Bonds hits No.715

[Lumbergh]

Happened off of Byung-Hyun Kim of colorado. Let it simmer in here.

[Brendan]

[LMU]

Really, does it even matter anymore? Wake me if and when he gets close to Hank.

[Audiodrama]

Ugh.

Just.. ugh.

[jkrdevil]

Another funny pic from our friends from SI. Refresh to view animation.

[DEAD!]

Byung-Hyun Kim just can't buy a break can't he?....

[Brendan]

Byung-Hyun Kim just can't buy a break can't he?....  

atleast he pithes cool

[HatCityEnforcer]

Really, does it even matter anymore? Wake me if and when he gets close to Hank.

Agreed...

Call me when he hits 750...then I might be interested.

Nobody cares about 2nd place.

[Fred T. Jane]

Nobody cares about 2nd place.

Except all the people who, before today, talked more about Ruth's 714 than Aaron's 755.

[Steel Certain]

His knees are held together by chewing gum...he needs to rest after like every 3rd game due to pain. He has a whopping 6 dingers this year...I can't imagine he can physically make it through another season after this one to get to 756.

[NJTank]

Heres my tribute

*

[Roger Clemente]

/     \             \            /    \ 
|       |             \          |      |
|       `.             |         |       :
`        |             |        \|       |
 \       | /       /  \\\   --__ \\       :
  \      \/   _--~~          ~--__| \     |
   \      \_-~         ###        ~-_\    |
    \_     \      ###.-###--###______\|   |
      \     \______### ### ###(_(__>  \   |
       \   .  C ___)#########(_(___>  |  /
       /\ |   C ____)####### (_____>  |_/
      / /\|   C____)#########  (___>   / \
     |   (   _C___)### ### ### // _/ /    \
     |    \  |__  ###__###__###/ (__/     |
    | \    \____)   `--###--'             |
    |  \_          ___\      /_          _/|
   |              /             \           |
   |             |               \          |
   |          / /                 \          |
   |         / /                   |         |
  |         / /                     |        |
  |          |                      |        |

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[NJTank]

Ok tahts a bit disturbing

[brinkeguthrie]

All I know is, this guy's kids college fund, and maybe a couple of his and hers Porsche's, literally fell into his lap.....

Bonds homered off Byung-Hyun Kim in the fourth inning. The ball glanced off a fan's hands about 15 rows up and then dropped onto an elevated platform beyond the fence.

The souvenir sat there for a few minutes before rolling off the roof and into the hands of 38-year-old San Francisco resident Andrew Morbitzer, who was waiting for a beer and peanuts. He was quickly ushered away by security.

[RichardWitham]

i know i get along with alot of you folks on here who are anti-bonds, but i'm happy he passed the babe, now everyone will shut up..........and to those anti-bonds folks, i got 2 words for ya......go screw

[jkrdevil]

All I know is, this guy's kids college fund, and maybe a couple of his and hers Porsche's, literally fell into his lap.....

I doubt it. The guy will get a couple thousand but that's it. The sale isn't going to be like the McGwire ball. Bonds 71 ball didn't get as much as expected and that was before this steroid cloud. Now with the cloud the price shoots way down. He will be able to get a nice car or be able to pay for 1 or 2 years of his kids college (and that's for an elite college) but not both.

[Squeaks4]

All I know is, this guy's kids college fund, and maybe a couple of his and hers Porsche's, literally fell into his lap.....

I doubt it. The guy will get a couple thousand but that's it. The sale isn't going to be like the McGwire ball. Bonds 71 ball didn't get as much as expected and that was before this steroid cloud. Now with the cloud the price shoots way down. He will be able to get a nice car or be able to pay for 1 or 2 years of his kids college (and that's for an elite college) but not both.

What "nice car" can you buy for a couple thousand?

Oh, and thanks for that goatse Roger. I now have that horrific image back in my head.

[jkrdevil]

All I know is, this guy's kids college fund, and maybe a couple of his and hers Porsche's, literally fell into his lap.....

I doubt it. The guy will get a couple thousand but that's it. The sale isn't going to be like the McGwire ball. Bonds 71 ball didn't get as much as expected and that was before this steroid cloud. Now with the cloud the price shoots way down. He will be able to get a nice car or be able to pay for 1 or 2 years of his kids college (and that's for an elite college) but not both.

What "nice car" can you buy for a couple thousand?

Oh, and thanks for that goatse Roger. I now have that horrific image back in my head.

I was exaggerating with a couple thousand. My point was he won't get the big money people have got in the past. He will probably get 50,000 or a little bit more. You can certaintly get a nice car for that much.

[Squeaks4]

All I know is, this guy's kids college fund, and maybe a couple of his and hers Porsche's, literally fell into his lap.....

I doubt it. The guy will get a couple thousand but that's it. The sale isn't going to be like the McGwire ball. Bonds 71 ball didn't get as much as expected and that was before this steroid cloud. Now with the cloud the price shoots way down. He will be able to get a nice car or be able to pay for 1 or 2 years of his kids college (and that's for an elite college) but not both.

What "nice car" can you buy for a couple thousand?

Oh, and thanks for that goatse Roger. I now have that horrific image back in my head.

I was exaggerating with a couple thousand. My point was he won't get the big money people have got in the past. He will probably get 50,000 or a little bit more. You can certaintly get a nice car for that much.

Sounds about right. I thought you were being literal with the couple thousand comment. My bad.

[brinkeguthrie]

It was not the moment for posterity Giants radio flagship KNBR had in mind, but it was unforgettable nonetheless.

KNBR broadcaster Dave Fleming was making the call on Barry Bonds' historic 715th home run Sunday when his microphone went dead, leaving the radio audience with crowd noise for more than 10 seconds until fellow broadcaster Greg Papa rushed on the air to pick up the proceedings and describe the achievement.

"If you'd only heard the rest of it, it was an unbelievable call,'' said Fleming, who was initially unaware that he wasn't being heard over the air. "It's too bad we don't have proof. I have to joke about it because it's too painful to think about."

KNBR program director Lee Hammer, also serving as the game's engineer, was equally tortured by the technical glitch that denies the team's longtime flagship station one of the most significant calls in the history of the franchise and the game.

Duane Kuiper's description on the television broadcast for Fox Sports Net will now be the only call of record.

"All I can say is (the microphone) worked during pre-game. It worked for four innings. It worked until the ball got to about second base,'' Hammer said. "I wish I knew what happened."

Hammer said he could not pinpoint the cause of the glitch, his best guess that there was a problem with the connection between Fleming's microphone and the engineering equipment. Rumors of a stadium-wide electrical problem circulated immediately after the game, but proved unfounded.

Giants vice president Larry Baer apologized to fans after the game.

"We were as surprised as any of the fans listening,'' Baer said. "We have no idea what happened."

One fan called into the Giants postgame show to say that the crowd noise showed the enormity of the moment as well as a narration could have, but that was no consolation for the KNBR broadcast team.

"We might not see someone hit 715 again in our lifetime,'' Papa said. "This is tough."

Fleming said he made the entire call as Bonds circled the bases, referring to a "Ruthian shot to pass the Babe". It wasn't until Hammer implored Papa to take over that Fleming realized his call had been lost.

"I was hopeful that it went somewhere, into one of our machines or a tape recorder, but it just went nowhere. We didn't have any of it,'' Fleming said. "It's a big moment for me, and I think I made a good call and nobody's going to get to hear it."

Fleming said he's equally disappointed there is no record of the moment for the fans who were listening.

"This is one of the great moments in Giants history and it is something that should be archived," Fleming said. "This should be remember and we'll have a recording of it, but it didn't go."

Papa said he's never experienced anything similar in his long broadcast career.

"To lose a mic like that, I've never seen it,'' Papa said. "I've never been a part of something like this."

"I think it's the last gasp of the curse of the Bambino,'' said Fleming --a curse he didn't believe in before. "Now, I'm starting to re-think my whole world."

E-mail Michelle Smith at msmith@sfchronicle.com.

Fleming's call

Finley: "3-2. Finley runs. The payoff pitch. A swing and a drive to deep cen..."

Long pause with crowd noise and sound of foghorn.

Papa: I think we have lost Dave's microphone. Barry Bonds has just hit his 715th career home run.

Kuiper's call:

The pitch. Bonds hits one high, hits it deep to center. Outta here! 715! The wait is over. They are on their feet at AT&T Park.

========================================

Andrew Morbitzer did not even know Barry Bonds was coming up to bat when he left his seat in the bleachers to get his wife some beer and peanuts and himself a sandwich, and he wasn't watching the game on the televisions near the concession stands.

But when Bonds' record-breaking 715th homerun ball came down from the sky, he knew what it was.

"I heard the roar and looked up and saw everybody reaching in the air. I looked up and snagged it," Morbitzer, 38, a marketing director for the software company Intuit in Mountain View, said during a news conference at the AT&T ballpark after the game.

It was a twist of fate that led him to be in that lucky spot in front of Big Guy's Custom Barbecue on the center field under the bleachers near section 143 when the ball bounced off two fans' gloves and fell down to him. The first concession stand he tried didn't have barbecue sandwiches and sent him next door.

He never got his food and beer. As soon as he caught the ball, police officers surrounded him and ushered him away from the crowds. There was no fight for this ball, unlike Bonds' homerun number 73 in 2001, which incited a near melee.

"It came down, I snagged it out of the air and SFPD snagged me," said Morbitzer.

In the stands, his wife Megan wondered what was taking him so long, she said at the news conference.

"He was in line for peanuts," she said. "I was kind of wondering what was taking so long."

In the bleachers above, Jeff Lee, 17, a junior at Hercules High School who plays first base on the school's varsity team, was sitting on the aisle in Section 143 with his father, Jerry, when Bonds hit No. 715. He had debated whether to bring his infielder or first base glove. He brought the shorter infield glove, a crucial mistake he may always remember.