And you thought Mike Bacsik would only be remembered as a spare part in the trade that brought Roberto Alomar to the Mets. Bonds connected in the bottom of the fifth and the game stopped for about 10 minutes of celebration. They played a taped message from Hank Aaron on the big screen, Barry cried a bit and that was that. Bonds went out to play the field in the top of the sixth but Bruce Bochy came out to pull Barry Zito before the inning started and Bonds went to the bench as well.
The ball was hit to right and landed in the stands touching off a scrum and I couldn't help noticing that it included a fella wearing a backwards Yankee cap and A-Rod jersey. He didn't get the ball, though, it ended up with a guy wearing a Mets t-shirt who was escorted out of the seats amid a phalanx of cops. Fascinating stuff, I know.
All in all it was tough to feel too bad about the proceedings. I can't say that it filled me up with joy and warm feelings the way Cal Ripken's streak-breaking game did, it was more of the inevitable passing of the torch, but it didn't fill me with rage either. Willie Mays being there helped make it seem special as did Aaron's message. The crowd at AT&T ate it up and we can all move on to stories that have more impact on the baseball season.
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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