Ruth Extends Middle Finger From Great Beyond

Remember when Barry Bonds was hit in the melon by a foul ball during batting practice, and some said that it was Babe Ruth reaching out to smite him from that big whorehouse in the sky? Giants radio announcer Dave Flemming laughed that one off, but he's not laughing now. Flemming was in the midst of calling Bonds' 715th homer on Sunday — the ball had just left Barry's bat — when his microphone went dead. It was The Shot Heard 'Round The Booth And Nowhere Else; all KNBR-680 listeners got was crowd noise. "All I can say is (the microphone) worked during pre-game," KNBR program director Lee Hammer said. "It worked for four innings. It worked until the ball got to about second base. I wish I knew what happened."

For posterity then, here's the call:

Three-and-two. Finley runs. The payoff pitch, a swing and a drive to deep cen ...

Kind of give you goosebumps, doesn't it?

More on Bonds' homer after the jump ... and then, we promise, we're all done with this. We can all move on. (Oh, and no one won the Bonds contest, by the way. Surprisingly enough, no one picked Byung Hyun Kim.)

Flemming's Microphone Goes Dead During Call [SF Gate] Fan Snags No. 715 — In Concessions Line [MSNBC] Down Goes Bonds [Deadspin]

More thoughts on No. 715:

• A big tip of the cap to Byung Hyun Kim, who dished up the pitch that ended our grievous national suffering. I think a statue is in order; it should depict Kim delivering a very hittable fastball down the middle of the plate. He did it for America. He is a hero.

• It may have been the saddest milestone home run ever hit. Besides the radio fiasco, and the fact that the Giants were down 6-0 at the time and ended up losing, there was this: The ball was caught by a guy waiting in line to buy beer.

• As the dust settles, the Giants suddenly realize they have a cleanup hitter who's hitting .254, sits out 25 percent of his team's games and can't run. As Big Stein was fond of saying on Seinfeld: "I smell a pennant!"

• Seriously: Bonds finally hit the homer. We can all go back to our lives now.