Last night, I was at Dodger Stadium for what turned out to be a terrific Dodger comeback win. With Barry in town, even a press pass doesn't guarantee a seat, but luckily for me, my friends at Warner Bros had a suite, so I was at the game in style.
The Dodger were 5 outs away from another loss to the hated Giants. After Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre got on in the 8th, Luis Gonzalez hit a 2-run single and Nomar Garciapara followed with a 2-run bomb, and the Dodgers win 6-4. Bonds was 0-3 with a walk. There was a fly ball out on a 3-2 pitch from Mark Hendrickson in the 2nd, an infield dribbler in the 4th, and a soft liner grabbed by Juan Pierre in a great diving catch in the 6th. Then in the 8th with first base open, Jonathan Broxton fell behind 2-0 before the Dodgers decided to put him on intentionally.
Bonds isn't exactly scary right now. He's hitless in his last 19 at bats against the Dodgers, and he finished the month of July with a dreadful .186 batting average. He's a broken-down old man and hardly looks like a guy about to shoot down Henry Aaron's all-time record.
Dusty Baker was on the show yesterday at 5:45p. I'm not sure why, but we totally let Dusty wriggle off the hook without any tough questions, but we did. He's in a unique position to comment on Barry because he managed him more games than anybody, plus he was a teammate of Aaron's. I asked Baker how he felt about Hank not being on hand when Barry breaks the record. He said, "Hank's in his 70's, and he doesn't like to travel." OK. I'll buy that. Later in his dodgy answer, he said, "Hank is in Puerto Rico right now doing some clinics." Puerto Rico seems like a long way to go for somebody who doesn't like to travel.
I would have followed-up with something more agressive, but we ran out of time. I still think we blew it by not going after the guy.
The Dodgers are all over the board on this Barry Bonds steroid story. Yesterday, Franks McCourt told us that Dodger fans should be above booing. Then he said, "I hate the Giants!" Then we found out that the Dodgers have been confiscating t-shirts that say "Boycott Barry" with a hitter holding a syringe like a bat (here's a link to the website for the Boycott Barry people.) Now, the Dodgers sponsored a steroid awareness clinic for kids at Chavez Ravine today.
Talk about mixed messages. Don't boo Barry, but hate the Giants. No shirts that say "Boycott Barry," but rub salt in the steroid wound with an awareness clinic. C'mon Dodgers! Make up your mind.
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