If You Give a Little, He Will Take a Lot

I think it was a home run.

Nasty boos became respectful cheers. A bejeweled man raised his pony-keg arms to the sky. Flashbulbs glowed through the evening heat.

I think it was home run.

But I never really got a good look.

Who did?

A swing. A blur of white. A couple of fans jumping around in the right field corner.

Barry Bonds’ 67th home run in the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium Monday didn’t sail, or fly, or soar, or perform anything other flighty action once used to the describe balls hit by the man he is chasing.

It simply disappeared.

Quick and stunning and perfect.

A James Baldwin slider. Low.

An inside fastball. Fouled.

Another inside fastball. Gone.

It was only the third decent pitch Bonds had seen in four plate appearances.

So locked-in these days, it is all he requires.

“I knew it had a good chance,” Bonds said, smiling.

While hitting 70 homers in 1998, Mark McGwire was a slow-moving circus.

This is a fast-gathering storm.

What McGwire did was warm and sentimental.

What happened Monday was cold and real.

“He’s not God,” said Dodger Paul Lo Duca, shaking his head. “But he is one helluva player.”

It seems clear now that Bonds will break McGwire’s record, seeing as he has 11 more games to hit four more homers.

Also clear is that when it is done, we will not weep, but gasp.

McGwire treated pitches with majesty. Bonds mauls them.

“I don’t think that much up there,” Bonds said. “If it gets in the right position, I hit it out of the ballpark.”

McGwire wanted to be loved. Bonds demands only respect.

“That’s all right, boo me,” he said, smiling. “I’ve been booed my whole life.”

McGwire surrounded by his son, and Roger Maris’ relatives, and 37 years of history.

Bonds could be surrounded by--and this will really send a chill through our town--the Dodgers.

On the mound tonight, Chan Ho Park, a guy who has allowed Bonds five home runs in 36 career at-bats.

Hey Trace, um you ever thought about using him in relief?

On the mound Wednesday, Terry Mulholland, who has allowed Bonds seven homers in 52 bats.

Kevin Brown isn’t actually going into surgery until Thursday, right?

And then, just in case Bonds doesn’t hit two homers off each guy, he will always see the Dodgers in the final three games of the season at Pac Bell Park.

And to think, in his first 13 games against the Dodgers this season, Bonds only hit two homers.

“This is one team that’s gotten me out,” he said before the game. “Whenever I’ve played them, it’s not a fun time for me.”

Afterward, the only thing that stopped him was the guy who caught the homer. The Giants asked that it be returned. The guy refused.

Bonds shrugged.

“If they’re kind enough to give me the ball back, fine,” he said. “If not, just keep it.”

Remember when McGwire would negotiate? Bonds just glares.

But now, here, this week, it’s bigger than him. Now it’s about the history of an entire franchise which, in this respect, can be summed in one sentence.

Wherever Dodgers go, landmark home runs find them.

It only started with Bobby Thomson, and the Shot Heard ‘Round The Shut up Already .

It is Dodger uniforms that everyone sees on replays of Hank Aaron’s 715th homer in 1974.

More Dodger uniforms during Reggie Jackson’s three homers in the 1977 World Series.

The most second-guessed homer in playoff history involved a Dodger manager--you know who--after Jack Clark gave the St. Louis Cardinals a victory in 1985.

Lasorda was asked recently how he would pitch to Bonds this week. He smiled and held up four fingers.

While Bonds’ record-breaking homer might be the most embarrassing in the history of this rivalry, it wouldn’t even be the worst. Remember Joe Morgan’s playoff-squelching blast in 1982?

And it wouldn’t even be Bonds’ first milestone home run against the Dodgers this season.

Who can forget his 500th homer in April, the one accompanied by a celebration that held up the game for 10 minutes, cooling the Dodgers enough to help the Giants clinch a 3-2 victory.

Now comes the news, as reported today by The Times’ Jason Reid, that major league baseball has asked the Dodgers if they would stop the game, then hold a postgame celebration, in case Bonds hits his 71st homer here this week.

The Dodgers said something to the effect of, no stinking way.

Good for them. The only time the Giants have stopped anything for the Dodgers was when Reggie Smith went into the Candlestick Park stands with a bat.

Remember when the San Diego Padres shot off fireworks and displayed a scoreboard greeting in 1998 when Sammy Sosa hit his 63rd homer there?

The Dodgers weren’t going to make the same mistake.

When it comes to home runs, they’ve made enough mistakes.

For a while Monday, it seemed like they had learned from their mistakes.

In Bonds’ first three at-bats, he saw one pitch to hit.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.