Bonds' Anti-Climactic Trip To Shea

We've been fortunate enough, during our time here in New York, to see the Shea Stadium crowd riled up a few times, including our favorite, John Rocker's return to Shea for the first time, in June 2000, since his infamous 7 train remarks. (As was typical at the time, the crowd booed him lustily, and he proceeded to throw a scoreless inning.) But we had anticipated that this weekend, when Barry Bonds came to Shea, would be the loudest of all. We actually feared for Bonds' safety, a rare occurrence.

But we don't feel that way anymore. Perhaps if Bonds had not finally limped past Babe Ruth, it would be different, but for now, there's a lack of palpable buzz about Bonds' trip to Shea Stadium tonight. Sure, the tabloids are trying to stoke the flames, but we're not sure even the rabid New York fans have it in them to get too crazy about Bonds anymore. (We'll be at the game tomorrow, but we're not really the booing type. We're more the "quietly keep score" type. Nerd.) The Bonds business seems over now, no stomach for outrage, no fever for fury. Perhaps this is for the best. It's tough to be too fired up to razz a guy with a walker.

Public Enemy No. 1 [New York Daily News]