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Bonds Passes Mays for Third Place on Career HR List
Barry Bonds rounds the bases after moving into third place all-time in home runs.
Barry Bonds outdid his godfather -- and he has just two more baseball giants to chase.
Bonds hit his 661st homer Tuesday night, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on the career list in the San Francisco Giants' 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
In the seventh inning, Bonds hit a 1-2 pitch from right-hander Ben Ford over the right-field arcade and into McCovey Cove, reaching the water for the second straight day. The San Francisco slugger hit his 660th on Monday to nearly the same spot.
Only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron still loom above Bonds. If Bonds maintains his unbelievable pace of the past four seasons, he could pass Ruth's 714 homers early next season.
Bonds has said he can't imagine passing Aaron, who hit 755 homers. But to everyone else, there seems to be nothing Bonds can't do.
"I've never seen a better player in my life," said former Giants third baseman Matt Williams, who threw out the first pitch at Tuesday night's game. "I don't think anybody changes the course of a game like he does."
Bonds, who will turn 40 in July, hit 213 homers in the previous four seasons, including a major league-record 73 in 2001.
He hit his 659th on opening day in Houston - but as he usually does, Bonds waited until returning home to San Francisco to hit his most historic homers.
Bonds didn't really celebrate his 661st, calmly dropping his bat and circling the bases as the sellout crowd stood and roared. After touching home plate on the solo shot, he pointed into the stands at his family.
Bonds took a short curtain call, and he got yet another standing ovation when he took the field for the eighth inning.
It was Bonds' 29th career homer into McCovey Cove - where the ball was retrieved by the same kayaker who got Bonds' 660th and later gave it back to the slugger.
Bonds probably will get the day off Wednesday, though manager Felipe Alou wasn't planning to decide until talking with the left fielder.
Marquis Grissom hit two homers for the Giants in their third straight victory. Dustin Hermanson (1-0) held the Brewers to three hits and one run while pitching into the sixth inning.
The San Francisco bullpen quelled an eighth-inning rally by the Brewers, who lost their third straight to drop below .500 for the first time this season. Matt Herges pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six chances.
Grissom had his eighth career two-homer game, starting with a two-run shot in the first inning that easily cleared the left-field wall. He added a solo homer in the third off Chris Capuano (1-1), who yielded seven hits and three runs over five innings.
Former Milwaukee outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds got his first start of the season for the Giants - against Capuano, the pitcher who broke Hammonds' thumb during a spring training game March 9. Capuano walked Hammonds in his first two at-bats, and Hammonds singled in the fifth.
Hermanson started well, retiring nine straight hitters after Scott Podsednik opened the game with a single. Hermanson cruised through the first five innings but got into trouble in the sixth when Chad Moeller hit a leadoff single and scored on Junior Spivey's sacrifice fly.
Though Hermanson has struggled to hold a major league job in recent months, he appears to have a solid spot in San Francisco's rotation. He also has a 1.75 ERA in his last eight appearances against Milwaukee.
Source: AP
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