Bonds knows no bounds when it comes to stats
San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds is again having the kind of season that transforms dry numbers into factoids that boggle the baseball mind.
His 38 home runs outnumber his 29 strikeouts.
If he finishes 3 for 5 in a game, his on-base percentage drops.
Forget hits. Even without them, his chances of getting on base are almost 50-50 — his 185 walks nearly match his 196 outs.
Despite all that, and despite his .368 batting average that leads the National League by 26 points, Bonds is anything but a lock to win his fourth consecutive Most Valuable Player award.
Are people simply numb to his accomplishments?
“That’s a lot of it,” said baseball historian John Thorn. “It’s hard to out-wow last year’s wows or the wows of the year before.”
Bonds won’t weigh in, choosing to let others assess his MVP chances. “Why worry about things you don’t control?” he said.
As far as the importance of adding a seventh MVP to his record six: “My children are important,” he said.
Men kidnap Urbina’s mother
The mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina was kidnapped by four unidentified men disguised as police officers, police said Thursday from Caracas, Venezuela.
The men took Maura Villareal from a house owned by Urbina in suburban Caracas on Wednesday, said Joel Rengifo, director of the country’s anti-kidnapping police force. The men have not contacted family members, he said.
The Tigers said Urbina had left the club to go to Venezuela.
Giants trade for Burba
The San Francisco Giants acquired veteran right-hander Dave Burba from the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league left-hander Josh Habel on Thursday night.
Burba was 3-1 with two saves and a 4.08 ERA with the Brewers this season, and is 114-87 in 15 major league seasons with Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Texas and Milwaukee.
Burba pitched for San Francisco between 1992-95 and went 10-3 during the team’s pennant run in 1993.
Habel, a 14th-round draft pick in 2002, was 4-10 with a 4.36 ERA in 27 games with Double-A Norwich.