Tuesday, August 12, 2003

 

Bonds Hits 650; Giants Lose Anyway

Tonight was one of those classic, bittersweet Giants losses. The kind of game you really want to enjoy, but you know you shouldn't because, well, they lost. The locals dropped a tough 5-4 decision to the Mets, despite Barry Bonds going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, 2 HR, 1 BB, and 1 chat with a former President of the United States. Bonds now has 650 homers in his career. He's 39, and he's hitting .341 with an insane .521 OBA and .755 SLG. In a month or so he'll probably tie his godfather for third place on the all-time career home run list. But you know he's not happy tonight, even though he met Bill Clinton. (Reports that the president was offered a job as Bonds' hitting coach could not be confirmed at press time.)

Sir Sidney had a rocky start, giving up four earned runs in the first three innings. He eventually settled down, but not before giving two million Giants fans a peculiar sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs. That feeling of deja vu. You know what I mean. Big gut. Caribbean. Right-hander. Supposed to be really good, but maddeningly inconsistent...

It's a scary feeling, so let's all take a deep breath and think some happy thoughts. The trade was all about October, not August. Pitchers don't just switch leagues and dominate; they have to learn the hitters, the parks, the things to avoid in the clubhouse spread. The first two starts don't mean anything, do they? Besides, Jason Schmidt's elbow will be all better by October, won't it? And Reuter's shoulder? (Sorry, I don't have time to talk about Durham and Santiago and Aurilia's infection by the creepy thing from Alien....)

So really, we don't have anything to worry about, right? Not for at least a month. Three weeks, soonest. Really.

GIANTS MAGIC NUMBER: 35

Jefferson 8:34 PM

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