Bonds hits #754

SAN FRANCISCO -- It may not have been the "Shot Heard 'Round The World," but Rick Vanden Hurk is pretty sure Barry Bond's 754th home run was widely known in The Netherlands.
Born in Holland, the 22-year-old Vanden Hurk is a budding sensation in his native country. While he says there is a nine-hour time difference to where his family lives, he knows they were up following Friday night's 12-10 Giants win over the Marlins at AT&T Park.

In the first inning, Vanden Hurk became the 444th different Major League pitcher to allow a home run to Bonds, who now is one shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record.

"I left a changeup up, and he hit it out," Vanden Hurk said.

While the Marlins suffered their fifth straight loss, they couldn't help but admire the achievement Bonds is about to claim.

After his homer, Bonds walked four straight times.

In the third inning, when he reached, Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs offered some thoughts to the legendary Giant.

"Basically I told him, 'You probably already know this, but this was something special to watch,'" Jacobs told Bonds at the bag. "I think he appreciated it. Obviously, he's in his 20th year and I'm in my second year. I'm sure what I say goes in one ear and out the other, but he was pretty talkative with me over there. It was neat to chit-chat with him. I told him that it was something special to watch."

Jacobs has some perspective when thinking about Bonds' career.

"I look at it like this, throughout my Minor League career, I don't have as many hits as he has home runs," Jacobs said. "I played seven years in the Minor Leagues. And he has more than 700 home runs in the big leagues. That's pretty amazing. Just the consistency, the power and everything he does is pretty special."

In Bonds' final plate appearance, he drew a walk after falling behind 0-2 to lefty reliever Taylor Tankersley.

"I was not trying to go around him. I was trying to go right at him," Tankersley said. "I got ahead, and I overthrew a couple of pitches. Obviously, he's not one known to chase balls out of the zone. I walked him. That's not really what I wanted to do, but I did challenge him early. Hopefully, I get another shot.

"I go in there thinking, 'This is the greatest hitter of all time. And it's going to be an honor to get him out.' I didn't get him out."

By Joe Fesaro,