Incredible start

Jet, April 22, 2002

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Caption: Home Run King Barry Bonds expresses his joy after he hit two homers in the San Francisco Giants' Opening Day on April 1. Then Bonds hit another pair of home runs the very next day! During the first game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 37-year-old homered twice and drove in five runs to lead the Giants to a season-opening 9-2 victory over the Dodgers, the same team that Bonds hit home run numbers 71, 72 and 73 against last season to set the single-season home run record. In the second game of this season and of the Giants-Dodgers series, Bonds' two home runs led the Giants to a 12-0 win. Bonds became the 75th player since 1900 to homer twice on opening day. And at JET press time, his overall total of 571 home runs made him two shy of sixth place on the career list. Though the four-time MVP began the season fantastically with five hits in six at-bats, five runs scored and nine RBIs, Bonds said he's more concerned about the end of the season. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish," said Bonds. He noted that one of the only goals to elude him has been a World Series championship.