Going...going....gone

Annual Mid-Summer Classic, the MLB All Star Game came to the City by the Bay this year. And the much anticipated Home Run Derby took centerstage at China Basin off of McCovey Cove. Since Pac Bell Park was erected back in 2000, people have always asked... can anyone hit the glove out in leftcenter? How many times will the ball find water a.k.a Splash Hits? And when will the All-Star Game come to San Franciso so the world can find out.

Well... in the 7 years since Pac Bell Opened, the name has evolved twice to what is now known as AT&T Park. And contrary to initial beliefs, Splash Hits are rarer than a Blue Moon - except in the case of Barry Lamar Bonds. In fact, prior to the park opening, Giants Officials even trained dogs to dive into the cove to retrieve Homeruns hit into McCovey Cove. That idea disappeared quicker a box of Krispy Kreme donuts in the office breakroom.

Tonight... once again... I had to work late. And though I work in the tech industry, at home, I'm still in the Stone Age. So instead of TIVO, I had Joycie record the HR Derby on VHS. (HA!) Boy was that a lifesaver... I get home and Joycie tells me the Derby was so long and boring, she even fell asleep!!

But seeing the Derby...one has to appreciate what Barry Bonds has done in a Giants uniform (and Willie Mays for that matter). Pac Bell is NOT a hitter's ball park. Candlestick was NOT a hitter's ball park. But for this pair of Giants Juggernaut to have as many career HRs as they do playing in these two parks gets less credit than it does. Ruth may be the Sultan of Swat...but Yankee Stadium has such a short porch to rightfield!

In previous HR Derbies...you see hitters smack 20+ HRs in one round. This year, the highest total was 17!! Instead of the booming, get-out-of-the-park HRs you saw at Minute Maid and Miller Park, these HRs were smacked into the gusting winds where HRs die and become mere flyballs. One must ask...how did Barry ever hit 73 in 2001?? (Moreover...how did Rich Aurilia hit 37?)

Credit is due where credit is deserved. There were some booming HRs...by righties...towards the arcade. In fact... Vladimir "Almost-a-Giant" Guerrero hit one that cleared the bleachers and smashed into the stairs leading to the Coke Bottle. I guess that's as far as players, nowadays can hit.

Funny how the most controversial element surrounding baseball nowadays, is the sole reason baseball is still around, ala 1998 McGwire/Sosa. Curiously, as to how the most celebrated record in baseball is now stigmaed by its own greed.

If the Mid-Summer Classic ever returns to San Francisco... if Pac Bell / AT&T is still standing, then maybe, just maybe someone will finally hit a HR into the glove. And maybe, just maybe.... Bonds will get another day in the sun. But until then... he along with all his career stats will go on under this shadow of a doubt....

(Wow...that was a long post.)