With ten home runs in his first 14 games, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez is currently on pace to smack 114.5 dingers this season. This, of course, is impossible, because no player has ever been credited with half a home run. But Gonzalez's astounding pace takes a back seat to the true buzz in the Diamondbacks' clubhouse - the competition between Jay Bell and Randy Johnson as to who can commit the most obscure throwing miscue.
Last month, in a spring training game, Johnson threw a pitch that was involuntarily intercepted by a bird 15 feet in front of the catcher's mitt. Then on Monday, Jay Bell made his bid for the title as he pursued a ground ball which was destined for centerfield until it hit the second base bag. The ball popped in the air toward shallow right, causing Bell to spin with his back to the infield. He caught the ball, spun back towards first base while making a desperate attempt to throw out the runner.
Unfortunately, umpire Larry Young was standing between Bell and first base. Bell's throw nailed Young in the left eye. "It was one of those weird things where Larry happened to be in the way and I caught him pretty flush," Bell told the Associated Press. Now with seven stitches, Young is expected to return to his duties in a couple of weeks.
The promising 21-year-old St. Louis Cardinals southpaw Rick Ankiel had a rough start against the Houston Astros on Saturday. Throwing only 56 of 99 pitches for strikes, Ankiel surrendered two home runs, walked five batters, struck out six, and gave up four earned runs. Ankiel also hit a batter and threw one wild pitch in five innings, and has struggled to shake his comparison to another Rick - Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn from Major League. Control problems from last year's postseason disaster remain an issue for Ankiel, who picked up the loss to even his record at one-and-one.
Barry Bonds hit his 501st career home run in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against the Dodgers. The homer extended his streak of consecutive games with a home run to six, tying him with Greg Nettles for NL record. Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly, and Dale Long jointly hold the Major League record with eight consecutive games with a home run. But Nettles, Mattingly, Long, and Griffey (as of today) are not members of baseball's premier career power-hitting club, the 500 homerun club, which Bonds joined a day earlier.
On Tuesday, Bonds hit Terry Adams' 2-0 slider into McCovey Cove for his 500th career home run. He became the 17th player to accomplish such a feat, and the first since Mark McGwire slammed his 500th in 1999. Adding more excitement to the milestone shot was the fact that Bonds' two run homer came in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Giants down 2-1 to the Dodgers. This proved to be the game-winning RBI and run scored, as the Giants held on to win 3-2. Bonds has hit seven balls into McCovey Cove, which lies behind the right field wall of Pac Bell Park. Only eight balls have ever been hit into the bay.
