Bonds a big question mark
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Barry Bonds provided more questions than answers when he arrived at spring training.
He said he didn't know if he'd be ready for opening day, was uncertain about whether he would play next year and raised the possibility that he might not be the same slugger of old.
"You're bound to have a bad year eventually," Bonds said Wednesday.
His arrival at San Francisco Giants' camp was greeted by more than a hundred fans and scores of media members, who drew bemused looks from other Giants players who watched them gather around an empty seat in the dugout waiting for Bonds to speak after his workout.
At the end of last season, Bonds vowed to be "skinny" when he showed up at spring training, but it didn't appear he lost much weight, if any, as his surgically repaired right knee limits what he can do.
He moved gingerly around the field while shagging flies and playing catch, but did unleash one big swing in batting practice, connecting for a home run off Jason Schmidt — a welcome sign for manager Felipe Alou.
"Last year, I saw him favoring his knees," Alou said. "I didn't see him favoring the knee today. I didn't see it when he was batting. When he was swinging the bat, it was OK with me."
Bonds, 41, played only 14 games in 2005 as the Giants struggled through a 75-win season while their slugger recovered from three operations on his right knee.
Before arriving in spring training, Bonds caused a stir in the past week when he gave two conflicting interviews — telling USA Today he was ready to retire at the end of the season and MLB.com that he felt good enough to play 10 more years. He did little to clear that up Wednesday.
"I've played a long time," he said. "I've had a lot of fun doing it. We'll tackle that bridge when it happens. I'll sit back and talk with my family and take a long, long vacation and see how I feel. I could do that and get in the wintertime and say, `That's enough,' and somewhere in January wake up and say, `That's not enough.'"
Bonds has often talked about the wear and tear that playing in the field and being on base so much takes on his knees, leading to speculation that he might follow the path of a player like Hank Aaron and switch leagues at the end of his career in order to be a designated hitter.
Even though Bonds has complained in the past when he didn't get to DH in interleague games in American League stadiums, he said he wants to finish his career as a left fielder for the Giants.
"San Francisco is my home. That's the love of my life right there," Bonds said. "The fans there, the people there, everything about it is just great for me. Thinking that there could be a possibility, just hypothetically, to go somewhere else and DH or something like that. I really don't want to think about that at this time right now. I know I can swing a bat. I take a lot of pride to be on that field and stay in this uniform."
Bonds, who is in the final season of a $90 million, five-year contract, said he wouldn't entertain a new contract offer from the Giants just yet. General manager Brian Sabean has already said the team will wait until the end of the season to figure out its plans with Bonds.
Alou compared Bonds to Aaron at the end of his career, when he could no longer play the field but still had the quick bat that helped him hit a record 755 home runs in his career. Aaron hit the final 22 of those in his final two years with the Milwaukee Brewers, when he was primarily a designated hitter after spending his first 21 seasons as an outfielder with the Braves.
Bonds enters the season with 708 home runs, seven shy of passing Babe Ruth for second place and 48 shy of breaking Aaron's record. Like Aaron, Ruth also switched teams at the end of his career, playing 28 games with the Boston Braves in 1935.
Since Bonds has only hit 48 or more home runs twice in his career, it seems unlikely he would pass Aaron this season.
"The record is what it is," Bonds said. "The record is Hank's record as far as I'm concerned. It's still Hank's record until somebody passes it. Whoever that person, I wish them well. If it happens to be me, that's it."
This year's question-and-answer session was much less contentious than last year's, when he dodged questions about steroids and called reporters liars. He talked for about 15 minutes Wednesday, remaining calm throughout the entire process.
"I only throw a stone if there's a stone thrown at me," he said. "As long as there's not a stone thrown at me, you won't get one thrown back."
