Bonds Reaches New Milestone

Barry Bonds prefers hitting home runs to talking about them. But when he drove out his career-best 50th on Saturday, it was a milestone on several fronts he had to acknowledge.

He reached the mark quicker than any player in history and at 37, also became the oldest player to hit 50.

“It’s important. It’s something my godfather [Willie Mays] said I should have done years ago,” Bonds said Saturday following the San Francisco Giants’ 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

“I finally accomplished it and he can leave me alone for a while.”

Bonds’ 50th overshadowed a brilliant performance by Giant starter Livan Hernandez, who went four for four with a home run of his own while yielding seven hits over eight innings.

“He’s incredible. He needs to give us tips,” Bonds said of Hernandez, who has eight consecutive hits and is 12 for his last 13.

Sammy Sosa hit his 41st home run for the Cubs. He hit three homers Thursday at Wrigley Field.

Still ahead of Mark McGwire’s pace when he hit his record 70 in 1998, Bonds reached his 50th in the Giants’ 117th game. Sosa was previously the fastest to 50, doing it in 121 games in 1999.

Bonds, who had 49 homers last season, has 544 for his career, four behind Mike Schmidt for eighth all-time.

“I don’t predict the future. I go day to day. They always want to count me out but I keep hanging around,” Bonds said of his long career.

Asked if he was relieved to finally hit 50, Bonds said he was just glad to help the Giants build a big lead.

“During the game, you don’t think about those things. You just think about winning,” Bonds said.

“That’s the only accomplishment I need. The rest of it is just irrelevant. That’s why I’m still playing.”

Bonds’ three-run homer capped a six-run second inning. That was enough for Hernandez (11-11), who won his fifth in a row.

Giant Manager Dusty Baker gave the lineup card as a souvenir to Hernandez--not Bonds.

“I’ve given [Bonds] about 10 of those this year already. Now that he’s reached a milestone, he can go on to the next step and that’s 60,” Baker said.

“I remember the night he hit his 500th homer and now he’s 40-plus past that. It’s a pretty incredible feat,” Cub Manager Don Baylor said.

“He’s a line drive hitter, who hits home runs. He uses the whole field and he still has the bat speed at his age.”

The last pitcher to have four hits in a game was Colorado’s John Thomson on June 1, 1997, against Florida.

Hernandez, once an infielder with the Cuban national team, had 21 hits last season for the Giants and has 20 this year.