FanHouse Willie McCovey

They sure love their home run champ in San Francisco, I tell you. So much so, that they will be honoring their slugger today, and it sounds like they're going all out:

Mayor Gavin Newsom will host a celebration honoring San Francisco's favorite slugger, Barry Bonds, and his historic achievement of becoming the new all-time home run leader. The celebration is scheduled for noon PT on Friday in the Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, but the party will start at 11:30 a.m. with the Wonderbread 5 band.

The public is welcome to join the festive ballpark atmosphere that will feature Bonds along with his family, former and current teammates, Giants executives and broadcasters, and various celebrities. Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda are also scheduled to attend.

Next thing you know, Bonds will be awarded a key to the city. And mayors, take note: if you want to honor a player, this is how you do it. Are you listening mayor of Cincinnati?

UPDATE: Bonds actually was handed a key to the city.

The Home Run Derby is not perfect. It lasts too long, Chris Berman makes my ears want to bleed, most of the best players aren't participating, and the players all look really stupid in their team hats and All-Star warm-up jerseys. But you know what? No one's expecting perfect. Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard were both born for this kind of thing and they're here, along with one of the best hitters any of us may ever see (Albert Pujols, of course). There will be lots of home runs hit, there will be lots of people doing stupid things in boats, there will be a lot of fun had, and no one will try to make it more important than it really is. That can only mean one thing: live blog. Anyways, the whole thing kicks off at 8 PM and I'll be here, so follow along with the live updates after the jump.

The excellent Padres blog Ducksnorts has put me onto yet another story that proves John Kruk is full of it. Of course, this is something Fire Joe Morgan pointed out a long time ago, and something Deadspin picked up on recently, so it probably comes as no surprise to many of you. What's the story? Apparently in his book titled I Ain't an Athlete, Lady, John Kruk says he was the last Padre to wear jersey no. 44.

In San Diego I was the last guy to wear number 44 before they retired it for Willie McCovey. He had played there for a couple of years. I was wearing it with the Padres, but when he was voted into the Hall Of Fame, they retired it. It was kind of exciting.

Sounds great and all, right? To anyone who hasn't been watching Padre baseball the last couple years. That's the same number that adorns the back of only the best pitcher in baseball -- Jake Peavy. Ducksnorts does some more research to scrounge up all the players who have worn jersey no. 44 since Kruk, and come to find out, it's quite an extensive list.

Before the time Kruk's book went to press, John Davis and Frank Seminara wore no. 44. Since the book was published in 1994, A.J. Sager, Sean Bergman, John Vander Wal, Carlos Reyes, Tom Davey, and presently, Jake Peavy, have all worn no. 44 for the Padres. What's more, is that there are claims Kruk has even made reference to no. 44 being retired this year on Baseball Tonight! Clearly that number hasn't been retired by the Padres. In all likelihood, it won't be until Jake Peavy's done playing. But nice try anyways, John.