play.

"Anything's possible."

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