Uecker refuses to talk about Bonds-steroids controversy, By: John Shea

Friday, May 5, 2006

Milwaukee -- Barry Bonds didn't play on Thursday. He was in the on-deck circle as a pinch-hitter, representing the possible tying run, when the game ended on Pedro Feliz's fly to center. Bonds put his bat away and called it a day.

The Giants left for Philadelphia after splitting two games here, and Bonds went 0-for-4 without hitting a ball out of the infield. Just as well for old Milwaukee, the town that won't let Hank Aaron go, particularly with Bonds tugging away.

"I hope he doesn't break Babe Ruth's record," said the kind lady running the Miller Park service elevator. "Hank Aaron earned it."

As the good commissioner keeps reminding us, Ruth's 714 homers isn't the record, but that's not the point. The point is, Bonds didn't catch the Sultan of Swat in the land of Hammerin' Hank, remaining two shy.

Now he's going from the mildest to the wildest. Milwaukee was tame compared with other cities in which Bonds appeared this season, but up next is Philadelphia, where pitcher Cory Lidle fired the first shot at Bonds, saying of his record of 73 homers in 2001, "I don't think it's legitimate," claiming it's tainted because of steroid use.

They're more subtle in Milwaukee despite being more deep-rooted when it comes to the all-time homers title. In the broadcast booth, where complimentary words are the norm, there was a pro-Aaron sentiment that translated to anti-Bonds. When a San Francisco reporter asked Brewers lead broadcaster Bob Uecker if he would grant an interview, Uecker said, "Nothing on Bonds."

Just three words, but plenty telling. Uecker is one of the great talkers of our time, starring in his own sitcom, playing a big role in the movie "Major League" and its sequel, making more than 100 appearances on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" and calling Brewers games for 36 years. His nickname is "Mr. Baseball."

Ask him about Aaron, he lights up.

Ask him about Bonds, he turns off.

Uecker, who's in the Hall of Fame as a Ford C. Frick Award winner, spoke for several minutes on stories relating to Aaron, his friend, former teammate and "a beautiful guy, man."

Eventually, the subject turned back to Bonds.

"He's not my kind of guy," Uecker said. "I'm a Hank Aaron guy. This whole thing surrounding (Bonds') career and everything, well, it's too bad. He may be one of the greatest hitters of all time. He could be the best. Who knows? He put up the numbers he put up. But then again, he wasn't the only guy who was caught ... but I don't really want to talk about that."

On the other hand, "I love Henry Aaron," said Uecker, who spoke of how Aaron would never show up the other team after going deep. "You have to know Henry. Henry was just a low-key kind of guy, man. Every day, he just got it done. All the (racist) crap he took along with it was terrible. Henry was a special individual. He was a different kind of guy."

Uecker was Aaron's teammate on the Braves for three years, two in Milwaukee and one in Atlanta. Hall of Famer Robin Yount also played with Aaron, as a teenage shortstop when Aaron joined the Brewers for his final two seasons. Yount now is the Brewers' bench coach.

"He made you feel like he was just like all the rest of us in the clubhouse," Yount said. "If somebody passes Hank, it doesn't diminish what he did. I think what (Bonds) has done has been great. Certainly, he's had some issues, but I still respect the man as a ballplayer."

Lidle doesn't, based on his comments in the Philadelphia Daily News, which were published on the eve of tonight's Giants-Phillies series opener.

"What he could have done without performance-enhancing drugs -- which he hasn't been proven guilty of (using), which I'm not buying -- you can maybe take what he had done in his prime, before his head started growing at an enormous rate, and just make those projections. Say that, 'This is what he could have done.' Maybe it's 550 home runs. I don't know. It definitely wouldn't have been anything close to 700," Lidle said.

He added, "I don't want to see him break records. If he breaks them, it will be a shame, because I think when all is said and done, the truth will come out. It hasn't yet, but I think if he was in front of a jury ... with everything that I heard was in that book ("Game of Shadows") -- I think the verdict might be guilty."

Lidle, who has surrendered two homers to Bonds but isn't scheduled to pitch in the series, also was critical of Mark McGwire. But McGwire ended his run at 583 homers. Bonds remains on the loose.