Critics Held at Bay

Next Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. But in this city, that’s no great shakes compared to Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s divorce is final from Kimberly Guilfoyle, a model turned prosecutor turned Fox TV news host, and Newsom has been romantically linked with actress Sofia Milos, who plays a detective in a recurring role on “CSI: Miami.” But here beside the bay, that can’t match the drama that is Bonds.

The Giants haven’t won a World Series since 1954 in New York, a drought that may have a bigger impact on the franchise and the city than anything to do with Bonds.

So far this season, despite being caught up in a swirling controversy about steroids, the slugging Giant outfielder’s pursuit of baseball’s home run record is shaping up as an uninterrupted love affair with adoring hometown fans and a team that knows a home run marketing tool when it sees one.

That’s why Bonds is almost everywhere around here. He is pictured in a Giant advertisement on the back of city buses, larger than the Transamerica Pyramid and the Golden Gate Bridge, swinging from the heels. Banners with Bonds’ name and his No. 25 hang from light posts. He is pictured in print ads for televised Giant games and on the top of taxicabs.

And for that, the Giants make no apologies. According to Larry Baer, the team’s executive vice president and chief executive, the Giants’ success is due to having a team in contention, a shiny ballpark and the player wearing uniform No. 25.

“We have a superstar performer, probably one of the greatest ever,” Baer said.

In this haven, Bonds is treated warmly, cheered when he was introduced with the starting lineup in Thursday afternoon’s 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros and every time he took his place in the batter’s box. The crowd of 34,267 gave him a standing ovation, not for a home run, but for a fly ball to deep center field in the fourth inning. Bonds singled in a run in the seventh and the fans responded with another standing ovation.

But there are clouds forming again. According to CNN, federal prosecutors may be pursuing a perjury case against him over his 2003 grand-jury testimony in which he denied using steroids.

In the stands, the conversation among Giant fans is about home runs, not steroids, and especially not about “Game of Shadows,” a book that details Bonds’ alleged participation in steroid use.

“Do I care? No, not at all,” said Robert Vickers. “Whatever it takes to hit home runs, people have been cheating their whole life. Barry Bonds, with or without steroids, could have accomplished just what he’s done.”

That may not be a universally shared opinion. Chances are the reaction to Bonds on the road will be no love-fest. A fan tossed a novelty-store plastic syringe at Bonds last week in a game at San Diego and when the Giants play the Dodgers tonight at Dodger Stadium, it’s a good guess that Bonds won’t be treated as warmly as he is at AT&T; Park.

“Yeah, I’ve got an oil painting by Rembrandt of Dodger fans welcoming Barry Bonds with open arms,” Vickers said.

Baer said he expects Dodger fans to be vocal, but that they will behave.

Meanwhile, the Giants and their fans are cozy in their relationship with Bonds, the seven-time National League Most Valuable Player who has 708 home runs, six short of tying Babe Ruth and 47 behind Aaron’s record total of 755. The fans have done their part, showing up, hoping for homers. Every year since their 41,606-seat ballpark opened in 2000, the Giants have averaged 97% to 98% capacity.

Bonds’ prodigious displays of power, not to mention good timing, haven’t hurt. He hit his record-setting 71st home run at the home park, and his 500th, 600th and 700th, plus his 661st that moved him past Willie Mays, his godfather.

Ernie Banks, a Hall of Fame player with the Chicago Cubs and a contemporary of Mays, knows something about the praise of home crowds.

“I’m not surprised at all about the reception he gets in San Francisco because he’s the local hero,” he said. “He’s the ticket. I feel sorry for him about all the other stuff that’s brought up.”

Home runs are what quicken the pulse of Giant fans these days, not conversations about Bonds and steroids.

“Barry is ours,” said Debi Durst, a season-ticket holder who says her wardrobe is basically orange and black. “He’s been putting [people] in seats since he came here in 1993.

“Why we have this steroid controversy and obsess about this when kids have no pencils in school, beats me.”

Bonds turns 42 in July and his contract expires at the end of this season, which makes the Giants’ quest for a pennant and Bonds’ pursuit of the home run record more pressing. If Bonds hits No. 715 at AT&T; Park, the Giants will observe the moment, said Baer, and an even grander commemoration awaits if No. 755 is launched at home.

If and when that happens, the celebration will include standing ovations for the house.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Slow recovery

Barry Bonds, who sat out 142 games last year because of a knee injury, is batting .188 with no home runs and has just one RBI in his first seven games (stats are through Thursday):

AT SAN DIEGO

*--* Date AB R H HR RBI BB AVG April 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 250 April 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 200

*--*

ATLANTA

*--* Date AB R H HR RBI BB AVG April 6 2 1 0 0 0 2 143 April 8 3 0 1 0 0 2 200 April 9 2 1 0 0 0 2 167

*--*

HOUSTON

*--* Date AB R H HR RBI BB AVG April 13 4 0 1 0 1 0 167 TOTAL 16 4 3 0 1 7 188

*--*

Career home runs:

Hank Aaron...755

Babe Ruth...714

Barry Bonds...708

Source: MLB.com