Bonds finds Petco isn't as friendly as Qualcomm

By: SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer | Sunday, April 11, 2004 9:32 PM PDT ∞

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds left San Diego without a home run, leaving him one shy of tying his godfather Willie Mays for third on the all-time list at 660 home runs. Bonds is pictures here leading off first base against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.
JT Lovette for The North County Times
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SAN DIEGO ---- At Qualcomm Stadium, Barry Bonds hit home runs like no other. At Petco Park, he is like most every other hitter. He is homerless.

After three regular-season games, Petco Park has yielded a single home run, Marquis Grissom's shot in Thursday's opener. Which means Bonds is holding at 659 homers, one behind Willie Mays on the career charts.

Bonds reached base three times and scored a key run in the San Francisco Giants' come-front-behind 6-3 victory over the Padres. But he didn't get to break into a jog as the Petco fences proved more formidable a target than Qualcomm's ever did.

"It's different," Bonds said with a chuckle. "It will take some time to get used to it."

Ordinarily, a player going three games without a home run isn't worthy of note, much less headlines. But Bonds is no ordinary player, and these are no ordinary circumstances.

Bonds isn't merely climbing high on the home-run charts. He is about to match and pass his godfather. The Mays-Bonds connection, combined with the steroid-investigation story that has swirled around Bonds since the start of spring training, makes the situation all the more compelling.

Mays has followed the Giants in their first two series of the season, standing at the ready to hand over a symbolic torch when Bonds hits No. 660. Now Mays heads home to San Francisco, where he can make the handoff in front of friendly crowds at SBC Park.

Mays isn't the only one following Bonds. ESPN has a reporter assigned to the story, filing daily reports until Bonds rises to No. 3. The Padres were happy to add to ESPN's expenses and send that reporter northward to San Francisco.

And Bonds, content the Giants avoided a sweep, is fine with that, too.

"I'd like to do it at home," he said.

Bonds had 39 home runs at Qualcomm Stadium, more than any Padres opponent. It also is his favored road park to go deep. Now he's 0-for-Petco.

"It's just an odd field, really odd," Bonds said. "I think it's more odd for a center fielder, because there's two big gaps. You've got to cover a lot of ground. As a left fielder and right fielder, you've got to play so far into the gap, balls hit down the line seem so far away. ...

"It's odd when you have only one home run in San Diego, period. Even they hit home runs against us. I think (Ryan) Klesko probably would have had four in this series."

Padres starter Jake Peavy retired Bonds on a lazy fly ball to left field in the first inning, walked him on four pitches in the fourth and surrendered a double down the left-field line in the sixth. That would have been a ground out in a normal defensive alignment, but the infield was shifted to play Bonds to pull and third baseman Sean Burroughs was where the shortstop normally would play.

Bonds received an intentional walk in the Giants' five-run eighth and scored the tying run. In the ninth, he hit another fly ball to left against rookie right-hander Jason Szuminski.

That left him 2-for-10 with four walks in the series and 3-for-17 since he hit No. 659 in the season opener at Houston.

"They pitched great to Barry. I think they did," said Giants manager Felipe Alou. "They kept changing zones in and out, changing speeds. They threw a lot of breaking balls on fastball counts. And they walked him when they felt they had to."

That included the eighth inning, even though Bonds represented the tying run. Bonds came up with the Padres leading 3-0 and runners on second and third with one out. Padres manager Bruce Bochy ordered the intentional walk, then watched helplessly as pinch-hitter Pedro Feliz delivered a two-run single to hasten a bullpen meltdown.

"He's the greatest hitter in our game," Bochy said. "It didn't matter who came off their bench. I'd rather face him than Bonds."