GIANTS KEY PLAYER: BONDS RISES TO CHALLENGE ANGELS RESPECT FOR GIANTS STAR CONTINUES TO GROW.

Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Sports Editor 

SAN FRANCISCO - Troy Glaus singled to center, and Barry Bonds didn't move a muscle.

Slowly, as Glaus rounded first with the Angels' 16th hit, Bonds looked down at the misty Pac Bell outfield. There was nothing he could do. Nothing more, at least.

Bonds' .196 average in 27 postseason games before this season has hounded him worse than any member of the media could dream. Finally, he is performing - he hit his seventh home run of the postseason Tuesday night, a record, and his third of the World Series.

Yet the Giants trail 2-1 in this best-of-seven series, and momentum clearly belongs to the Angels, who have cleared out San Francisco's bullpen and collected 41 hits through three games.

``The guy's an incredible offensive player,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Bonds, whose fifth-inning home run to center traveled 418 feet, matching the distance of his first series blast in Game 1. His second, in the ninth inning of Game 2 on Sunday, flew a prodigious 485 feet.

``Just that fact you see him in situations that he's flat-out walked, that says it all,'' Scioscia said. ``He didn't need to hit any home runs for me to gain any respect for his talent.''

Scioscia chose to walk Bonds with runners on first and third in the bottom of the first to load the bases, deciding as so many managers have before him to take his chances with Benito Santiago - despite talk last week that suggested the Angels weren't keen on pitching around Bonds as routinely as their National League counterparts.

With the bat taken out of Bonds' hands, Santiago grounded out, and so did J.T. Snow. The inning was over.

``I have the utmost respect for Barry Bonds' talent. Barry is the real deal,'' Scioscia said. ``You can talk about any superstar in the game, Barry's the guy. That's saying a lot, when you're talking about guys like A-Rod and guys in our league that are incredible, Barry is a notch above them and that says something.''

Bonds is now hitting .429 in the World Series, has hit safely in 10 of 13 playoff games, and has a ridiculous 1.714 World Series slugging percentage.

``Barry is doing his thing,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. ``He's doing what he's capable of doing. He doesn't surprise us, because we've been watching him for a long time. Barry is swinging the bat great. What we need are some other guys in on the hit parade.''

With the Angels hitting .353 as a team in this series, that's exactly what San Francisco needs. And Scioscia is content to force others in the Giants' lineup to start that parade as long as Bonds is the only one producing.

``My preference would be if we could make some pitches and get the guy to swing at a bad pitch or get the guy to roll over on a ground ball that isn't going 8,000 mph. That would be the ultimate,'' Scioscia said. ``We've handled him by sometimes not giving him anything to hit. If that's handling Barry, I guess we're all right with it.''

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Photo:

The Angels have a 2-1 edge in the World Series but Barry Bonds has erased any doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer

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SOCKS & BONDS