Bonds Fails to Connect

OAKLAND — Barry Bonds stood 12 days from his last home run, 60 feet from closer Huston Street, one step from Babe Ruth on Friday night.

In the cleanup spot as designated hitter in the first of three interleague games against the Oakland A’s, Bonds did not homer in his first three times to the plate, so he was 39 plate appearances -- and at least that much frustration -- from career home run No. 713.

Then the ball boy brought the baseballs marked for the occasion, a ritual repeated for three weeks. The crowd at McAfee Stadium stood. The A’s led the San Francisco Giants, 1-0, with two out in the ninth.

Four pitches later, Bonds was done again.

After three fastballs, the third of which darted into the middle of the strike zone, bringing a vicious and late hack from Bonds, Street fluttered a changeup that Bonds swung over.

And so the wait continued, Bonds swinging for No. 714, Ruth resisting.

Like so many at-bats spread over nearly two weeks, the post-game conversation was about the pitch Bonds missed, the fastball that eluded his bat barrel. It brought another shake of Bonds’ head.

“I’m staying out of the news, brother,” he said at his locker.

Then he walked away.

The boyish Street, in his second big-league season, regarded his third fastball as a mistake, saying he was fortunate to get a fourth pitch.

“He was swinging so hard because he definitely got a cookie,” Street said. “He was putting a home-run swing on it and just missed it. I’m thankful that he’s basically human.”

About 15 minutes before game time, Bonds had jogged from the visitors’ dugout to the right-field line. Eighteen miles from AT&T; Park, where the Giants play, Bonds was booed loudly.

Standing in the on-deck circle in the first inning, a booming voice from behind the dugout shouted, “Be a man and admit it, Barry!”

And yet when he came to the plate in the second inning, then in the fourth, the seventh and the ninth, cameras flashed throughout the ballpark, and there were boos when Bonds walked in the fourth inning.

There was, however, some retribution for Bonds on Friday. Astros pitcher Russ Springer was suspended four games and fined for throwing at and hitting him with a pitch Tuesday night in Houston. Astros Manager Phil Garner was suspended for one game.