In the San Francisco Giants’ world, where Barry Bonds makes historic moments as routine as filling out the lineup card, the people responsible for decorating his achievements can’t stray far from the controls.
Never was this more evident than last week, when Bonds, just days after surpassing Willie Mays on the all-time home run list, ran off a string of seven consecutive starts with a home run to threaten yet another MLB record. But for Giants executives, who take their cue from Bonds and his inner circle, the only master plan to illuminate this or any future runs at history is to stay away from master plans.
“There’s nobody sitting here with a yellow notepad saying, ‘Things are going to happen in this order when No. 700 gets hit,’” said Larry Baer, Giants executive vice president and COO. “We know these are historical moments, but we don’t want anything contrived. We want for it to unfold as naturally as possible and as beautifully as possible, and I think 660 was a model for that.”
That home run No. 660 was not scripted by the club wasn’t evident when Bonds was met at the plate by Mays, who passed Bonds a diamond-encrusted torch Mays had been given as part of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics torch-relay team. Meanwhile, T-shirts and hats commemorating the home run that tied Bonds with Mays immediately went on sale in the concessions stands and in SBC Park Dugout store.
But the torch was Mays’ idea, and the decision to commemorate the tying home run and sell memorabilia featuring Bonds with Mays was driven by Bonds, who in November opted out of the MLBPA’s group licensing agreement to pursue his own deals that also directed money toward Mays.
The Giants did hold a brief pregame ceremony several days after home run No. 660 during which both Bonds and Mays were honored. The Giants also took out ads in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News congratulating Bonds.
Bonds’ latest tear all but ensures that No. 700 will come this season, but no such plans are in the works for his run to that mark. “We’re not going to talk with him much about future milestones,” Baer said. “Working with Barry, he’s a smart man. He has a great flair for the dramatic, and he understands what we might want to do and how to work with the club on it.”
