Bonds’ mother tells him to “snap out of it”

By Ian Parker Special to PA SportsTicker

Barry Bonds has revealed that his mother has told him to “snap out of it” and get back to playing at his best.

Bonds, who returned to the San Francisco Giants lineup on Thursday night after being held out of two games with swelling in his shins, said in an interview with MLB.com that he had been told to pick it up by his mother.

He seemed to heed the message, going 2-for-5 with an RBI as the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-4.

On Wednesday night, Bonds said he had a telephone call from his mother Pat who had a stern message for the most famous of her four children.

“‘The Giants are losing because of the way you’re playing and you know it. So snap out of it,’” Bonds said his mother told him. “‘Nobody told you to be great, but you are. That’s your responsibility. So play like you are (great).’”

Bonds said his mother had noticed that he was looking disinterested in recent games, and decided her 42-year-old son wasn’t too old for a telling off.

“With my dad (Bobby) gone, she’s about the only one who can kick me in the butt,” Bonds said. “And she did. And she’s right.”

Bonds began the season on a tear, hitting 11 home runs through May 8 to close within 10 of Hank Aaron’s all-time record of 755.

At that pace, he might have expected to break the record in mid-June, but he has cooled off considerably.

Since hitting career homer No. 745, he has hit only one - on May 27 - and has just 11 hits and three RBI in 60 at-bats as the Giants have lost 16 of 26 games.

“My mother didn’t pull any punches,” Bond said. “She told me, ‘if you want to break that record, get going and break it. What are you waiting for?’”

Bonds’ father Bobby Bonds, a three-time All-Star outfielder, was once the voice in his son’s ear whenever there was a dip in performance, but Bobby died from cancer in August 2003 at the age of 57.

“I’m on my own now,” Bonds said. “But I’m a grown up. I can handle it. Now it’s my mom who makes a difference. She can see it. So she gave it to me. ‘You’re not focused. You’re not concentrating.’ It’s all true and I agree with.

“Over 162 games sometimes you check out of it. And sometimes it takes a kick in the butt to get you back into it. I listen to my mom, but really I have to do it for myself. And sometimes I don’t want to kick myself in the butt. I want to enjoy it.”