Padres’ Darr Steals Bonds’ Thunder for Day

There’s no giving up in baseball. Two weeks ago, Barry Bonds hit three home runs in one game. In May, he hit nine home runs in six games.

So Mark McGwire’s record isn’t entirely safe, but let’s just say the guy who coughed up a few million bucks to buy the ball McGwire hit for No. 70 ought to feel a tad more secure about his investment today. Bonds went homerless again Saturday, stalled six home runs shy of the record with 13 games to play.

The home run hero was Mike Darr, whose pinch-hit homer leading off the bottom of the 10th inning gave the San Diego Padres a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Bonds doubled, flied out and struck out twice.

The focus on 70 obscures the achievement of 64, a particularly notable number of home runs considering where Bonds plays his home games. Pacific Bell Park is beautiful, and the vistas are dramatic, but arena baseball is not played there as it is in so many of the new ballparks.

“If he were playing in any other ballpark besides ours, he could have blown the record away, no doubt in my mind,” San Francisco first baseman J.T. Snow said.

“If he were playing in Colorado or Houston or Milwaukee, he’d probably be at 75 right now.”

There may be no better evidence of Bonds’ excellence than this statistic: He has hit 32 homers on the road, 32 at home. His teammates have hit 94 homers on the road, 54 at home.

“What he’s done has been pretty incredible,” Giant closer Robb Nen said. “He’s missed a lot of home runs by two or three feet at our place.”

At first glance, on television or in person, Pacific Bell Park appears tailored for Bonds and his powerful left-handed swing. After all, the right-field foul pole is only 309 feet from home plate.

Take a second look. The right-field wall is 25 feet high. Home plate is closer to the center-field wall (399 feet) than to the right-center-field wall (421 feet).

“It’s a big ballpark, not conducive to left-hand hitters hitting home runs,” Snow said.

And one other thing: The Giants installed archways along the public walkway behind right field, allowing pedestrians to peek into the game for free, then discovered wind sometimes blows through those holes and pushes drives back toward home plate.

“A lot of line drives to right field get knocked down,” Giant broadcaster Jon Miller said. Even if Bonds fails to hit another home run this season, Miller counts 64 as breaking the record.

“He’s already done it, in my opinion,” Miller said. “In ‘98, when McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa were at this level for home runs, they had already done it. The rest was, how far would it go?

“You get to 60; you match the Babe. You get to 61; you match Maris. And then you beat both of them? You did it.”