by Doctor Bob

Created on: July 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I think the fans are fairly evenly divided over Bonds, with the majority on his side. I went to a game in Cincinnati on June 3, 2007, where the Giants were visiting the Reds. My family and I sat close to the third-base line in the shallow outfield. Barry Bonds was playing left field and we seemed close enough to reach out and shake hands with him.

Coming into the park, people were passing out "Bury Bonds" signs. I told a young lady that I would not need one since I was a fan of Barry Bonds. She smiled and told me lots of people had told her the same thing.

When Bonds was introduced, there was a mixture of boos and yeas for him. It seemed about 50-50 to me. He smiled and waved to the people in our section who were giving him the "thumbs up" sign.

One thing was obvious. And, that was this will very likely be his last year. He jogged so slowly to his position and always took an opportunity to rest on one knee when the action stopped (changing pitchers, etc.). (In fact, he further injured his leg in the very next game.)

We were almost all Reds fans in our section and there was no doubt whom the faithful wanted to win the game. You could hear all the banter when it was announced that Freel would be starting his first game after his collision injury several weeks ago. Reds fans love Freel for his hustle and versatility. He improves the chances of winning.

However, on Bond's first trip to the plate, you could tell a little hush had come over the crowd. To root for a moment in history, or to root for Harang to strike Bonds out. Baseball history won the moment and the crowd, except for a very few, went wild when Bonds jacked one into the right field stands-a "no-doubter!"

With that checked off our list of things to see, we got back to serious baseball and cheered when he made outs later in the game. We were willing to root for a baseball icon, but real fans still want their team to win.

We got the best of all baseball worlds, Bonds homered and the Reds won!

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