SAN FRANCISCO – One big bat does not equal eight. Never has, never will, even if it is the mighty maple of Barry Bonds.
That is the lesson the Giants and their fans are learning in this 98th World Series. The Giants don’t need a Rally Monkey to beat the Angels, they need a Rally King Kong.
It just ain’t happening.
The Angels dusted the Giants 10-4 last night in the first Worlds Series game played at Pac Bell Park. They lead the series 2-1 and have scored 21 runs the last two games.
For the third straight game, Bonds blasted a home run, the first player to go deep in his first three World Series games and his record seventh home run of the postseason.
Mr. October, though, can’t beat this year’s Team October.
“Barry’s doing his thing,” Giants manager Dusty Baker said in a voice filled with despair. “He’s doing what he is capable of doing, hopefully we’ll get some other guys in the hit parade.”
This is a Disney parade for the Angels, who put up eight runs over the space of six outs in the third and fourth innings. To compete with the Angels, Bonds doesn’t have to homer in every game, he has to homer in every at-bat.
Bonds couldn’t homer in the third inning when the game changed. That’s when Angels’ pitcher Ramon Ortiz faced Bonds with a runner on first and the Giants trailing 4-1. If the Giants were going to get back into this game, it would have to be during this at-bat.
A tailing fastball in, strike one; a tailing fastball away, strike two; a fastball blown right by Sir Barry, strike three.
Bonds walked away shaking his head, mystified by it all. Ortiz then got Benito Santiago to bounce to third. Santiago barely had enough strength to make it up the first base line. The life had been sucked out of the Giants with that Bonds strikeout.
The Angels finally had challenged Bonds with a man on base and won the battle – and the war. It’s only a matter of time now before the frozen-rope Angels win this World Series.
Immediately after that third-inning strikeout, the Angels put up another four-spot in the fourth. They are the Team of Big Innings. If not for Ortiz, the pitcher, making the final out in the third and fourth innings, the Angels could still be batting.
Bonds crushed his home run in the fifth and it was another Bonds Blast, this one traveling 437 feet to dead center. After Rich Aurilia homered and Jeff Kent singled, Bonds came to the plate with 42,707 fans chanting Barry! Barry! He did not disappoint, driving the ball deep into the night.
With the overflow media in the World Series, many of us sit in the left field bleachers. It’s one thing to watch a Bonds home run from the comfort and safety of a warm, cozy press box behind home plate. It’s majestic to see it from the outfield, where the rocket keeps gaining altitude in the misty sky before exploding into the stands.
Bonds’ three home runs in this World Series have traveled an estimated 1,305 feet, but the 24 runs the Angels have scored in the first three games travel 90 feet a base or 2,160 feet. It is not a fair fight.
In the seventh, Bonds was given his 20th walk of the post-season, tying Gary Sheffield’s record. Then Santiago flew out to end another inning of despair.
The Giants don’t have the bangers in the middle of their lineup like the Angels. One big bat does not equal eight. Never has, never will. If this World Series goes back to Anaheim, it will be one big bat vs. nine.
Even Barry Bonds, the Greatest Slugger of his time, can’t beat those odds.