I didn't get to see the game yesterday where Barry Bonds hit the record-tying 714th homerun, but I did go to the game he and the Giants were playing against the A's the day before. It was a great game, at least in terms of suspense and drama. Obviously a lot of people came expecting the longball, but it turned out to be a pitching duel that the A's won 1-0. It was also fun for me to watch because it was a "Battle of the Bay" game, and since I didn't really have a horse in the race (although nominally I support the A's since they were my neighborhood team for so long) it was amusing to watch the crowd interact. (Case in point: a fan dropped a foul ball. A's fans next to me: "That's such a Giants move.")
It was a "sell out" crowd of about 35,000, although they still were able to sell me a ticket despite this condition. I'm not entirely sure I approve of what the A's have done with the place: they've closed off (tarped-over) the upper deck of the Coliseum. Now, for a normal game that only draws between 10-20,000 fans, that's great because it makes the stadium more intimate. But for a game like this that could easily sell out the entire park, I think it's a mistake. I've been to the Coliseum when it was a 45,000-person sell out, and I think they should take advantage of that extra capacity for high-demand games like these. It doesn't seem right to me to needlessly shut people out from the game when the stadium can handle them. (Nor does it seem right for the cost to attend to so dramatically increase because of the lessened capacity. The A's have a lot of loyal blue-collar families in its fan base, and they shouldn't be priced out of the opportunity to have a nice family outing at the park. Especially given how affordable the A's games have been, it would quite the sudden and unwelcome change if the A's suddenly became much less financially accessible. True, there are still some cheap seats on Mt. Davis (the outfield) and they may still do $2 Wednesdays, but even high-demand games should be available for loyal fans to go to without needing a mortgage.)
Anyway, play-wise I still have criticisms of how the A's run the bases (except for Kotsay, who tagged up excellently), and the A's batters are looking incredibly undisciplined (striking out swinging), but the fielding was great and so was the pitching, and this is why the A's won over the Giants.
The A's got their one run somewhat early, and then the rest of the game was a matter of holding the lead. Which can be a little suspenseful under normal circumstances, and these weren't normal circumstances: Barry Bonds was on the prowl for a home run. He had no luck in the earlier innings (the starting A's pitcher held the Giants to only a handful of hits through the 8th innings), and even though everyone was expecting him to hit it out of the park, by the time the 9th inning rolled around he still hadn't.
Now, granted with the A's lead being so small, had he hit a home run it would have been a big deal. The problem is, though, that swinging for the fences tends to also result in a lot of strikeouts. Which, with two outs in the top of the 9th, is not what the Giants needed. What they needed was to stay alive.
But quickly there were two strikes on Bonds, who was now up at the plate. He backed away from the batter's box to take in the signs. I turned to the guy next to me, "You know, he should bunt. It would be so unexpected he'd probably get a hit out of it." But he didn't take my advice, he swung for the fences, and so he went down on strikes. Game over, the end.
In yesterday's game he finally did connect for his home run, and the Giants won 2-1. So in that case the home run obviously helped the Giants win the game (as did the A's lackluster hitting), and to be sure it would have helped in the earlier game. But sometimes going for the home run really is the bridge too far. Sometimes it's only a hit that's really needed to help the team along. But because so much for the Giants is about Bonds and his home runs, the team ends up depending on them more than they should. He can't obviously hit home runs all the time (he hadn't his one before yesterday since around May 8) yet the team still needs to win every day. If the other 8 people can get involved, the team just might, but in putting all the eggs in one slugger's home run basket their victory is much less likely.