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Some friendly advice helps pull the Giants OF to within four of the record.
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 24, 2001
SAN DIEGO -- Thanks, Tony.
After Barry Bonds hit his 65th and 66th homers, leaving him four shy of Mark McGwire's record with 12 games to play, the Giants leftfielder credited his big day to a chat he had with Tony Gwynn when they ran into each other in a stadium hallway before Sunday's game.
"He kind of corrected my swing a little bit today," Bonds said, smiling after San Francisco routed Gwynn's Padres 11-2.
"He just told me to do the things that I've normally done and go back to getting my hits. I was a little bit too aggressive the first two days here. He just made some good, valid points, and I took advantage of them."
After the Padres kept Bonds in the park the first two games of this series, he quickly resumed his pursuit of McGwire's record of 70 in 1998.
Bonds homered in consecutive at-bats off rookie Jason Middlebrook, tying him with Sammy Sosa for the second-most home runs in a season.
Bonds hit a 411-foot shot off the permanent wall in straightaway center on a 2-and-1 pitch with two outs in the second inning, giving San Francisco a 4-0 lead.
With one out in the fourth, he hit a high, arching shot on a 2-and-0 pitch -- a 91-mph fastball -- that barely cleared the fence in left for a 7-1 lead. Bonds raised both arms as he stepped on home plate.
The homers came in San Francisco's 150th game. McGwire hit his 65th in St. Louis' 157th game in 1998, and his 66th in the Cardinals' 161st.
Sosa hit his 66th and final homer of 1998 in the Chicago Cubs' 160th game.
"You could tell the last couple of days, he's pressing, trying to lift," said Gwynn, who has won eight NL batting titles and has 3,139 career hits. "I just told him to keep doing what he's been doing. Don't let the pressure dictate what type of swing you take.
"It wasn't like I was giving him any secret things he didn't know about."
Bonds has nine home runs against the Padres this season and 61 in his career, the most off any opponent.
Can Bonds break McGwire's record?
"I don't know because slumps can happen," Bonds said. "I don't want to feel overconfident. I just want to win this division."
Bonds set a major-league record with 34 road homers. He started the day tied at 32 with Babe Ruth (1927) and McGwire (1998).
Bonds also broke Ruth's major-league record for homers over two seasons by a left-handed batter. Bonds hit 49 home runs in 2000 to give him 115 in the past two seasons -- one more than Ruth had in 1927-28.
With 560 career homers, Bonds is three shy of matching Reggie Jackson for seventh place all-time.
Bonds was lifted for pinch-hitter Dante Powell in the eighth, a combination of Bonds' back stiffening and the Giants leading by nine runs. The fans, who normally boo Bonds, booed that move.