McFreedom

I just saw Barry Bonds hit #600 in his career. First clue that the guy writing this story for CNN/SI doesn't come to Giants games much: "The chilled crowd at Pac Bell..." Second clue: "The cool seaside air was in optimal condition for homers..." This was the warmest night Pacific Bell Park has ever seen. I wore shorts, and I've never worn shorts to a Giants game. Not even a day game. It was 74 at 10:20PM (according to their scoreboard), and it's often not 74 at Pac Bell Park at 2:00 in the afternoon. This is San Francisco, after all.

And, on the subject of reporting, "The arcade on the right-field wall...was choked throughout the night with fans hoping to get their hands on...[one of the] balls..." They closed the arcade to anyone not holding a ticket for the arcade. It was unusually quiet up there tonight; most nights, you can see people moving up there constantly, walking around the park and looking at the bay.

Finally, "Bonds' achievments have come during an era of smaller ballparks..." Bonds takes half his at-bats in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks currently in play. And last year he hit half his homeruns, here. It's not the park size that's what's doing it.

Sorry, didn't intend this to turn into a media critique, but, as I've said before, I've never been a part of a single newsworthy thing and then seen a story about it later that didn't make a significant error of comission or omission.