Bonds tries to deflect talk from record
Share with others:
Matt Freed, Post-Gazette
Barry Bonds laughs in the dugout in the fourth inning last night after hitting his second home run against the Pirates at PNC Park.
Forget about 755. And 756. How about 3,000?
That latter number is another Barry Bonds can chase.
Unlike 755 and 756, which he should pass this season, Bonds likely will have to wait until next season to reach 3,000 career hits.
Which could mean this isn't his last visit to PNC Park.
Bonds, though, didn't want to talk about 3,000 hits yesterday.
"I just want to get three more hits," he said.
Bonds entered this series with only five hits in 26 at-bats this season -- and just one home run (No. 735).
Not that any of that matters much to him.
"Leave me out of it," he said. "It's about us -- this group. We're trying to have a better record. We're trying to win. We're not here to talk about me."
Fine -- except that Bonds, who began his career with the Pirates in 1986, is the only player making a run at Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755.
Is he looking forward to that run?
"I'm looking forward to just staying healthy," Bonds said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. It's not a big deal to me. It's not like it's a major concern of mine."
It's likely Bonds won't play tonight because he wants to play tomorrow on Jackie Robinson Day throughout Major League Baseball. He plans to wear Robinson's No. 42.
"It all depends on the weather," said Bonds, who must protect his 42-year-old knees.
What does Robinson's breakthrough in 1947 mean to Bonds?
"I think baseball should be answering that question," he said. "I don't think only African-American athletes should be answering the question. Some of the white ballplayers should be answering that question as well. African-American ballplayers already know what it means to us. We've answered that question a thousand times.
"Baseball is for everyone now. We have a few more Asian players, Hispanic players, Canadian players, European players. Jackie was a big part of that. He was at the forefront of all the changes."
Someone wondered if it saddens Bonds that the percentage of African-American players in the major leagues has dropped from 25 percent a couple decades ago to 8 percent now?
"It saddens everybody," he said. "And it's up to all of us to improve it -- all of us. Not just black athletes, but all of us."
As he spoke, Bonds held a tape recorder. He tapes almost all of his interviews now and puts them on his Web site.
"So people can know the truth," Bonds said. "And it does help give me peace of mind. I play it back for myself. I analyze myself. Am I sensitive? It helps me. It's kind of like my own personal counseling."
Which could help Bonds with one of his goals for this season.
"I'm going to have fun," he said. "I decided to enjoy myself and see how it is. Have fun. Make fun of myself. Enjoy [the media] for as long as I can. I've been doing pretty well this year so far. I'm just too old to fight with you guys anymore. I'm going to make myself happy whether you guys want me to be or not."
As it always does, the conversation turned to Bonds and his Pirate days and to Jim Leyland, his first manager.
"I've been lucky to have good managers," Bonds said, "but Leyland was my first manager, so he's the one I always talk about. He really stuck up for us. Our locker room was ours.
"We were so bad when I got here and the [New York] Mets called us Little Leaguers. I'll never forget that as long as I live. And after that, we just whipped their butts. That was fun. We had some fun [here]. Leyland always made it fun."
There hasn't been a whole lot of fun since then, though.
"They just don't keep [their players] together long enough," Bonds said. "That's been the downfall of Pittsburgh. They never keep the players long enough to build anything. Once they get to a certain point, some of the players move on.
"I think they should hang onto them. They have some good players. They just need to hang onto them a little bit longer."
Bonds was one of three key free agents who left the Pirates in the early 1990s. Bobby Bonilla left after 1991. Bonds and Doug Drabek went the same route after '92.
"We all wanted to stay," Bonds said. "There was just no chance for us to stay. We understood that and we respected that. So we played our butts off and got to the playoffs."
Bonds paused, remembering.
"And then," he said, "we went our separate ways."
First Published April 13, 2007 11:20 pm
