Tim Hudson made the mistake of throwing one too many high-and-inside pitches to Barry Bonds during last week’s Oakland-San Francisco game. Bonds hit a second-deck homer in his fifth-inning at-bat, his second of the game.
“All you do is wake up the lion when you throw at my head,” said Bonds. “That’s all you do.”
Bonds wasn’t the only batter Hudson came precariously close to hitting.
“I don’t mind balls inside, but don’t come at my head,” Bonds said. “He came up and in on a lot of people. I don’t know if it was intentional or he did it to set up his next pitch. I don’t know the guy. With a lot of hitters, he came in high. Maybe he didn’t have control or location. I’m not assuming anything.”
Bonds, who turns 36 on July 24, said he has mellowed over the years and doesn’t get quite as upset as he once did to when a pitcher comes close to hitting him.
“I don’t get ticked off any more in my old age,” said Bonds, who leads the majors in home runs this year.
Bonds hit a career-high 46 homers in 1993 and was asked if he could reach 50 this year. “I hit 23 homers at the break one year,” he said. “I’ve never hit 50 in my life. But you never say you can’t do anything. I’m capable. Anything is possible. Can I? I’ve never done it before.”
Bonds was featured in Sports Illustrated in an article titled “Appreciating Bonds.”
Teammate Shawn Estes, asked about Bonds trying to be more accommodating, was quoted as saying, “I think Barry’s making more of an effort to be liked, I really do. But if it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, it’s probably a rat. At thirtysomething years old, you’re never going to change who you are, deep down. Your true colors are always going to shine through.”
Estes said his quotes were taken out of context by writer Jeff Pearlman and has since cleared the air with Bonds.
“I talked to Barry and it’s over with,” Estes said. “There’s no reason for him to be mad. I never said that about Barry. This is the same guy (Pearlman) who wrote the John Rocker story. I talked to (Pearlman) and he apologized.”
