Bonds' imprint might not be lasting

Rodriguez viewed as next best challenger if Aaron's mark falls

Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 25, 2007 at midnight

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In the summer of 1921, at the age of 26 and in only his fourth season as a position player, Babe Ruth became Major League Baseball's all-time home run leader.

More than 52 years later, Hank Aaron, at age 40 and in the opening weeks of his 21st major league season, caught and passed Ruth to become the game's home run king.

And now, along comes Barry Bonds.

Less than two months from his 43rd birthday, in the midst of his 22nd season, Bonds is on the verge of knocking Aaron off the top spot.

Bonds and the San Francisco Giants begin a three-game series against the Rockies tonight at AT&T Park with Bonds, despite a recent power outage, sitting 10 home runs short of Aaron's all-time record of 755.

And lurking in the background is Alex Rodriguez, who figures to become the youngest player in history to reach 500 home runs, shortly after his 32nd birthday July 27.

He is in position, health and productivity permitting, to possibly surpass whatever record Bonds sets in the next decade, a statement of how the home run has evolved into such an integral part of the game.

"Look at the evolution of everything, not just baseball," commissioner Bud Selig said.

"Look at what is happening with football and basketball. Given better medicine, better training methods, the fact that mankind is bigger and stronger. . . . We have a more efficient lifestyle."

During an 86-year stretch, only two people have held the game's career home run record - Ruth and Aaron. Now, in a 10-year stretch, it could be broken twice.

"I don't like records to be broken," Rockies first baseman Todd Helton said. "But they are, and A-Rod is going to break (the home run record). Things have changed over the years. Guys are stronger. They work out year-round. And the ballparks are smaller."

And Rodriguez's potential bid for the record is fine with Bonds.

"I hope he does," Bonds said during one of his regular media sessions at the start of his first visit to each city this season.

"I don't care. I'm happy with me. I'm happy with what I do. Whatever that is, I'm happy with it. Whatever someone else does, I'll be happy for them, too. . . . A-Rod's a great player, and if anyone is capable of doing that, it's him. I can see it on TV. I've seen his face. You can see that his eyes are just different."

But having the potential to reach the record is markedly different.

"I can remember a few years ago when Ken Griffey (Jr.) was expected to break (Aaron's record)," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "Projections are just that - projections, not reality."

Griffey was 30 and in his 12th season seven years ago when he rushed past the 400 barrier, finishing the 2000 season with 438 career home runs, including 40 that year.

Griffey, sidetracked by injuries since then, has hit only 135 additional home runs, putting him at 573, and he reached the 30-homer level only once during that time, in 2005, when he hit 35.

Bonds also faced a potential detour. A balky right knee limited him to 14 games two years ago and, given his age, raised questions about whether he could be able to continue. But he has persevered.

A month ago, some thought Bonds could be on the verge of reaching Aaron's mark by this weekend.

After hitting eight home runs in April and three the first eight days of May, Bonds has fallen into a 34 at-bat homerless streak in which he has only one extra-base hit, a double.

The challenge for the Rockies is to keep him in that drought this weekend.

They have had more success against him this year than any previous year. Bonds has hit only one home run in 22 at-bats against the Rockies, who are playing their fourth series against the Giants this season.

The Rockies, though, have seen enough of Bonds to continue to respect him.

"Bonds has one of the best swings in the world," Helton said. "Technically, it is the best swing in the game. He does what everybody strives to do when they go up.

"He gets a good pitch to hit and hits it hard."

Helton said the home run Bonds hit against the Rockies this year - a line drive down the right-field line off Jeff Francis in the fourth inning May 2 at AT&T Park - epitomized what is amazing about him.

"Most hitters would have yanked that ball 400 miles foul," Helton said. "I could never hit that pitch. It was a slider 4 inches in on the hands and he has the bat speed and power to get out and keep it fair."

Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell, a former All-Star third baseman who also has managed the Detroit Tigers and the Rockies, grew up at ballparks watching his father, Gus, play in the majors, giving him a long context in which to evaluate players.

"I always felt the best hitter I had been around or seen was George (Brett), and this is no knock on George, but Barry is the best hitter I have seen," Bell said. "He is so disciplined. . . . I can't believe the things he can do and the way he has (been) pitched. And he has to be discouraged, but it doesn't affect him."

But then, Bonds has bigger distractions off the field than on it. He has become the poster boy for baseball's steroids scandals. It doesn't seem to have bothered him.

"It's probably safe to say that Barry Bonds has a mentality that anybody wishes they could have," said Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Kirk Gibson, a teammate of Bonds in Pittsburgh in 1992.

"I mean, look at what he deals with. It's impressive. I respect Barry and I wouldn't discount one thing he's ever accomplished. He has represented the game with great dedication, perseverance, and his accomplishments show that."

Gibson doesn't buy the asterisk some want attached to Bonds' accomplishments.

"You can really be picky about a lot of things that have happened in the history of our country and our world," he said. "I don't discount anything he has accomplished or is going to accomplish."

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