Will the Cardinals pitch to Barry Bonds in the NLCS? Before Game 1, Tony La Russa seemed to indicate the Giants' slugger may need to expand his strike zone a bit if he wants to get his cuts in. Even sounded a little like a challenge, in fact.
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| NLCS SERIES TOTALS |
| AB |
Hits |
Walks |
R/RBI |
Balls |
Strikes |
| 11 |
3 |
10 |
5/6 |
57 |
38 |
|
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Well, there's no problem with a little gamesmanship, but real baseball fans want to see Barry hit. So, we'll issue a challenge of our own: Give Barry something to hit or be branded gutless (or worse) by the Barr-O-Meter, our completely prejudiced rating system that measures nothing more than whether a pitcher even gives Barry a sniff. Not whether it's the most sound strategic move, not whether it's the only feasible option, not whether it worked out in the end ... nothing, except whether Barry gets a shot at ending all the "yeah, but in the postseason ..." talk.
So, for each of Bonds' at-bats during the series, we'll be charting the Cardinals' manhood with the Barr-O-Meter, awarding up to four balls (baseballs, that is) for how much a pitcher challenges Barry.
Game 5
At-bat No. 1: 2nd inning vs. Matt Morris, leading off.
What went down: Showing much better command than in Game 1, Morris went fastball outside corner, curveball in for a ball and then two more fastballs away. Bonds lined out to left field.
Pitches: 1 ball, 3 strikes
The end result: Morris perfect through two innings.
Barr-O-Meter rating: 
Morris looks like he's dealing tonight. Expect him to go after Bonds.
At-bat No. 2: 4th inning, two outs, Kenny Lofton on third, 0-0 tie.
What went down: An obvious walk situation. Morris threw a fastball down and away and then Bonds lined out again to left on a pitch on the outside corner. It may have been the first ball he swung at all series.
Pitches: 1 ball, 1 strike
The end result: Morris has no-hitter intact.
Barr-O-Meter rating: 
It was probably the right situation for Bonds to expand his zone a little bit. But Morris made a nice pitch.
At-bat No. 3: 6th inning, two outs, runner on second, game still tied 0-0
What went down: Intentional walk, his third of the series (official ones, anyway).
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: Benito Santiago grounds out to end the inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: No balls. Right move, however. Sometimes fear is the correct approach.
At-bat No. 4: 8th inning, bases loaded, one out, Cardinals up 1-0.
What went down: Matt Morris stays in the game. Bonds swings at the first pitch, a fastball at the knees but down the middle ... flyball to deep left field. Caught. Sac fly. 1-1.
Pitches: 0 balls, 1 strike
The end result: Santiago grounds out to leave the game tied.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Great drama. Let's go to the ninth.
Game 4
At-bat No. 1: 1st inning vs. Andy Benes, two outs, runner on 1st.
What went down: Bonds glared at ump Jeff Kellogg after a fastball on the corner was called a strike. Bonds took another fastball for a strike, took a splitter low and then was caught in front of another splitter, but singled to right.
Pitches: 1 ball, 3 strikes
The end result: Benito Santiago flied out to end the inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: A close call against Barry? Say it ain't so!
At-bat No. 2: 4th inning vs. Benes, one out, bases empty, Cardinals up 2-0.
What went down: Bonds swung at the first pitch and grounded sharply to second base.
Pitches: 0 balls, 1 strike
The end result: Benes pitching a shutout through four.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Even Bonds can't hit a two-run homer with nobody on base.
At-bat No. 3: 6th inning vs. Benes, one out, runner on 1st, Cardinals still leading 2-0.
What went down: Three splitters below the knees, and a fastball away.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: Rick White comes in and gets Santiago, but J.T. Snow doubles in two runs to tie the game.
Barr-O-Meter rating: 
Who would you rather have beat you, Bonds or Snow?
At-bat No. 4: 8th inning vs. Rick White, two outs, bases empty, tied 2-2.
What went down: The Cardinals and White didn't mess around and just intentionally walked Bonds.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: Disaster. Benito Santiago follows with a two-run homer.
Barr-O-Meter rating: No balls. But, hey, walking Bonds was the right move. And anyone who says it wasn't is nuts.
Game 3
At-bat No. 1: 1st inning vs. Chuck Finley, Kenny Lofton on 2nd with two outs.
What went down: It seemed like the perfect intentional walk situation, but Finley instead nibbled for strikes, but missed with four fastballs.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: After a mental miscue by Fernando Vina, Finley got out of a bases-loaded jam with no runs.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Finley really didn't want anything to do with Bonds. But why not just throw four wide ones? It's not like Bonds will chase anything that's an inch or two off the plate.
At-bat No. 2: 2nd inning, two outs, bases loaded, Giants up 1-0.
What went down: Nowhere to put Bonds in what could have been the defining moment of the NLCS. Finley threw a splitter low and then got in on Bonds' hands. Barry popped it up to shallow right field.
Pitches: 1 ball, 1 strike
The end result: Giants have left six runners on through two innings.
Barr-O-Meter rating: The trend continues: when the Cardinals go after Bonds, he hasn't produced.
At-bat No. 3: 5th inning, no outs, runners on first and second, Cardinals up 4-1.
What went down: Finley threw a slider away for ball one. He then tried to bust Bonds on his hands like in the second inning. This time it didn't work as Barry turned on the pitch, depositing it into McCovey Cove.
Pitches: 1 ball, 1 strike
The end result: Tie game, 4-4.
Barr-O-Meter rating: We were wrong! The trend is broken. Finley went after Bonds and paid dearly for it.
At-bat No. 4: 7nd inning, one out, Rich Aurilia on second, Cardinals up 5-4. Dave Veres in the game.
What went down: With first base open, the Cardinals didn't challenge Bonds as they decided to intentionally walk him.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: Benito Santiago beat out an infield hit to load the bases, but then Veres struck out Reggie Sanders for the second out. Steve Kline then took over and induced J.T. Snow to ground out to end the inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: No balls. We agreed with the decision though, especially with first base open and with Bonds' bomb in his previous at-bat still fresh in the mind.
At-bat No. 5: 9th inning, bases empty, one out. Jason Isringhausen in to protect 5-4 lead.
What went down: Izzy threw his knuckle-curve for strike one, threw a curve in the dirt for ball, missed way inside with a fastball and missed with a fastball and curve.
Pitches: 4 balls, 1 strike
The end result: Izzy fanned Benito Santiago and got Sanders to fly out to end the game.
Barr-O-Meter rating: 
Bonds wouldn't chase a close one. Maybe he should have.
Game 2
At-bat No. 1: 1st inning, two outs, none on base, Giants up 1-0.
What went down: Woody Williams got ahead on Bonds 0-and-2 after getting a called first strike on a curveball and a swinging strike with a slider. Bonds worked the count full before Williams challenged him with a fastball, which Bonds lined to right fielder J.D. Drew to end the inning.
Pitches: 3 balls, 3 strikes
The end result: Williams escapes the first having given up one run on a solo homer by Rich Aurilia, the second batter of the game.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Hey, Williams didn't shy away from him and didn't pay for it.
At-bat No. 2: 3rd inning, two outs, Jeff Kent on first base, Giants up 1-0.
What went down: Williams again got ahead on Bonds 0-and-2. And again Bonds worked the count full, fouling off two pitches to get to that point. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Williams threw a tight-breaking curveball that Bonds swung through for strike three.
Pitches: 3 balls, 5 strikes
The end result: Good for Williams, bad for Bonds. Two at-bats, two outs for Barry.
Barr-O-Meter rating: What's not to like about Williams? You must admit, the guy shows no fear at all.
At-bat No. 3: Leading off the sixth against Williams, Giants up 3-0.
What went down: For the first time, Williams fell behind in the count. He threw Bonds three balls in the first four pitches and then got a borderline strike call on the fifth pitch to bring the count full. Bonds then fouled off two pitches before taking ball four on a pitch in the dirt.
Pitches: 4 balls, 4 strikes
The end result: Bonds got on base, but it didn't matter as Williams retired the next three batters to end the inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: A leadoff walk is never good, but it didn't hurt Williams.
At-bat No. 4: 8th inning, one out, Rich Aurilia on first, Giants up 3-0, Jeff Fassero in the game.
What went down: The lefty Fassero got ahead 0-and-2 by getting two called strikes on fastballs. Bonds then took ball one on a pitch in the dirt. Fassero finished off Bonds on the next pitch by throwing a fastball which Barry swung through.
Pitches: 1 ball, 3 strikes
The end result: Great job by Fassero, who went right after Bonds. Fassero then induced Benito Santiago to fly out to center to end the inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Much like Williams did in the first three at-bats, Fassero went right after Bonds. And he won the battle.
Game 1
At-bat No. 1: 1st inning, two outs, Kenny Lofton on third base.
What went down: Matt Morris throws four straight fastballs way outside of the strike zone.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: The walk backfired when Benito Santiago drove in Lofton with an infield single.
Barr-O-Meter rating: No balls. An "intentional" walk in the top of first? (Hey, we agreed!)
At-bat No. 2: 2nd inning, two outs, runners at 1st and 2nd, Giants up 2-0.
What went down: Bonds chased a high fastball on the first pitch and then Morris went after him with curveballs. Bonds tripled to right-center on a 2-1 hanging curve.
Pitches: 2 balls, 2 strikes
The end result: Good for Barry, bad for Morris. Bonds' two-run triple made it 4-0.
Barr-O-Meter rating: We think Morris meant to throw that curveball in the dirt.
At-bat No. 3: 4th inning, no outs, Jeff Kent on 1st, Giants up 6-1.
What went down: First pitch was up just a bit, next three not even close.
Pitches: 4 balls, 0 strikes
The end result: Morris escaped damage when Santiago grounded into a double play and J.T. Snow bounced out.
Barr-O-Meter rating: No balls. Down by five and you don't pitch to him?
At-bat No. 4: 6th inning, two outs, nobody on, Mike Crudale now pitching.
What went down: Crudale appeared to go after him, but a 3-2 changeup was low and outside for ball four.
Pitches: 4 balls, 2 strikes
The end result: Santiago followed with a long homer to left to make it 9-3.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Two-out walks are better than no-out walks. Sometimes.
At-bat No. 5: Leading off the ninth against lefty Steve Kline.
What went down: Kline fell behind 2-0, but went right after him. Bonds fouled off four pitches before grounding out to second.
Pitches: 3 balls, 7 strikes
The end result: Kline has 1-2-3 inning.
Barr-O-Meter rating: Hmm, the one time they went hard after him, they got him out.
Pennant Race
