I remember being there for Bonds' 70th homer. I have no problem with Dierker walking Bonds for most of that series because that was his strategy to win. I disagreed with the strategy, but that was just me. The biggest problem I had with Dierker was him getting upset with the fans for cheering Bonds when he hit number 70. After the performance the Astros put out in such a crucial game that day, I remember the only thing worth cheering was Bonds when he tied one of the most famous records in baseball. Now I can't stand Bonds and I think the reaction to his 70th homer would be completely different now, but Dierker should've worried more about his team's poor performance down the stretch than what the fans were/were not cheering for.
thanks rocketmanjosh for a little perspective on how that series went. it was a lot more than wins and losses towards the end. dierker coming out and openly complaining. no one wants to see that many intentional walks during a series anyway. and then after complaining, giving up number seventy. it was kind of surreal how that wen.
I didn't realize that the 73 home run year was the only year that Bonds has had where he hit more than 50. Sosa and McGwire have hit 50 or more four times each. Sosa hit more than 60 three times, while McGwire hit more than 60 twice. I don't know where I'm really going with this, just found it interesting.
Well, I'd like the Astros to never give up a home run ever again too, but a team can't just do that. I still ask what you think they should have done differently? Walk him more? Or pitch to him more?
i'm going with pgabriel on this one, we looked bad. like he said, most people don't plan to look like idiots, but the results are what matter. first of all, we looked like bad sports who were just refusng to pitch to him to keep him from hitting the record tying homer. i was rooting against bonds breaking the record but even i thought we were a little too extreme. no matter how much the situation may have called for it, after a while it makes you look bad. then we looked like complete chumps when we ended up giving it up anyway. we let some rookie get jacked and we give it up because we couldn't win at that point. so now people felt even more robbed. it was bad all around. as for bonds only having one season with 50, that's true, but he'd have had several more if he wasn't walked at the insane rate he gets walked these days. i mean he'd probably have none w/o roids (though 2001 everyone went off so who knows) but just to play along he'd have more w/o the walks.
not given up the homerun, logically that would mean keep walking him. I'm not saying that a team shouldn't give up a homerun, I understand they are trying not to do that anyway.
This doesn't make any sense. How could we be refusing to pitch to him to keep him from hitting the HR when we DID pitch to him and allow him to hit the HR? We were not pitching to him when it was smart baseball to do that. We pitched to him when it was also smart baseball to do so. The people that were whining in the media were ones more concerned about Bonds getting a record than the Astros winning baseball games. I could care less about them. The Astros' only obligation is to win, not to help an opponent tie a 3 year old record.
So you feel the Astros should have been more concerned with Bonds' record than playing smart baseball? They walked him when appropriate and didn't when not.
i'm saying the last game looked like a joke. stop projecting. edit: you are sort of making my point also, or at least justifying fans anger during that series. pitching or not pitching to bonds didn't make that series. but the astros plan appeared to be do anything but allow bonds to get that homer and whatever dierker's reasoning was, they lost so whatever you want to argue, their plan failed. and after failing, rather comically, then giving up 70 was icing on the cake.
Why the last game? They pitched him the same there as the other two. You said that they should "keep walking him" - but they weren't walking him everytime anyway. I'm asking why their concern should have been whether Bonds breaks a record or not as opposed to doing what's best for winning, which is exactly what they did. Pitch to him when the damage is limited, don't when it's not.
we'll just have to agree to disagree. you are trying to lead me down a road that I'm not going to. the series was lost before the homerun, so was that game. its neither here nor there.
btw, i don't know where you are getting your stats from, here's espn's article on him hitting 70 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=211004118 HOUSTON -- No doubt, an armada of collectors is already rowing toward McCovey Cove. Game 3 of Barry Held Hostage finally ended with the third pitch of the ninth inning Thursday night at Houston's Enron Field. Barry Bonds matched Mark McGwire's home run record by slamming a mammoth shot into the upper deck in right-center off left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez. The Giants have three games left against the Dodgers in San Francisco this weekend for Bonds to take sole possession of the record -- if the Dodgers cooperate. "I just feel grateful to share something with someone that I have a lot of respect for," Bonds said after San Francisco's 10-2 victory. "I just feel proud to be on the same level with Mark. & It's an honor to share this record with him. He put the home run record where it is." McGwire established the home run mark three years ago. Until the ninth inning that also seemed like the last time someone had thrown Bonds a strike. Houston walked Bonds three times Thursday before the home run, including an intentional walk in the sixth inning when the Astros trailed 8-1. That's right -- an intentional walk with a seven-run deficit. It was the eighth time the Astros walked Bonds in this three-game series; they also hit him once. Bonds had been walked 10 times and hit twice since hitting his 69th home run Saturday, seeing only 14 strikes out of 64 pitches until facing Rodriguez in the ninth. The Bonds Watch Up to bat First inning, versus right-hander Dave Mlicki, two out, nobody on, 0-0. Mix of fastballs and changeups. Ball, ball, ball, ball four -- walk. Jeff Kent hit the next pitch over the left-field fence for a 2-0 lead. Third inning, versus Mlicki, two out, nobody on, Giants lead 2-0. Mix of fastballs and slop. Foul, strike, foul, ball, ball, 4-3 groundout to Craig Biggio, playing in shallow right field with a severe shift on. Fifth inning, versus Mlicki, one out, runners on first and second, Giants lead 3-0. Fastballs. Ball, ball, ball, ball four -- walk. Sixth inning, versus right-hander Ricky Stone, one out, runner on second, Giants lead 8-1. Intentional walk. Ninth inning, versus lefty Wilfredo Rodriguez, leading off, Giants lead 9-2. Mid-90s fastballs. Strike. Ball. Home run to right-center, 454 feet. Overheard Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball sold for $3.05 million three years ago. The man who caught Bonds' 70th home run ball, Charles Murphy, said he would consider his options before deciding what to do with it. Asked what he had to say to Murphy, Bonds smiled and replied, "Congratulations." "My son said, 'We should try to get the ball back.' I said, 'I just think that went into the auction or lottery or something.' It's gone. It's gone." Around the ballpark With the threat of showers, the roof was closed in Houston for the first time this season. Houston manager Larry Dierker said that there were a few more home runs hit with the roof closed last season than when it was opened, but that the difference was too slight to matter much. Because the game time was moved up one hour, there were thousands of empty seats when Bonds batted in the first inning. By the time everyone got inside, however, the Astros had set a stadium record for the third consecutive night with a crowd of 43,734. That gave them a three-day total of 130,912 who saw Bonds bat 15 times, walk eight times, get hit another and put the ball in play five times before the home run. No wonder they applauded so long and so loud when Bonds finally homered in the ninth. It ain't over With a victory Thursday, the Astros could have clinched the wild card. Instead, they fell out of first place in the NL Central and their magic number remained two with three games left in the season. A one-game playoff between Houston and San Francisco suddenly doesn't seem too farfetched -- and any home runs Bonds would hit in such a game would count in the regular-season statistics. Houston finishes the season with three games at St. Louis while the Giants host the Dodgers in San Francisco. Should the Giants and Astros tie for the wild card, the Giants would host the playoff game Monday. Up next Friday, at San Francisco, vs. Los Angeles right-hander Chan Ho Park. Bonds career vs Park: 10-for-37 (.270), 5 HR, 13 BB ESPN's Dave Campbell on Park: Park is already in the record books as the only pitcher to ever give up two grand slams to the same player (Fernando Tatis) in one inning. He also gave up the home run to Cal Ripken in this year's All-Star Game. He certainly doesn't need any more infamy. Bonds has five home runs off Park, but Park has good stuff and can be difficult to hit. "(First-base coach) Robby Thompson was really upset because it wasn't a close game," Bonds said of the intentional walk. "Everyone could understand if the situation was a close game. After that, I just went in the dugout and said, 'You know, it's tough being this patient.' " But he is, which is why he has walked a major-league record 175 times this season and still hit 70 home runs. "He's probably getting, two, three, four pitches to hit, all night," Tony Gwynn said last weekend. "And when he hits it, it goes out of the ballpark. It's amazing. It really is. His stroke is so good, he doesn't have to hit strikes." A Houston-area realtor/writer named Charles Murphy caught the home run ball, describing the moment this way: "I felt the ball hit my hand and I pulled it out. That was a rush of energy and then a miraculous rush of estrogen or whatever it was. ... It was a moment of glory I could not let go. And they thought Jesus was coming because I was telling them, 'Jesus was coming.'" So obviously, Murphy was a little more excited about the home run than most fans during this home run chase. When McGwire passed Roger Maris and broke the record in 1998, not only did the entire nation follow the chase closely, so did the Dominican Republic, home country for Sammy Sosa, who pushed McGwire all the way. That hasn't been the case this time. With McGwire's record still so recent, with no one else in the hunt and with September 11 still in everyone's minds, fans never didn't get as excited about the chase this year. Indeed, there was a mixture of cheers and jeers when Bonds stepped to the plate for the first time Thursday. But they also booed each time he was walked and were cheering loudly and chanting his name when he stepped to the plate in the ninth against Rodriguez with San Francisco leading 9-2. Bonds acknowledged that he had never heard the name Wilfredo Rodriguez prior to the at-bat, which isn't too surprising given that his Houston teammates barely know the September callup, either. Catcher Tony Eusebio said that when Rodriguez seemed a little nervous during his warmup tosses, he figured it was a good time to go to the mound, calm the rookie down and find out what pitches he threw. Rodriguez, making just his second major-league appearance, told him he had a fastball and a changeup, "but the changeup isn't so good." Eusebio said, in that case, let's go after him with fastballs and see what happens. Rodriguez's first fastball was a high strike in the mid 90s that Bonds swung at and missed. "I was like, 'Wow,' " Bonds said. "It's rare to see a lefty throw as hard as Billy Wagner or Randy Johnson. He doesn't throw that hard, but he's close. So I was like, wow." Most HRs, season Player Year Team HR Barry Bonds 2001 Giants 70 Mark McGwire 1998 Cards 70 Sammy Sosa 1998 Cubs 66 Mark McGwire 1999 Cards 65 Sammy Sosa 1999 Cubs 63 Sammy Sosa 2001 Cubs 61 Roger Maris 1961 Yankees 61 Babe Ruth 1927 Yankees 60 Babe Ruth 1921 Yankees 59 Mark McGwire 1997 Cards 58 Hank Greenberg 1938 Tigers 58 Jimmie Foxx 1932 A's 58 Bonds took the next pitch high and inside for a ball and jumped on the third one, sending the fastball over the fence faster than Rodriguez sent it to the plate. Bonds and everyone else knew the ball was gone the instant he hit it. He dropped his bat, admired the blast with raised arms and then began a very happy trot around the bases. He pointed exuberantly skyward when he crossed home place where he was greeted by his teammates and hugged his son, Nikolai, who was serving as Giants batboy. "I can't even express my feelings (about that)," Bonds said, smiling. "I think some of them got some cheap shots in on my rib cage. So many years of frustration, I guess. That kind of got to me." Despite watching their team lose for the sixth consecutive game and fall out of first place, the Houston fans applauded long and loud, drawing Bonds out of the dugout twice for curtain calls. When he took his position in left field in the bottom of the inning, San Francisco relievers left the bullpen to greet him. "Home plate was good but when the guys came from the bullpen, that touched me even more," Bonds said. Giants manager Dusty Baker removed Bonds at that point, allowing him to trot off the field to another loud ovation. "He deserves it," Rodriguez said of giving up the home run. "I'm happy for him. I'm happy for the world. It's a source of pride." So, apparently his psyche isn't damaged too much. While his wife and children watched the game from the box seats, Bonds' father, Bobby, and his godfather, Willie Mays, watched from the clubhouse. The two account for only part of his vast baseball family tree. His uncle is Reggie Smith, another longtime and very good ballplayer. "I'm just blessed," Bonds has said. "My father is a gifted athlete. I get a lot of information from someone I consider the best all-around baseball player, Willie Mays. So I get a lot of information from a lot of great athletes." Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com. comical
From the Chron today: "This isn't the first time we face the Cardinals or Albert," Astros catcher Brad Ausmus said. "There's not a lot of intrigue. If the situation dictates that we pitch to him, we'll pitch to him. If it dictates we won't pitch to him, we won't pitch to him." I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept to grasp.
and I don't grasp why you are comparing something that hasn't happened yet to something that did. they gave up number seventy after intentionally walking bonds in a 7 run game. it would be a little different it was number 33. but that last game was a joke, it was to the media, locally and nationally, and houston fans.
look, I will even meet you guys half way. walking the guy was arguablly a good strategy in the first two games because they were close games. but this thread is about the record, and giving up that homerun in that manner after their strategy to bonds was comical. it was keystone copish.
Stros scored 5 runs the last 2 innings the night before; overcoming a 7 run lead w/ 4 innings to play is definitely not inconceivable. It would be a little different if it was game #33, but this was the last week of the season for a team in the thick of the playoff chase.
woulda, coulda, shoulda, the results are what they are, they went 0-3, looked like poor sports, and gave up number seventy. there really is no defending them.
