SAN DIEGO -- Greg Maddux would prefer to avoid becoming part
of history.
Maddux is scheduled to start for the San Diego Padres on Friday
night in the opener of a three-game series against Barry Bonds and
the San Francisco Giants.
Bonds went into Thursday night's game at Los Angeles with 754
homers, one short of tying Hank Aaron's career record.
The San Francisco slugger has hit 86 homers against the Padres,
his most against any team. His 42 homers in San Diego are his most
in any road city.
Maddux, who pitched for Chicago and Atlanta before joining the
Padres this season, leads a list of 444 pitchers to surrender a
home run to Bonds, giving up eight along with Terry Mulholland,
Chan Ho Park, Curt Schilling and John Smoltz.
Then again, Maddux last served up a homer to Bonds on May 1,
1998, while he was pitching for Atlanta.
And yes, it would bother Maddux if he were to give up the homer
that allowed Bonds to tie or break the record, then have to watch
the replays over and over.
"Well, absolutely," Maddux said after the Padres beat the
Arizona Diamondbacks 11-0 on Thursday. "All the home runs I've
given up have bothered me. You do what you can to pitch around him
if you have to, and try to win."
While Bonds tore up Qualcomm Stadium, hitting 39 homers at the
big concrete bowl in Mission Valley, he's hit only three in 73
at-bats at Petco Park, which opened in 2004.
The Padres knew early on that Petco was a pitcher's park.
"We made it Bonds-proof, remember?" Padres general manager
Kevin Towers said just before the first opening day.
Bonds quickly found out that Petco's vast outfield was a place
where long fly balls went to die. He took the Bonds-proof theory a
step further by saying that the Padres had made Petco
"baseball-proof."
While it's an enticing 322 feet to the home-run porch down the
right-field line, it's 400 feet to the gap in right-center and 401
to the left-center alley. It's 396 to straightaway center field.
Bonds thinks the downtown ballpark's just too darn big, period.
"That's just a shame. That place, they just need to move all of
that in," he said last month.
Then again, there's always the intentional walk.
"It's easy pitching to Barry because if it matters, you just
walk him," said Maddux, who has 340 career wins and won four
straight Cy Young Awards in the 1990s. "I mean, it's not that hard
to throw four a couple feet outside. He's a good player. He's been
the best for me, as far as sitting in the other dugout and watching
somebody, for a long time."
Bonds made his big league debut in May 1986, and Maddux came up
that September.
Overall, Bonds is 34-for-127 against Maddux, with eight homers,
15 strikeouts and 23 walks, eight intentional.
"I'd like to think that if I didn't face him 150 times, maybe
he'd already have the record," Maddux cracked.
"He's good," the pitcher added. "He's always been the best
player, even when he was in Pittsburgh. I know he taught me to beat
lineups and not hitters. You do what you can to keep him in the
park. No disrespect to the other eight guys, but you've got to make
sure Barry doesn't beat you."
The Padres said the games Friday and Saturday nights are sold
out.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Bonds likely will sit out Sunday
afternoon's game.
As for Friday night's matchup, "You're seeing the best in the
game going at it," said Bochy, who was San Diego's manager the
previous 12 seasons. "Those are great matchups. The fans enjoy it.
I enjoy it."
------=
AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in Los Angeles contributed to
this report.