Bonds mourns friend's death

SAN FRANCISCO -- A teary Barry Bonds said Friday night the death of a longtime friend has clouded his quest to set the home run record. "I lose one of my best friends yesterday," he said. "Whenever I want to enjoy it for a minute, something happens." The friend was Franklin Bradley, 37, whom Bonds had known for about 13 years. Bradley was a personal security guard at times for Bonds, as well as for NFL star Jerry Rice. Bradley died during an operation Thursday at a San Francisco Bay area hospital, another friend said. Bradley was overweight, and in anticipation of getting married in three weeks, decided to have stomach stapling surgery in an effort to lose weight. He died from complications. Bonds paid for the surgery.

ST. LOUIS -- Mark McGwire hopes Barry Bonds breaks the home-run record he sets three years ago.

"All I'm going to say is he's got an excellent chance," McGwire said Friday night before the St. Louis Cardinals played Pittsburgh. "I'm rooting for him. If he gets it, it'll be a phenomenal feat."

McGwire was hesitant to talk about the record chase, for fearing anything he said would be construed as sour grapes.

He and manager Tony La Russa said McGwire, who began Friday with 27 homers and a .185 average in an injury-plagued year, got some unfavorable publicity during the team's just-completed seven-game trip. McGwire hit his 28th homer Friday off the Pirates' Todd Ritchie.

"I read some negative stuff and I read the stuff Mark says," La Russa said. "It's really a shame. I think he's said the right thing all along."

McGwire broke Roger Maris' 37-year-old record of 61 homers with his 70-homer season in 1998. Bonds began Friday with 67 homers and nine games remaining.

"He's doing it routinely," McGwire said. "His pace is unbelievable. I've told guys in here, I'm calling 72, 73."

The most impressive aspect of Bonds' record chase, to McGwire's thinking, was that he had only 455 at-bats.

"It's unbelievable," McGwire said. "He's totally blown away what I did, even if the year ended today."

After the 1998 season, McGwire thought his record would last. He changed his thinking after he hit 65 more homers in 1999 and after Sammy Sosa topped 60 homers in both '98 and '99.

"When I came back the next year and hit 65, that was pretty much a reevaluation, saying 70's going to be broken," McGwire said. "I'm very realistic about things. I've said since day one that records are made to be broken."