It worked out well for Magowan. His ballpark, with panoramic views of the Bay Bridge, the bay and the Embarcadero waterfront, is the most scenic venue

in sports. It has hosted a World Series and, until his name was closely linked to the pharma-

villains of BALCO and the murky world of juicing, Bonds has performed historic slugging deeds. He was not only the straw that stirred the drink, he allegedly might have been the guy who gulped it down.

But now he is little more than an intensely dislikable, hanging-on caricature of himself within easy striking distance of the

career home run record a 190-pound Henry Aaron accomplished using only the hormones God gave him and wrists like steel hawsers.

The lawyers, accountants, bail bondsmen and actual baseball people finally crossed the "T" in testosterone and dotted the "I" in indictments and told Magowan he could announce the 1-year Bonds contract that was hanging fire for weeks.

The late Colts owner, Bob

Irsay, would have approved the way Peter Magowan handled his "thief in the night" announcement. The blow was softened,

according to reports, by PR

department phone calls to selected Bay area media members earlier in the night. The operative message, according to San Jose Mercury-News columnist Ann Killion, was the Giants planned to "start from scratch" with Bonds.

Killion has spent enough time at the former Knight Ridder

flagship paper to discern the

difference between the low-tide odor of McCovey Cove and the odor that surrounds Bonds.

"From scratch?" Killion asked. "With an almost-43-year-old who is embroiled in the biggest drug scandal in sports history? With a guy who has dictated to the organization for 14 years? Nice time to try to start from scratch . . . "

One of the owners who yelped like a scalded dog when Magowan announced his group would build a ballpark with private funds was White Sox owner

Jerry Reinsdorf, who had himself successfully used the moving-to-Tampa Bay ploy to get a ballpark financed and built.

"The best they'll be able to do is cover their debt service, so what's the sense of building it?" Reinsdorf said.

Bingo! You can see that old debt service rearing its red-ink stained head. With or without Bonds, the Giants will be an

awful team, old, slow and filled with holes. But Bonds and his tainted quest will keep the seats filled. He is a constant hook. Even when he doesn't play, which is often, fans have bought their tickets well in advance, so how can they know when he is