A Frosty Reception for Bonds

In the seventh inning, the fans stood and sang a happy song about peanuts and Cracker Jack. In the eighth inning, one fan stood and heaved a syringe onto the field, in the direction of Barry Bonds.

The San Francisco Giants play 81 road games this season, and their players suspect every one will be like this first one. Fans will heckle Bonds, loudly and sometimes profanely. Fans will taunt Bonds with signs, some tasteless. And there could be a wild card in every crowd, such as the fan with the syringe.

“Hey, if that’s what they want to do to embarrass themselves, that’s on them,” Bonds said. “I’m just here to play baseball.”

The San Diego Padres raised the National League West championship flag on Monday, then opened their title defense with a 6-1 victory over the Giants. Jake Peavy scattered four hits over seven innings, and Mike Piazza homered in his first at-bat as a Padre.

Bonds doubled on the first pitch he saw this season, then popped up, flied out and grounded out. He remains six home runs behind Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time list, 47 behind Hank Aaron, and he remains under investigation for alleged steroid use. Bonds has denied knowingly using steroids.

The sellout crowd did not appear inclined to await the results of the investigation, with the popular verdict expressed on signs all around Petco Park, in boos that cascaded upon him when he was introduced, and whenever he came to bat or touched the ball in left field.

During batting practice, one fan held up this sign: “BARR-ROID,” near a teenage girl wearing a T-shirt reading, “Barry is a Cheater.” One fan behind the Giant dugout had this sign: “No Confess, No HOF,” a reference to the Hall of Fame. One fan held up a sign reading “Asterisk;” two others held up actual asterisks.

When Bonds took his position in the first inning, fans there unveiled several signs, including “Cheaters Never Prosper” and “Bonds, 1st into the Hall of Shame.”

Bonds said he picked up the plastic syringe and “put it off the field so no one would get hurt.” He claimed he did not hear the hecklers or read the signs -- “I can’t read anyway,” he said jokingly -- and declined to comment on the fans.

“I don’t judge the fans,” he said.

But San Francisco first baseman Mark Sweeney called throwing a syringe onto the field “pretty stupid,” and shortstop Omar Vizquel criticized as “ridiculous” parents who he said gave their children anti-Bonds signs to hold. Vizquel also suggested opposing fans are hypocrites, booing Bonds while hoping to see him go deep.

“That’s the way people are,” Vizquel said. “They want to see a home run.”

Bonds didn’t exactly bask in applause last September, but the combination of the home run chase and the steroids investigation has his teammates wondering how much nastier his receptions will be this season.

“Today was kind of bad,” Vizquel said. “I guess there are fans that are more aggressive than others. I really don’t know what to expect any more.”

Still, center fielder Randy Winn said, San Diego ranks among the tamer stops in the National League. The Giants’ next road series is at Dodger Stadium, starting April 14.

“L.A. is probably going to be pretty rough,” Winn said, “with the rivalry and all. They’ve got some enthusiastic fans there.”