[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Bonds just never seems to suprise me with his ongoing antics.....what a prima dona....


ABJ

2/25/06

on Sat, Feb. 25, 2006
Bonds: Many homers, not so many words

JOSH DUBOW

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Barry Bonds put on a batting-practice show Friday, hitting some long home runs that impressed observers - even if they did come off a 50-year old coach.
Bonds took batting practice for a third straight day in a positive sign for the San Francisco Giants, who are counting on him being fully recovered from three operations last year on his right knee.
He connected for eight home runs off first-base coach Luis Pujols, who was throwing from well in front of the mound. None of the homers were cheap, and one memorable shot went over the pavilion in right field and might have traveled close to 500 feet.
"He looks good, fresh," manager Felipe Alou said. "If you don't have any bat speed it's hard to catch up with what Pujols throws from such a short range."
Bonds earlier took live batting practice against Noah Lowry and Pedro Liriano, taking most of the pitches to work on his timing and only hitting a couple of balls hard. After getting too far out in front of a pitch from Liriano and grounding it to first, Bonds said, "Nasty changeup. Good changeup dude."
It's unknown how Bonds feels about his progress since he told media members he would not conduct any interviews until they signed a release waiver allowing footage of them to be shown on his upcoming reality TV show on ESPN.
"We asked to see a copy of the release," said Rich Levin, a spokesman for baseball commissioner Bud Selig. "We want to know more about it."
ESPN is working with Bonds for a behind-the-scenes look at his quest for baseball's all-time home-run record.
"ESPN is not responsible for asking for these waivers, and our reporters will be not be signing them," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "ESPN original entertainment, a separate division from our newsgathering operation, has been having ongoing discussions with an outside production company for this series, which hasn't been finalized or announced. These requests were a surprise to us."
Bonds played only 14 games last season as the knee injuries kept him out of the lineup until September. He showed some signs of his old power when he returned, hitting five homers in 42 at-bats to give him 708 in his career. He is seven shy of passing Babe Ruth for second place and 48 away from breaking Hank Aaron's record.
While Bonds has impressed Alou with his work in batting practice, the manager said he won't know for at least a couple of more days if Bonds will be ready to play in Thursday's spring training opener against the Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix.
Bonds didn't play any exhibitions last season after having his first operation on the knee Jan. 31. After working out for a few weeks at spring training, Bonds had a setback and had a second operation March 17. Complications from that surgery led to the third operation May 2.
While Bonds has done plenty of hitting, he has done very little running, which he will need to do if he plays in his regular spot in left field. Alou said the team may request a waiver from the commissioner's office, asking for permission to use Bonds as a designated hitter even in spring games when the pitcher is supposed to bat.
But the manager said it's important Bonds plays some left field in the spring to get into proper shape to do it in the regular season.
As far as hitting goes, Alou likes what he's seen so far, comparing it to 2003, when Bonds hit 10 homers in spring training in limited at-bats.
"I believe the way I see him swinging he may not need more than those at-bats," Alou said. "Now playing defense, that's something else. We'll see how it goes. We're not going to rush anything. We have more than a month right now to deal with it."