The experience Wednesday night stayed in my mind all week. There were some great articles in the paper -- a San Jose Mercury News story, a New York Times piece -- and then today I found this picture on Flickr: Bonds taking a final curtain call, and not a single teammate applauding. The same amateur photog has a great picture of Bonds' final swing.
From our seats along the 3rd base line, we watched the fly ball's flight from an ideal angle -- about 70 degrees. This allowed us to see the soaring trajectory, but it also looked from our angle as if the ball was disappearing into the night.
The fact that it was hit to the very deepest part of the park, more than 410 feet, meant it would have been a home run in many other ballparks. Alternatively, it meant that he hit it just a fraction of a second late; if he had been a bit quicker it would have gone over the right field fence and, ideally, into the bay.
But that's why it was perfect the way it was: it illustrated Bonds' declining skill. His lighting-fast swing has lost a fraction of a second; the ball is caught in center field instead of going out to right. His fielding has also declined, but much more. The eight-time Gold Glove winner was even charged with an error that night.
As illustrated by my many ambivalent (and sometimes downright hostile) postings about Bonds, I have mixed feelings about him. I appreciated his skill and I hated it when he didn't hustle, didn't get along, didn't seem to care. I cheered him Wednesday night, but I'm also glad he's gone and the Giants can get to rebuilding.
Man, a whole post about baseball.
technorati: San Francisco Giants,Barry Bonds, baseball
No comments:
Post a Comment