Bonds to come off DL on Monday
09/10/2005 8:19 PM ET
Bonds to come off DL on Monday
Slugger to play for the first time since Oct. 3 of last season
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds will be activated from the disabled list on
Monday after months of rehab on his surgically repaired right knee, he
confirmed to MLB.com on Saturday.
The Giants made the announcement during the seventh inning of their 5-2 loss
to the Cubs on Saturday and then flashed the news on the center-field
scoreboard at SBC Park to the vocal approval from a sellout crowd of 42,013.
"I'm excited," Bonds told MLB.com. "It's been a long haul. About a month ago,
I really didn't think I would make it back this year. Now let's see what
happens."
The third-leading all-time home run hitter is expected to be back in the
Giants' starting lineup against the San Diego Padres 225 days after the first
of three surgeries this year on his right knee.
"It'll be a return to normalcy," Giants president Larry Baer said. "Fans here
are used to seeing the Giants with Barry Bonds in the lineup. We know that
some day that will end, but we weren't planning for that to happen this year.
We planned this year for Barry to play."
Bonds' return appeared imminent when he told MLB.com on Friday night that he
was "real close" to playing again.
"I think Monday is going to be the day," Bonds said at the time.
The Padres, who play a three-game series at SBC Park next week, enter play on
Sunday leading the Giants by seven games in the National League West.
Bonds took the day off Saturday from his workout schedule after five
consecutive days on the baseball field. He'll pick it up again on Sunday and
prepare to play for the first time since Oct. 3, the final game of the 2004
season. Thus, he will resume his pursuit of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron for the
all-time homer record. Bonds is at 703, 11 behind Ruth's 714 and 52 away from
Aaron's 755.
Bonds has been under the care of Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angels' orthopedic
specialist, and physical therapist Clive Brewster since June 24, most of that
time spent at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles.
He said he was ultimately cleared to return to the active 40-man roster during
a conversation with Yocum on Saturday afternoon, as the Giants lost for the
fourth time in their last six games.
"Dr. Yocum just said I could go if I feel up to it," Bonds said. "And I feel
up to it."
Bonds began working out with the team on Monday in Los Angeles after a week of
taking batting practice in a cage. Since then, he has felt no adverse effects
from being back on a baseball field.
On Friday, Bonds had a standout round of batting practice, clanking baseballs
against empty bleachers all over the far reaches of the ballpark. He then did
some hard sprinting in the outfield with Giants trainers Harvey Shields and
Greg Oliver, who both work with Bonds on a day-to-day basis.
Through Sunday, the 41-year-old Bonds will have missed all 142 Giants games
this season, by far the most of his 20-year career.
Bonds missed 60 games in 1998 because of surgery on his right elbow and that
same right knee.
Manager Felipe Alou said after the game that he hadn't had much time to digest
the news that his top left-handed slugger would be available the final 20
games of the season. He learned of it on the scoreboard with the rest of SBC
Park crowd.
"[Sunday] will be the day to make some plans," Alou said.
Neither Alou nor Bonds know how many innings he'll be available to play. Bonds
said he also doesn't know if he'll be available for consecutive games at this
point, either. The Giants have only one off-day during the final three weeks
of the season, a travel day on Sept. 19, before they open a 10-game trip to
Washington, D.C., Colorado and San Diego.
"Everything is up in the air," Bonds said. "One day leads to the next day, you
know what I mean?"
Clearly, Bonds, who played in a team-high 147 games a year ago, won't be
starting day games after night games or on days when the turf is slippery.
"If there's any rain, I won't be playing," he said. "I don't think anyone
wants that, particularly me."
Despite hobbling on injured knees the final six weeks of last season, Bonds
had one of the best years of his career, leading the National League with a
.362 batting average. He added 45 homers, 101 RBIs, scored 129 runs and
shattered his own records with 232 walks, 120 of them intentional. Consider
that this season, the Padres' Brian Giles leads the Majors with 105 walks.
In addition, Bonds' .609 on-base percentage was the best for a single season
in baseball history, while his slugging percentage of .812 was the fourth best
behind the all-time leading .863 he recorded during the 2001 season, the year
he broke Mark McGwire's record and hit 73 home runs.
Since the end of last season, Bonds has had operations four times to repair
his knees, beginning with a procedure to scrape debris from beneath his left
kneecap on Oct. 12.
He then had surgery to remove meniscus from the problematic right knee on Jan.
31 and March 17. After a serious bacterial infection set in that threatened
the very existence of his lower right leg, Bonds had surgery again on May 2 to
eradicate that infection. About seven weeks later he was sent to Los Angeles
on a rehab assignment that netted the positive result of his return this
season.
"I thank Clive and Yocum," Bonds said. "Clive, especially, who was there every
single day. With their support and effort it paid off, and I'm here."
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject
to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs
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