A local animator kid called me on the phone Thursday night, asking me if I would read the lines for an older unicorn part in one of his self-produced features. I agreed and casually listened to him as he talked about what he had been up to in the last couple weeks since I last saw him. After about five minutes, he said I sounded a little distracted and asked if was in the middle of something. I responded with the line "Do you know who Barry Bonds is?"

Barry Bonds had just stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning at Enron Field in Houston. Throughout the three game series with the San Francisco Giants, the Astros pitchers had thrown nothing but in-the-dirts and way-outsides to Number 25. Barry was momentarily stuck on 69 home runs, one short of Mark McGwire's seemingly untouchable record of 70. As I explained this to the animator, Barry got his first solid pitch of the game--a tailing fastball that would barely hit the outside of the plate. Bonds ripped it into the right field stands. As I screamed into the phone "That's history! That's baseball history!" the animator, oblivious to the circumstances, said he'd call me back later with more details about the unicorn.

The next night, Bonds would smack home runs on his first two at-bats against Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers, On Sunday he whacked one more, claiming the single season home run record as his own at 73. Unlike the Astros pitchers, Park went after him with solid sliders and fastballs, not concerned with becoming the infamous pitcher. He was so unconcerned that he gave up two. I watched Chan Ho Park a few times when he pitched for the Triple A Albuquerque Dukes, and I knew he was destined for greatness. I just didn't know it would be known as the guy who threw the record breaking pitches. I still give the Korean-born pitcher credit for going after Barry.

Bonds not only smashed the home run title, he obliterated the single season walk record held by Babe Ruth. While not as prestigious of a record, it proved that pitchers have been intimidated by Bonds all year. He hit 38 home runs before the All-Star break. This year, Bonds homered once every 6.7 at-bats, and even more astonishing, he homered once every 12.4 times he swung the bat. He hit most of his bombs to right field but showed ability to crank them out to all fields.

For all of Barry's accomplishments this year, people still didn't want him to break the record. Bonds has never been never a media darling, and his rebuking of the press and teammates caused many people to grumble about whether he deserved the record. All these complaints are pointless. The accomplishment is for what Bonds did on the field, not off. Ty Cobb was arguably the biggest prick in baseball history, and he held the career stolen base record for decades until another prick named Ricky Henderson came along and broke it. Henderson broke Cobb's runs scored record just last week.

I'm glad for Barry (and Ricky). The more accomplishments baseball players from this era achieve, the more I can defend my addiction to the game to people on the phone who don't know what I'm talking about. Some of the best players ever to play the game are in uniform for teams right now. Since my hometown will be without a team for another season (the stadium renovations will be done by 2003), it has been a pleasure watching the big leaguers put on a good show for me while I patiently wait.

I'm not the biggest flag waver in the country, I don't know all the words to God Bless America without cheating, and I could pick apart U.S. foreign policy until the cows come home. But there are so many things about the United States I love that I couldn't possibly care about any other country more. Baseball is one of those things. Barry Bonds cranking out home runs is one of those things. Now, the number 73 is one of those things.

Chris Jungle predicts the Mariners will take the World Series in five games against any team in the National League.