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CNN Live Sunday

Some Secrets to Barry Bonds' Success

Aired September 09, 2001 - 17:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: In case you're only now beginning to pay attention to this year's Major League baseball season, it is a great one; and there's a home run race underway. And the man leading the race is a giant slugger named Bonds -- Barry Bonds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long drive right center field, and Barry Bonds has become the fifth player in Major League history to hit 60 or more home runs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRAZIER: And with that two-run shot, Bonds joined an elite group. He is now just the fifth player in Major League history to hit at least 60 home runs in a season. Today he hit numbers 61 and 62 against the Colorado Rockies. He's now right on Mark McGwire's pace the year Big Mac hit 70. However, unlike McGwire's magic season, Bonds is trying to lead his team into post-season play, and that's going to make a big difference.

And joining us now to explain that is a man who follows the Big Leagues as close as anyone, Mel Antonin covers baseball for "USA Today."

Mr. Antonen, thanks for joining us.

MEL ANTONEN, "USA TODAY": Thank you.

FRAZIER: Let's just set the stage here. Where is Bonds now, compared to his rival Sosa and McGwire, both this year and when McGwire was so hot?

ANTONEN: Well, McGwire -- he's right on pace with Mark McGwire and compared to Sosa now he's way ahead of Sosa. But they're right on pace. But McGwire and Sosa were about 62, 61 in 1998, three years ago. McGwire hit his 62nd home run on September 8, the record- breaking home run on September 8, 1998.

FRAZIER: How does Bonds do this? Would you describe his swing for us and tell us what kind of pitch that he likes and how patient he is waiting for that kind of pitch.

ANTONEN: Well, he's very patient. He don't swing at bad pitches. Barry Bonds is what's considered a line-drive, gap hitter. He's got a lot of power to the gaps. He's not really -- he the prototypical hitter in the Major Leagues, the guy that can hit for higher average and home runs. But he's not got so much a home run swing as he's just got a short, compact swing with lot of power.

He gets a lot of bat speed, and bat speed is what gives him the home runs. But he's just as dangerous hitting the ball to left field or to right field or over the center fielder's head as he is to hitting it out of the ballpark. He is the snapshot of what baseball players have become with this combination of high average and good power.

FRAZIER: Now how does he get that power? We made a lot out of Mark McGwire's legs during his season -- how much power he got by driving through out of his legs. It sound as if this more compact swing would mean he's got to have power in his forearms and his hands.

ANTONEN: Yes, and a lot of it is his wrists. He's got very strong wrists.

Barry Bonds has changed his body over the last couple years. He's lifted weights, he's very lean, very mean. He works harder now in the off-season than he ever did. The fact that he's 37 years old. this is an amazing testimony.

But he's got strong legs, strong wrists and great hand-eye coordination. And that's why he's hitting these home runs. And he's not thinking about home runs. If Barry Bonds went up to the plate and said, I want to try hit home run number 63, he probably couldn't do it. When he goes up to the plate, he's thinking about trying to hit that ball right over the pitcher's head. And when you do that, that's when home runs come.

FRAZIER: Do you think his fans in San Francisco appreciate the points you've just made -- how hard he works, how this off-season work is more important as ever as you get to be 37? You know, he's an undemonstrative and sometimes surly character, and doesn't seem well matched to San Francisco, you know, the town that created flower children and quiche.

ANTONEN: That's a good point. Well, I think the fans in San Francisco appreciate Barry Bonds. You know, when you always talk about some of the best players that have ever played the game, you always talk about Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron, things like that. Barry Bonds ought to be considered that. He's got great speed; he's got some of the best speed baseball's ever seen. He's got some of the best power baseball's ever seen. And I think he's underappreciated.

But I know for a fact that the fans in San Francisco love him. He basically grew up in San Francisco. His dad was a San Francisco Giant. And when he was a kid he was hanging around the Giants locker room with guys like Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. So he's pretty much a lifetime Giant, and San Francisco fans know him well. So I think they appreciate him.

FRAZIER: And you have written that Sosa and McGwire were so loved on the road that basically the fans adored them and they were almost like playing home games wherever they went. Is that the experience for Barry Bonds?

ANTONEN: That isn't the experience for Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds got booed in Colorado this weekend. And it's hard to know why they did that. I think Barry Bonds has got a completely different reputation than Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. I think nationally Barry Bonds is thought of as kind of a jerk, someone who doesn't appreciate the game. And at times Barry Bonds can be a jerk, whether it's to reporters or to his teammates.

But overall Barry Bonds is a great guy. He's got a very soft side to him. He's a very strong family man, a very strong Christian. And he loves and respects baseball. But he does have this national reputation that he's moody, arrogant and a jerk, and of course he earned that reputation by the way he treats people sometimes.

FRAZIER: You mentioned strong family, strong Christian belief -- he's on a very strong team, which happens to be deep in a pennant race and leading the standings on its way. Does that mean that pitchers from teams that would be contending in that race would not pitch to him -- would intentionally walk him to avoid him hurting their chances?

ANTONEN: Maybe not intentionally walking him, but they're not going to give him good pitches to hit. The Giants and the Dodgers are in a heck of a battle in the National League West and in the wild card race. And I think they play -- they do play three more times. And I think the Dodgers are going to say, look, if we're going to get to post-season, we're not going to let Barry Bonds beat us.

So they might not give him a good pitch to hit, hoping that he'll swing at something bad. But the fact is Jeff Kent and Rich Aurilia are hitting well now, so that makes it harder to pitch around Bonds because Kent and Aurilia are hitting so well.

FRAZIER: You're talking about the people on either side of him in the line-up. And Aurilia, the short-stop gets on base plenty. So he'd be on-base if you walked Bonds; so that's two men on base, and then up comes MVP -- reigning MVP player Jerry (sic) Kent.

ANTONEN: Jeff Kent. Yes, exactly. That's right. If you walk Aurilia and then you walk Bonds, then you have to face one of the toughest hitters in the league with runners in scoring position. So it's going to be harder to pitch around Bonds if those guys stay hot, and the giants have got a good line-up.

FRAZIER: Yes, this is going to be a fun one to watch. Mel Antonen, thanks for giving us the details of what this race is like and what Barry Bonds is like.

ANTONEN: Well, thank you very much.

FRAZIER: Thanks for joining us.

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