Gary Peterson

Through the magic of Hi-Def (high definition) -- or was it Wi-Think (wishful thinking)? -- more than a few people watched Barry Bonds go 0-for-12 last weekend and believed they saw Willie Mays falling down in the outfield.

One ball out of the infield in three games against the Dodgers. Fifteen runners left on base. A hitless streak extended to 20 at-bats. Was this the end of Bonds as we knew him? Or was this the end of Bonds?

The answer came Thursday. It may or may not have landed as we speak.

On the first swing of his first start since his shocking lost weekend, Bonds drove a Ted Lilly pitch over and out of Wrigley Field for his 752^nd career home run. They say it came down on Sheffield Avenue, but it was overcast and dark. Even money says it’s still skipping across Lake Michigan.

A few innings later, perhaps as a point of emphasis for those of us who could not believe what we just saw, Bonds raked a Will Ohman pitch through a merciless onshore gale for No. 753, good for three runs.

So much for the voices in the chorus -- they weren’t all chuckleheads, by the way -- who questioned whether Bonds had it in him to hit the requisite home runs to surpass Henry Aaron’s major league record of 755 this season. Bonds woke up Thursday four off the record, and went to bed trailing by two. Not a bad day’s work.

Of course, he needed three days of (mostly) rest to rediscover his happy place. Knees, hamstrings, shins, liver spots -- Bonds was really going through a dose of misery. It was a colossally pregnant pause. There was speculation that Bonds had simply lost it all, that he was in the same place Mays found himself in 1973.

Wanting to retire in May, but asked to stay on by Mets owner Joan Payson, Mays batted .211 with six home runs that year. Those Mets made it to the World Series against the Oakland A’s. Mays had nothing left. He stumbled not once, but twice trying to make plays in center field. Ever since, he has been the cautionary tale for athletes sticking around for two seasons too long.

We saw conclusively Thursday that Bonds isn’t there yet. In addition to his two homers, he dunked a bases-loaded single into center field. He finished with six RBIs. It took Mays the final two months of the ’73 season to collect his final two homers and six RBIs.

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In other words: Cancel the He Didn’t Do It party.

Bonds is going to do it, perhaps sooner than later. If the Giants really have hit upon the magic formula for keeping him fresh, he could have it done within the week. Or maybe not, since the magic formula, as outlined by manager Bruce Bochy a couple days ago, includes no day games after night games, and occasional two-day rests.

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It’s a tricky balancing act, trying to keep a guy Bonds’ age (he turns 43 on Tuesday) rested, while also playing him often enough to find a groove. Clearly his playing time was out of balance the first half of the season. Bonds played in 81 of the Giants’ first 89 games -- often the day after a night game, or after a cross-country flight.

If that didn’t contribute to the streaky nature of his play, well, something has. After hitting eight home runs with a .338 average his first 29 games, Bonds hit .213 with one homer over his next 27. He hit five home runs in 18 games between June 11-July 3, then embarked on the one-for-22 extended face plant he took with him to Chicago.

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If the Giants truly have found the secret to keeping Bonds fresh, now’s the time to use it. They currently are one week into a killer stretch of 48 games in 48 days. To repeat: Bonds just about keeled over after the first three.

It should be an interesting ride in more ways than one. There’s the record, of course. There’s also the trade deadline. The Giants almost assuredly will be sellers, mired in last place in the National League West and with no shortage of overly compensated, under-performing veterans. Even if there was a chance for a turnaround that would change the dynamic, it would be undermined by the need to sit Bonds every three or four days (sometimes for two games in a row).

Thus, with the All-Star Game come and gone, Giants fans will have to content themselves with the home run chase, which gained new legs Thursday -- as did its author. As for the rumors of Bonds’ complete and utter athletic demise, they’re right on the money.

Just not yet, is all.

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