By Carol-Ann Rudy
TicketNews.com
Bonds Breaks Out of His Slump! To the fans’ cheers of “Barry! Barry!” and the flashing of “746” on the scoreboard, Bonds rounded the bases and completed his 746th career home run. That was the scene this past Sunday, May 27th. It puts him a mere nine HRs away to tie Henry Aaron’s record. Even Bonds’ son, Nikolai, got into the act. He’s a bat-boy and gave his dad a big hug after he crossed the plate.
It happened in the sixth inning. Bonds hit a 2-1 fastball from Taylor Buchholz of the Colorado Rockies team for his 12th home run this season, breaking a 15-game slump. He last hit a homer on May 8th from the Mets’ Tom Glavine. It changes the odds slightly as well; TicketNews now predicts he’ll break the tie on July 17th, 2007, based on current performance. . .
Looking ahead at the certainty that he will tie and beat Aaron’s record, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, wants a piece of the action: Bonds’ memorabilia is in short supply. Of a total of about 35,000 pieces in the museum, only about a dozen commemorate Bonds’ accomplishments. It remains to be seen if he will relinquish any of his personal collection. “E-Bayers” will no doubt be on their toes.
Speaking of accomplishments, Hank Aaron fans will be interested to learn of the Atlanta premiere this Thursday of a new musical, “Pastime,” celebrating his life. Let’s be prepared to celebrate Bonds’ life sometime down the road when time and history may bring some needed luster to his somewhat tarnished reputation.
