Dodgers put on a clinic, for who?

By Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez

Aug. 3, 2007 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writers

This surreal life, a chase to a celebrated record accompanied by asterisks, blindfolds and an intermittently appearing commissioner, took on a truly bizarre dimension Thursday. Seven hours before Barry Bonds trotted to left field at Dodger Stadium, about 100 kids trotted to center field to hear why they should just say no to steroids.

Fact, not fiction: On a day Bonds was in town, the Dodgers co-sponsored a steroid awareness program.

The Dodgers insisted the timing was coincidental. Tim Flannery, one of the Giants’ coaches, wasn’t buying it.

“I think that’s pretty tired, with him here,” Flannery said. “He’s not the only guy.”

As he spoke, Flannery gestured toward the Dodgers clubhouse.

“There are probably some guys in there wondering and hoping names aren’t thrown around,” he said.

Bonds, the name most thrown around in association with baseball’s steroid era, did not make history Thursday. After so much angst was expended on how Dodgers fans would react if Bonds tied or broke the all-time home-run record in Los Angeles, he did neither.

He came to town with 754 and left at 754, one shy of Hank Aaron’s record. Bonds singled, fouled out and walked twice Thursday, concluding the series with one hit and five walks in 12 plate appearances. In his last 11 games, he is hitting .182, with one home run in 33 at-bats.

“He’s approaching the biggest record, really, of all-time, anywhere,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “There’s got to be some pressure there.”

The Giants won, 4-2, then headed to San Diego for three games. Bonds was expected to play one or two games in the series, after which the Giants return home.

The children’s program, presented by the Dodgers and the Taylor Hooton Foundation, mixed a baseball clinic with lessons in nutrition, strength training and the dangers of drug abuse. Taylor Hooton, cousin of former Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton, was a high school athlete whose suicide was attributed to steroid abuse.

Don Hooton, Taylor’s father, says he has talked with the Giants about staging a similar event in their ballpark. He said the timing of the Dodger Stadium program was not intended as a slap at Bonds.

“It’s serendipitous,” Hooton said. “But as far as I know, it wasn’t deliberate. I can say that with an honest straight face.”

The Dodgers and the foundation had rescheduled the event from June 29, when the San Diego Padres were in town. When the Dodgers later realized Bonds would be here, spokesman Josh Rawitch said, they alerted the Giants and received no objection.

As Bonds approaches the record, dogged by reports he used steroids and human growth hormone and a national debate about the legitimacy of his achievements, Hooton said children are active participants in that debate.

“These kids have two eyes, two ears and a brain,” he said. “They are not stupid, and the same assumptions and discussions are going on around dinner tables around the country -- who’s juicing, who’s not. They’re smart enough to draw their own conclusions. And if you ask the kids, they’ll tell you who they think is juicing and who’s not.”

Andre Enriquez, 12, of El Monte, asked Hooton whether Bonds’ 2001 spike in home runs -- when he set the single season record of 73 -- was a sign of drug use.

“I’m going to deliberately avoid questions on Mr. Bonds,” Hooton told the children. “My focus is on using the resources of Major League Baseball and my energy to get into your head, your head and your head not to use to steroids.

“If we get caught up in the realities, especially with the Giants playing here tonight, if I got caught into a word battle with Bonds or any of these other guys, what’s going on here gets lost. Why we’re here today is about you guys.”

Shenaaz Burrell, 17, of Los Angeles, said he did not believe Bonds had used steroids.

“I really want him to break the record,” Burrell said, then pointing to Enriquez, “and shut him up about the whole steroid thing.”

Dodgers center fielder Juan Pierre visited the kids, happy to talk about stealing bases and hitting and staying away from drugs and anything else they cared to ask.

Except one thing.

Danny Casas, 11, of Los Angeles, asked if he thought Bonds had used steroids.

“I don’t know,” Pierre said. “I’m staying away from that one.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Moments in time

A pitch-by-pitch account of Barry Bonds’ at-bats Thursday night against the Dodgers:

FIRST INNING

Facing Tomko; man on 2nd, 1 out

* 0-0: breaking ball, strike

* 0-1: inside fastball, ball

* 1-1: inside breaking ball, ball