Marty: This is being written on Friday afternoon, before the Giants begin ten games on the road against division rivals, starting with LA tonight. It would be pleasant to write solely about the past eight games, putting down words of wisdom, in the attempt to place some emphasis on the team’s performance during these games and what, if any, significance these eight games have for the future. Sadly, in SF, off the diamond events are the center of attention today for fans.

Putting these events to one side, for the moment, difficult though it is to do so, the past eight games are, in a strictly baseball sense, of interest. With the exception of one ludicrous eighth inning, where Atlanta scored eight runs on two hits, they played well. As recently said here, this may be the oldest, seriously contending ballclub in history, but the ancient players dominating the lineup just happen to be very good at what they do. An outfield of Finley, Alou and Winn would be competitive with any outfield in the league. A healthy, untroubled Bonds would only add to that.

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Vizquel remains the Gold Glove shortstop, irrespective of his many years. The double play combination, with Durham, is probably unequalled, certainly in the division, and probably throughout the league. Niekro has yet to convince observers that he can cope with good, right handed pitching.
If he gets a hanging slider he can put the ball in the stands. You don’t get too many hanging sliders from decent pitchers,
unfortunately. Niekro appears overmatched when batting against real talent.

Feliz, playing regularly at third, apparently is taking seriously the admonition to be patient, lay off the pitch two feet out of the zone, wait for the good pitch to hit and then hit it. Matheny hasn’t started to hit but before long he’ll be around the .250 mark. The bench is far stronger than it was last year, with Sweeney and Greene and the fourth outfielder, whoever he may be at a particular moment.

This brings us to the pitching, and, in particular, the bullpen.
Worrell has been the closer. He continues to throw strikes, which is more than can be said for a few of the other bullpen stalwarts. They need to find a low achieving team on which to dump Walker for a high draft choice. It is difficult to understand Alou leaving him in, the other night, after the first two men walked. With a two run lead, it cried out for Munter and his double play inducing pitches. Was Alou showcasing him for the trade? If so, it back-fired.

It is questionable how long Taschner and Accordo avoid Fresno. The team can do better than that. If Benitez returns in good health, the bullpen, with Worrell setting up and Munter throwing the seventh, Kline and Fassero coming in at appropriate times, is not in bad shape.

As for the rotation, it is still a work in progress. Tonight, with Wright throwing against LA and Penny, might be a meaningful start; Morris, as predicted, appears to be the real thing. A journeyman, productive pitcher, who gives them a real chance to win every time he walks on the field. Schmidt still has to show he can pitch back to his glory years although he is throwing harder than he did at any time last year. Lowry is on the DL but should be back soon; Cain has shown enough to keep everyone encouraged, although Marichal has yet to be outpitched.

The bottom line on the pitching is that it is too soon to tell. The hope is that it will complement what could be a winning effort. The oldtimers deserve that much.

Now let’s talk about Bonds, about how it affects the possible performance of the team, how Bonds’s personal tribulations, which can be easily envisioned, might overwhelm baseball considerations.

Before discussing this, however, since Bonds is mentioned in Mr. Dickey’s recent column, a brief comment might be allowed. His provocative writing deserves a more lengthy response but that will have to await a further time. For the moment, exalting the “importance of power” and the role of the designated hitter in making the game, in his words, something other than “boring”, he points to the Giants, as being the exception to the rule, namely, that the National League plays boring baseball.

By way of example, he asserts that “what do you think is more exciting: A run produced by a walk, a bunt and a grounder through the right side or a Bonds blast into the bay?” He further points out that after Bonds swings, the fans all get up and go home; this to prove that the fans are uninterested in anything other than watching someone who may be juiced up prove how far they can hit a baseball.

This is a disservice to fans who come out to the park to see a game. In SF they don’t get up and leave as soon as Bonds finishes hitting. Perhaps the fans in LA do, but not here. As for his comment respecting boredom, the answer to his question is, that for a fan who understands this game, who delights in all of it’s intricacies, who is aware that novelists of stature write about this game,but do not bother with the NFL, the scenario he pictures deserves the answer that it could be a great deal more exciting watching the batter poke a ball to the opposite field to score the winning run than watch Bonds hit one of his 73 home runs.

By the way, omitting last year, when Bonds was out for most of the season, over the most recent five years Bonds averaged 51.6 home runs a year; the most home runs he had ever hit before then was 42 and he did that only once. Nevertheless, before 1999 Bonds was a great ball player. He was named MVP in 1990, 1992-1993; won Gold Gloves 1990-1994, 1996-1998. He was an outstanding fielder, hitter and base stealer. Was he a boring player before 1999, who became exciting only after he developed, with a lately discovered talent, the ability to hit the ball out of the park?

The main reason for all the power that appeals to so many these days is that, for much of that time, the players were undeniably juiced. Not only the Giambis , Consecos, Sosas,
Caminitis, but the .265 hitters who were hitting twenty home runs in a season, when they had never hit more than eight. And, if one wished to talk about boring, a good, hard look at the number of strike outs and walks in today’s power game might be enlightening. The figures are not at these finger tips but I would be willing to take a wager that they are far more prevalent today than they were before everyone became excited at the prospect of a ball being hit out of the park.

Finally, getting down to today’s headline: “Bonds doctor is subpoenaed” A federal grand jury has subpoenaed Bonds’s personal physician to testify respecting the inquiry into whether Bonds has previously committed perjury in grand jury testimony when he denied knowingly using steroids. This is, in all likelihood, only the beginning of the nightmare Bonds is facing. The prosecution doesn’t call the grand jury’s attention to an asserted factual situation which may constitute a crime if it doesn’t anticipate an indictment. The doctor isn’t the only witness on the sideline at this time. One may expect the jury to hear from the former lady friend, as well as witnesses who were called to account in the Balco case. Lurking in the wings is the unresolved question of a tax avoidance problem.

The timing of the inquiry is still not known, but that it will take place beween now and October is certainly contemplated. There will be more immediate things in Bonds’s life than exceeding Aaron’s record. How the team will be affected is unknown. For many people, including Bonds, it will be of small moment. Bonds role, as a player, may soon pale in significance.

For what it is worth, in the smaller scheme of things, it is unfortunate. This could have been, and still may be, an enjoyable season for the Giants fan. The personal stakes at risk here take clear precedence. “Bonds on Bonds” cannot have much interest for anyone today. The possibility of personal tragedy is compelling.

Ed