This spring training game was played to a 2-2 tie without much interesting happening, although there are some names you might not expect showing up as substitutes – Jose Bautista as a late-game replacement for Ty Wigginton, Tony Womack, Doug Glanville, and Bobby Crosby as Yankee reserves. A pitching matchup of Kip Wells v. Tanyon Sturtze is the kind of thing you don’t mind on March 3.
Bonds did not disappoint, drawing walks in his first two PAs and hitting the 688th homer of his career in the seventh on an absolute line-drive missile to right-center, the most impressive homer I’ve ever seen in person. AJ Pierzynski followed that with a homer, and the Giants added another run in the frame to take a 6-4 lead. The Pirates came back with three in the eighth, but Michael Tucker’s second homer of the game tied it in the ninth off Jose Mesa. Mat Herges got the first two outs in the home ninth, but Jack Wilson singled and Rob Mackowiak doubled to the warning track to bring him around.
As a Bonds supporter, I sat in the left field seats to be closer to the great man, observing quietly in neutral clothing (gray OSU shirt and Indians home cap). As you might imagine, the crowd was hostile, with one poor guy carrying a “Greatest Pirate Ever” sign having his sign destroyed by the hometown hooligans and then literally was hounded from the park when he objected. My unabashed Bonds fandom aside, I do not concur with “Greatest Pirate Ever” - perhaps the greatest player to wear a Pirates uniform, but Hans Wagner clearly had more career value as a Pirate, among others (Roberto Clemente, Paul Waner, not Chris Archer).
Ricardo Rodriguez pitched what must have been one of the best games of his career, allowing just four hits and two walks (although only fanning two) over seven innings to earn the win for the Indians. The only run he allowed was a Tony Batista homer, while Deivi Cruz homered on the second pitch from the Cleveland pen for Baltimore’s only other score. The Indians got four runs off Omar Daal, the most notable plays coming on Omar Vizquel’s bunt single coupled with Daal’s throwing error in the third, and Ellis Burks’ two-run seventh inning single off the first Baltimore reliever, Willis Roberts (I do not remember him at all).
