Marty: The story that is being played out today and, apparently, will continue to be played out for an unknown number of future days, is hard to believe. It has a scenario that has never been seen before, a drama, if one wishes to dignify it by such characterization, that pits one player’s self-interest against the club’s chances for a winning season.

We have a player, Bonds, at the tail end of a career, hurting and complaining, after the team has played thirty-nine games, during which he has been at bat only eighty-nine times, that he gets “tireder and tireder”. He no longer pretends to run out hits. He is a menace in the outfield, he doesn’t bother to back up the play taking place in front of him.

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He hit his 713th homer on May 7th; since then he has had two hits in twenty-two attempts, has walked nine times. It is a far better team when he is on the bench. One could say that it is traditional for a manager, in this case, Felipe Alou, to have the first and last word on who is in the lineup on any particular day. The manager’s objective is to field a winning team. No one will ever accuse Felipe of having any other objective.

Bonds’s immediate objective is to hit two more home runs. It is Bonds who, by all accounts, determines when he will play. If, by playing, he puts the team at a disadvantage, it is of no moment as far as Bonds is concerned. Bonds’s interest takes precedence.

There is a long history of management conceding Bonds rights that no other player ever demanded, much less succeeded in obtaining. To this day, Bonds has two personal trainers sharing the clubhouse. It was reported in the press today that one of the trainers let Alou know, before the lineup was posted, whether Bonds intended to hobble out to left field yesterday. After advising Alou, the lineup was announced.

Assuming that Bonds hits those elusive two homers fairly soon, will the club be returned to Alou, will decisions then be made in the interest of the team rather than Bonds? How long will they allow Bonds to call the shots, in the event those two homers continue to elude him?

All of this is sad commentary. This is a team that could win. They need some bullpen pitchers who can get the ball over the plate. That may still be achieved. Feliz has come to life. He is giving the Giants great play at third and his hitting, after a slow start, has been all that could be desired. Moises will soon be back. The lineup. without Bonds, is as strong as any in the division. Bonds is the albatross.

Take the team back. Let Alou do the managing. Put the team’s interest ahead of Bonds’s. Does anyone care anymore whether Bonds hits two more homers? Let the press go back to covering events of greater significance.

When Bonds hits those two homers, is anyone going to go to that great celebration the Giants are planning?

Ed