Old Veteran

Bonds Appreciation Day in Pittsburgh

In the summer of 1986 I met Barry Bonds at the McDonald's on Fort Couch Road in Bethel Park.   

I was 16 and just driving, so I stopped in for a hamburger and saw the sign inside:  "Meet Pirate Rookie Barry Bonds."  There he was in the corner booth, all alone.   I sat down and he asked me how I was doing while signing his autograph.  And that was about it. 

In the years that followed, on weekend day games I would go with my dad or brother or friend and watch games at Three Rivers.  The tickets my Dad had were in the front row, about on the turf 15 seats down the line from third.  My memories of Barry Bonds are at eye level, his launching drives to right. 

Fast forward 25 years now, and how does Pittsburgh remember Barry Bonds?  

I vote for a Barry Bonds Appreciation Day next year, to break the streak.  

At the very least, we pay our due respects to his prodigious baseball talent.  

How about a skinny statue where home plate was at Three Rivers?

The photo below appeared in the Post-Gazette during one of his last visits.

That's me there, taking his picture in the lower left corner of the crowd, wearing the Homestead Grays hat.

I took this photo of his 663 home run in April 2004 in San Francisco.

Let's do a Bonds Appreciation Day in Pittsburgh next year, maybe when the Giants come to town as World Champions.