Beat L.A.!

What a satisfying 5-4 win against the Dodgers last night at AT&T Park. I was watching the game in the living room with my jaw on the floor, as usual. Stephen got home from work late and he told me he heard Barry Bonds on the radio being interviewed by Jon Miller during the sixth and seventh innings. Stephen said he tried to record the audio while he was driving but his recorder was out of batteries. Typical.

Anyway Barry was in a great mood, and even he said that people have told him how different and nice he has been since he stopped playing. Because when he was playing he was such a jerk to reporters, fans, teammates, coaches, basically everyone except his employee/friend Greg Anderson, who is still in jail because he won't testify against Bonds. It's been years.

Bonds has stopped playing, but he hasn't "retired" because he's still not letting go of the idea of playing again. Bonds, who is 44 for goodness sake, hopefully will start his 10-year personal services contract with the Giants soon. I take it that means hitting instruction, and not, um, nutrition. He will be really valuable to young hitters if he can do it the right way.

Last night on the radio he said Bobby Bonilla once told him "you can't get hits unless you swing." Hopefully the advice will be a little better than that. Part of the reason Bonds was such a phenomenal hitter was his eyesight, and you can't teach that.

While Bonds is the home run king, he is not a .300 lifetime hitter. He said part of that was because teams put the shift on him, moving 7 fielders toward right field (e.g. the pitcher and catcher don't move, but the third baseman is at shortstop, the shortshop is at second base etc.). They did the same thing to Ted Williams.

Bonds also said since he stopped playing he has watched every Giants game on TV. He sat next to Giants Managing General Partner Bill Neukom and part owner Larry Baer on Monday night, and he wore a blue shirt and blazer. Photo by AP.

Chatting with Jon Miller, Bonds said again that one of his most memorable at-bats was against the Dodgers' Eric Gagne, which was the best pitcher in baseball at the time meeting the best hitter in baseball, if Bonds did say so himself.

He also said the Giants, who are 9-9 and third in the NL West right now, will warm up as the weather warms up. Everyone says Barry Zito is pitching better, pitching angry, and the team has the tools to contend in August. Bonds said the team just has to be in contention in August, then shift in to overdrive through August and in to the playoffs.

Want another pitcher/batter matchup for the ages? Check out Wednesday night's Giants-Dodgers game with Tim Lincecum facing Manny Ramirez. 7:15 p.m. PDT on CSN. I call shotgun on the TV, folks, and I want to finish off that knuckle bone while I'm at it. Can't we record 90210 or something? I mean this is baseball history unfolding.

Bonds, by the way, told Jon Miller it was too bad the Giants didn't sign Manny in the off season ...

Jax