Managers Are Deep in Thought

Dodger Manager Jim Tracy leaned back in his office chair and watched the familiar frustrating show on TV.

While preparing for the opener of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Tracy paused to watch Barry Bonds bat with Rich Aurilia on first in the 10th inning, none out and the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres tied, 1-1, at Pacific Bell Park.

Padre Manager Bruce Bochy summoned left-hander Alan Embree to challenge the left-handed slugger in a seemingly textbook move--but Bonds is rewriting the book. As the future Hall of Famer circled the bases after his walk-off home run gave the Giants a 3-1 victory, Tracy shook his head because he had been down that road too.

“On Day 2 of the season, [the Giants have] got runners on first and third and nobody out and we gave up a three-run home run to him,” said Tracy of Bonds, limited to a single in four at-bats Tuesday night in a 3-0 Dodger victory here.

“What do you do in the top of the first inning? Pitch around Barry and load ‘em up with nobody out? With anyone else, you’re not even entertaining the thought of walking him in that situation in the first inning. But you know what? With this guy it starts popping in there.

“It starts popping in there about the time he rolls that doughnut on the bat and swinging in the on-deck circle. It’s very indicative of the fact of how good this man makes the people around him. This guy will put [managers] in a lot of situations to be second-guessed.”

The Padres would have put the potential winning run on second base with none out had they walked Bonds on Friday. A good move?

“If I were managing, I wouldn’t pitch to him any time he could hurt you,” Dodger second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “Yeah, I know you’re talking about a lot of different situations he could hurt you, but it doesn’t matter.

“If you’re up by five runs or something like that, OK. If it’s the first inning or something like that, OK. But what he’s doing right now, what he’s done since last season, definitely makes you look at things differently than you normally would.”

Not that this is foreign territory to Bonds.

The four-time National League most valuable player has stirred concern in opposing dugouts throughout his 16-year career. However, Bonds increased the heat with last season’s 73-homer, 177-walk performance and his torrid start in 2002. He hit four homers to help the Giants sweep the Dodgers in an opening three-game series and five (in his first 13 at-bats) as the club started 6-0.

Former Arizona Diamondback Manager Buck Showalter raised eyebrows in 1998 when he walked Bonds with the bases loaded in a regular-season game, but no one would be surprised by such a move now.

“Nothing would surprise me at this point because of the zone he’s in, I just don’t know if anything would have that much effect,” Giant General Manager Brian Sabean said. “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him walk with nobody on, see him walk with the bases loaded and to see [defensive] shifts. The problem is, whether it’s a ball or strike, he’s got the knack for hitting the ball in the deep part of the ballpark.

“I also don’t know if it would come down to any one bat in the game. I don’t know if [opposing teams] can say, ‘This is the time we can’t let him beat us,’ because he can end up beating you in the first inning, in the third inning or whenever.”

Opponents agree.

“He’s the only guy in baseball who seems like he’s a threat all the time,” Dodger right fielder Shawn Green said. “There are a lot of guys who are threats but he ... he’s a threat to hit a homer every time he comes to the plate. He’s already been walked with the bases loaded once, so he definitely changes things.”

And that makes life easier for Giant Manager Dusty Baker.

“On almost every roster, there’s somebody over there that you say, ‘We don’t want this guy to beat us,’” he said. “Some teams have more than one--I just happen to have probably the top guy.”