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MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 10, 2007

Barry Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Q. Did you think you had it?
BARRY BONDS: I didn't know. I hit it pretty good, I thought, but I caught it behind myself. I was trying to get Reyes over to third and I just kind of like played with the bunt thing to see what he was going to throw. He threw a good split. I wanted to try to just get him over. It was weird hitting second, I'm thinking, I've just got to get the guy over. I'm not used to that.
After, I just said, forget it, I'm going to swing. He threw the pitch and I hit it pretty good, but I didn't hit it good enough.

Q. How emotional was that pregame ceremony for you?
BARRY BONDS: It was, how could you say, icing on the cake. You know, actually being able to walk Willie in was probably the biggest emotional thing because you know, the All-Star Game is here in San Francisco. It could be the last time you see us walk, hopefully, you know, in New York, where he actually started out there because the All-Star Game is going to be in New York next year. Hopefully they invite him for one more time for his -- where he first eventually started with some of the other great Yankee players. That was the greatest thing. That was outstanding to be able to do that and to have the fans cheer; I can't thank them enough. I cannot ever, ever thank them enough. I'll never forget it.

Q. Could you talk about your first at-bat against Haren, first guy gets on, falls behind in the count. He said he didn't want to walk you because he would have been booed out of the stadium. Talk a little about that.
BARRY BONDS: He made a good split. He threw, I think, his fastball, too many fastballs away and threw a good split and came back with a curveball. You're going to see that a lot with the pitchers out here and they pitch one or two innings and, you know, it's a tough situation because they can let it go a little bit easier as though they are a closer or a reliever for an inning. Haren is a great pitcher and, you know, he deserves to be where he's at and he made good pitches. I was trying to get him over.

Q. You talked before the game about being a little tired. But once you got out there and felt the energy of the crowd and the whole thing for Willie, did you get a little adrenaline flowing?
BARRY BONDS: We all have adrenaline here on the National League side because we want to win. We're out there to win. And you can tell. You can see it on the bench. You can see the guys out there playing. You know, weird thing; the All-Star Game has always been Ken Griffey's stage, (laughing) and he's doing it just like he's always done it in every All-Star Game.

Q. The fans we were talking to tonight said they wanted to send a message to the rest of the country to show how much they care about you in this town. We know what it's like when you're on the road and we hear that reaction; what did it mean to you to have your home fans sort of make a statement in addition to applauding you?
BARRY BONDS: It's like I said, I'm lost for words with it. You're actually -- there's too many emotions to be able to explain it. You know, this is my family. These are people, a lot of them I grew up with throughout my years. All you can say is thank you. You don't know what to say. You're just -- you're actually lost for words.
It was, felt good for the first time in a long time, even the early part of my career, All-Star Games were pretty good, but to go out there and be cheered, it's a great feeling. Like I said, I'll be forever grateful.

Q. With all of the great moments you've had in your career, where will this go down as you kind of get more towards the end of your career and all of these All-Star games and everything, where will this go down in your great moments?
BARRY BONDS: Well, this is obviously going to be one of the top, because not only is it in San Francisco, my hometown and with the fans that I consider family, but it's with Willie and it's possibly the last time that, you know, maybe we'll ever see that; and, you know, I had the opportunity to walk with him.

Q. So with all of the anticipation, did the couple of days reach up to where you thought it was going to be?
BARRY BONDS: What?

Q. With all of the anticipation you had, did the couple of days equal what you thought it would be?
BARRY BONDS: Yeah, it was -- it was probably more than what I thought it would be. It was even more.
The Red Carpet ride was fantastic; it was fun. I couldn't believe all of the stuff we were able to get in goody bags, it was awesome. That's the first All-Star Game I've seen where we could get a whole bunch of tee shirts and stuff. You'd think in the City of San Francisco, you're thinking about the traffic and how to get here and what they do. It's just been great to get around the city and to do things in the way that people have responded here. It's just exciting. To be in a big city, those are big stages and San Francisco did it right.

Q. Did you and Willie talk during that ceremony, and could you share any of that, and how do you think he responded to that knowing him so long?
BARRY BONDS: No. We didn't talk at all. Willie, it was Willie's stage, and it was just mine and Jeter's position to make sure he got to the right place he was supposed to go. Obviously everyone know's Willy's eyesight is not as good as it once was and we wanted to be there to make sure Willie got to the places he needed to get to.

Q. How do you see him in situations --
BARRY BONDS: I see him every day.

Q. How would you characterize the way he felt about this?
BARRY BONDS: Excited. Happy. You know, when he gave his jacket to Ken Griffey, Junior, and then he gave his other jacket to Derek Jeter, you know, it was just -- it was almost emotional for us. Because for someone of his stature to do something like that is just overwhelming, and just his -- showing his appreciation to us as ballplayers as well is just, you know, really happy and makes us really feel happy and proud and the fans' reception toward him was just great.
Willie was saying, "Back up, back up," and it just makes you feel really good as a ballplayer.

Q. Did Tony talk to you about just having two at-bats, or were you surprised that you came out?
BARRY BONDS: Yeah, he told me we would do two at-bats. And we have three or four outfielders, left fielders there, so it's fair. Tony said we're all going to play and I think it's the right thing to do.

End of FastScripts

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