San Francisco Giants Baseball Team

Only baseball could take something as exciting as a man whacking home runs at a record rate and turn it into a hand-wringing ordeal. Barry Bonds is crushing the ball. But he's aloof. And everybody's hitting homers these days. So the great debate isn't about whether he can pass the magic 70 mark, it's whether or not we're supposed to be excited about the chase. Give me a break. This sounds like one of those letters to Dear Abby wondering if they should invite ornery Aunt Edna to the wedding.

Look, says Brian Sabean, the San Francisco Giants' general manager, there's an easy way to cure "all that heartache" that guys such as Gary Sheffield and Frank Thomas seem to have been suffering.

The producer of one of baseball's most prolific individual seasons was crowned the game's most decorated player Monday when Barry Bonds became the first player to win four most valuable player awards, capping a record-breaking, 73-homer season with the National League's highest honor. The only three-time MVP winners are Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx and Yogi Berra in the American League and Roy Campanella, Stan Musial and Mike Schmidt in the NL.

There was Dusty Baker, sitting tall on the back of the dugout bench late Wednesday afternoon, saying prophetically that if you're not going to challenge Barry Bonds, you are almost certain to pay a price for challenging one of baseball's most trusted adages. "It's going to hurt somebody sooner or later," Baker said. "You can't keep putting the winning run on base without it coming back to haunt you."

Here's how Sunday went for the San Francisco Giants: They lost, 5-4, to the San Diego Padres, Barry Bonds grounded out on the one and only pitch he got to hit, then he was drilled in the right elbow by relief pitcher Jose Nunez. "We'll probably need an armored car to get us out of here if he broke anything," Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said. Bonds, who wears a piece of body armor to protect his right arm, was unhurt, which is not something you can say about the Giants' playoff chances.

Wist-fully, Dusty Baker was saying it is almost like listening to a wonderful song on the radio, knowing it will end and knowing there is nothing you can do about it when it does. "That's how it is this year watching Barry hit," the San Francisco Giant manager said. "We want to keep hearing this song, seeing this picture. I mean, that's why we want to get to the postseason. We're not going to be ready to go home."

A somber Barry Bonds hit his 64th home run Thursday, then he really unloaded. Bonds said he's donating $10,000 to the United Way's disaster relief fund for every home run he hits, that he is having trouble keeping focused while chasing baseball's home run record, and he sounded as though he's resigned to leaving the San Francisco Giants at the end of the season as a free agent.

It is with awe, says Peter Magowan, managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants, that he watches Barry Bonds produce a historic season. Awe is one thing. The larger question is how much is he willing to owe his prospective free agent when they sit down to negotiate a new contract at the end of the season.

Two surgically repaired knees will prevent Barry Bonds from taking batting practice until March, but the San Francisco Giant slugger still got a few whacks in Tuesday, lashing out at the media for its coverage of baseball's steroid scandal and ripping Jose Canseco for accusations in his recently released book. "All you guys have lied -- should you have an asterisk by your name?"

Angel fans won't have Steve Finley to kick around anymore. The underachieving center fielder and object of summer scorn was traded to San Francisco on Wednesday for third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, whose decline from All-Star status has been nearly as pronounced as Finley's. A blockbuster deal, this wasn't. This was more a case of Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman and Giant GM Brian Sabean dealing from the discard pile. Finley, 40, suffered through a dismal, injury-plagued 2005, batting .