McGwire Longer, but Bonds Wins It

Barry Bonds borrowed a bat to steal the home run derby title back from the American League.

The San Francisco star beat Oakland’s Mark McGwire in a Bay area final of the Home Run Derby, capping a sweltering Monday of All-Star festivities.

Bonds, using a bat belonging to Houston’s Derek Bell, outhomered McGwire, 3-2, in the final to become the first National League player to win the contest since Ryne Sandberg in 1990.

After hitting his third homer, an exhausted Bonds flung his bat to the ground and walked toward the AL dugout to hug McGwire, who thrilled the crowd of 62,304 with several monstrous shots into the left-field upper deck of Veterans Stadium.

“The highlight of my career,” Bonds said. “I didn’t think I had a shot.”

When McGwire launched nine homers in the second round, including a 460-footer, tied for the longest of the day with Houston’s Jeff Bagwell, it looked as if the Giant outfielder would be right.

Baltimore’s Brady Anderson and Seattle’s Jay Buhner were the others to make the second round.

Defending champion Frank Thomas of Chicago and Boston’s Mo Vaughn sat out the contest because of injuries. The Dodgers’ Mike Piazza and Cleveland’s Albert Belle declined invitations.