He’s Making a Very Powerful Statement

SAN FRANCISCO â€”  Wist-fully, Dusty Baker was saying it is almost like listening to a wonderful song on the radio, knowing it will end and knowing there is nothing you can do about it when it does.

“That’s how it is this year watching Barry hit,� the San Francisco Giant manager said. “We want to keep hearing this song, seeing this picture. I mean, that’s why we want to get to the postseason. We’re not going to be ready to go home.�

On a golden Saturday, before another capacity crowd of 41,383 at Pacific Bell Park, Barry Bonds found a way to play it again for Baker and his Giants.

This latest refrain in what is reminiscent of an anvil chorus was a 437-foot home run off veteran left-hander Chuck McElroy, a longtime nemesis, in the sixth inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.

It was his 69th, leaving Bonds two shy of breaking Mark McGwire’s 1998 record with seven games to play.

Although we’ve become numbed by baseball’s offensive numbers, it’s impossible to dismiss what Bonds is doing as simply part of the trend.

And Padre Manager Bruce Bochy, for one, didn’t.

“It’s the best power year ever,� he said. “The numbers speak for themselves.�

The numbers include record-challenging on-base and slugging percentages as Bonds--batting .321 with 132 runs batted in--finds a way to make the most of his few swings while being skirted by opposing pitchers at a record rate. Bonds has already broken McGwire’s National League record for walks in a season and is only four away from Babe Ruth’s major league record of 170, set in 1923.

On Saturday, San Diego rookie Brett Jodie made sure he wasn’t going to become another Bonds victim while walking him on four pitches in the first inning. The fourth pitch bounced about five feet in front of the plate and prompted Bonds to share a laugh with Ryan Klesko when he reached first base.

“No, that was unusual,� Bonds said when asked later if any pitcher had gone to that length to avoid him.

By the fourth inning, however, Jodie had worked up a little more courage. He got close enough with a 2-1 pitch that Bonds was able to connect on, flying out to left field.

McElroy replaced Jodie to start the sixth, and Bonds said, “I thought my day was over. He’s always given me problems, always pitched me well. Even when he makes a mistake I haven’t been able to take advantage of it. It’s just that right now, everything is working for me.�

Bonds had only two hits in 32 at-bats against McElroy, but he deposited a 2-1 fastball into McCovey Cove, employing the compact swing that Tony Gwynn calls the most efficient in baseball--and the focus and concentration that Baker says is the key to a remarkable season--to ignite another ovation and leave Bonds smiling in the dugout less than 24 homers after there had been tears.

Franklin Bradley, a friend of 13 years and occasional bodyguard, had died during surgery Thursday, and an emotional Bonds had dedicated Friday night’s 68th homer to him.

“Well, yesterday I did something for a friend, and I let it go after that,� he said. “I was OK with it after that. Today, you go back to work trying to win.�

The Bonds homer broke a 1-1 tie and helped the Giants stay two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West and three back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card race.

It was also the 563rd of his career, which tied Reggie Jackson for seventh on the all-time list.

Bonds, of course, comes from a family of hitters, and he described Jackson as a cousin on his mother’s side.

“I have a lot of family members who played professional baseball, and Reggie is another,� he said, smiling. “It just feels good to finally get all those conversations off my back a little bit. I know Reggie will be happy for me, and I’m pretty sure he’ll give me a call. It’s good to be in that class.�

And good to have family bragging rights?

“I don’t have them yet,� Bonds said, meaning two cousins, Jackson and Reggie Smith, have World Series rings, the thing that Bonds keeps saying he wants more than the home run record.

As he put it Saturday: “The good thing about the home runs is that it’s a pennant race, and every hit or every run means something for the team. I mean, I can feel good about the home runs because they’re helping us stay in contention in the race, and that’s what the most important thing is.�

The clock is ticking on the Giants, who have the suspicion, as one player said after seeing on the scoreboard that the Diamondbacks had routed the Dodgers, that “we’re not going to get much help from L.A. The Dodgers seem to have quit.�

The Dodgers play the Diamondbacks again today, but Baker said he wasn’t going to make a judgment on the Dodger resolve at this point.

“The Diamondbacks are bound to lose sooner or later,� he said, “but we can’t control what they do. We just have to keep winning. It’s a marathon, and how many times have you seem a marathon won or lost at the end? Naturally, we’re greedy. We want it all. We want Barry to get the record and we want to make the playoffs. The way he’s hitting, needing two more homers with seven games to go, you have to think he’ll get the record. The amazing thing is that most of his homers have given us the lead or brought us back.�

Bonds, of course, said he would like to get the record, if he is to get it, at home.

If he doesn’t do it today, however, the Giants have to go to Houston for three games before returning to play the Dodgers next weekend in the final regular-season series of the year and, perhaps, the final series for Bonds as a Giant if he leaves as a free agent.

That possibility remains an intriguing and inescapable element as Bonds stalks McGwire, a pursuit, Baker said, that has produced another inescapable and, perhaps, inevitable element. His left fielder has been receiving racist hate mail, the manager said. Bonds was asked about it and refused to comment, citing family and security concerns.

At Pac Bell, on his own turf, the reception has remained overwhelmingly positive, and why not? If Bonds has not always been portrayed in a positive light, who can deny those numbers?

On Saturday, for instance, the cheers that accompanied No. 69 drowned out the ceremonial fog horns and represented what Baker would compare to a September Song that he hopes to keep hearing long into October.