Bonds isn’t feeling pressure – yet

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 7, 2001

When Mariners catcher Tom Lampkin speaks about the scrutiny Barry Bonds will experience in the next 2 1/2 months, you might want to listen.

Lampkin was with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 when his best friend, Mark McGwire, swatted away the intense pressure much the way he did opponents’ pitches and belted 70 home runs. Lampkin also was Bonds’ teammate with the Giants in 1995 and ‘96, and he is familiar with Barry’s sometimes-volatile temperament compared with McGwire’s polite humility.

With 39 home runs (through Friday), Bonds may be more than halfway to the record but he hasn’t experienced a 10th of the scrutiny that is bound to come his way if he keeps up the pace. He hit most of those 39 without reporters hanging from his locker every day, without cameras focused on every swing, without opposing teams giving him anything but a fat pitch to hit.

“August first is when it’s going to start,” Lampkin said. “Everyone will be watching, and that’s when he’ll start feeling it. It’s going to get intense.”

Lampkin says McGwire had the perfect mindset to handle the attention and pass Roger Maris’ 37-year-old record of 61 homers.

“I don’t think Mark cared about the record,” Lampkin said. “There came a point when he knew he was going to break it. But Mark believed the media made a bigger deal out of it than he thought it was. He didn’t understand why people would come out to see a guy hit the ball into the parking lot. He didn’t understand why they would pay just to see him take batting practice.

“I would tell him, ‘But Mark, a guy like you doesn’t come around too often.’ “

Lampkin isn’t saying Bonds won’t break the record, but he is sure the next 31 home runs won’t come nearly as easy as the first 39.

“There are a lot of elements that have to fall in place for the record to be broken,” Lampkin said. “He’ll face teams that are in the race who won’t pitch to him. He’s got to stay strong all year.”

And, most of all, Bonds still has a lot more long balls to hit.

“He still needs 31 more,” Lampkin said. “That’s an unbelievable number to hit in half a season. You just don’t walk out there and hit 70 home runs.

“Last year and the year before, Mark came close again but he didn’t do it. He told me, ‘I don’t think anybody’s going to break it for a while.’ There are just too many things that have to be perfect.

“Barry has the talent to do it and he plays in the ballpark to do it. But if I knew he would do it, I’d be in Vegas betting on it.”

Joe Torre probably won’t be the most popular guy in Seattle this week when he manages the American League All-Star team. Choosing seven of his New York Yankees and snubbing a few worthy Mariners will do that to a manager.

Mariners manager Lou Piniella remembers having a city breathing fire down his neck after he managed the 1991 All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

“I got everyone in the game but one guy. John Kruk,” Piniella said. “It was a 2-1 ballgame and we needed (to save someone as) a pinch-hitter. Every time I went to Philadelphia I got the heck booed out of me because I didn’t get the Philly guy into the game.

“You’re very cognizant of the fact that you’re trying to get as many people into the ballgame as possible. But we had to save a couple of people because of the chance of extra innings.”

Mariners first baseman John Olerud has seen the fans turn out in every major league city to watch right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, so he wasn’t shocked to see Suzuki get such a huge number of votes for the All-Star Game.

“You never know if somebody’s going to get recognized their first half season,” Olerud said. “Sometimes it takes a while for people to notice or appreciate what somebody like Ichiro does, especially a guy who doesn’t go out and hit home runs.

“But it doesn’t surprise me with the type of year he’s had. All the hits he’s gotten, the defensive plays he’s made, his ability to steal bases. He’s definitely a talent that I would think people want to see out there playing.”

Just by looking at the numbers – 107 steals in 1 1/2seasons – it’s obvious Jamal Strong is one of the fastest players in the Seattle Mariners’ organization.

How fast?

“On a 2-8 scale (used by the Mariners to rate speed), he’s an 8 runner,” said Benny Looper, the Mariners’ director of player development.

That doesn’t mean Strong could beat Ichiro Suzuki in a footrace.

“If we had a 9 or 10 on the scale, Ichiro would be a 9 or 10,” Looper said. “But with Jamal, he’s an 8 runner and it’s a two-way tool for him. He uses it on defense and he uses it on offense. With the bat, he’s learning how to utilize that speed. He needs to keep the ball on the ground and hit from gap to gap.”

Strong, a center fielder who stole 60 bases with the Class A Everett AquaSox last season, began this year at Class A Appleton, Wis., and was quickly promoted to Class A San Bernardino, Calif. Looper says there’s nothing specific about his game that needs dramatic attention.

“He just needs to continue what he’s doing,” Looper said. “Continue to work on all facets of the game. Getting jumps, taking good routes, being able to bunt. Nothing is glaring. He doesn’t have a real strong arm, but it’s probably as strong as it’s going to get. It’s playable.”

Looper says Strong would be a nice fit in left field, even though most of his experience is in center.

“He plays a good center field because of his speed,” Looper said. “But we’ve got a big left field here (at Safeco Field) with a lot of ground to cover. It will depend as he moves up on what our choices are for center field.”

Through the 2003 season (the length of Mike Cameron’s contract), there are none.