News came last week that San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2006 season. The next day, he said he may play several more years. Typical for a guy who often changes his mind, but there's nothing wrong with that.
If Bonds does decide to hang it up this year, there may be a chance he will play his final game at Tokyo Dome. A major league all-star tour is scheduled for November, and Bonds has joined the series of post-season trips to Japan four times, the most of any MLB player since the biannual sojourns began in 1986.
Bonds made his first appearance here in 1990 as a still-skinny member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the impression he gave was that he did not particularly care for the country, could not wait to leave and would never come back to Dai Nippon. But, in 1996, as a bulked-up slugger with San Francisco, Bonds returned and -- surprise! -- seemed to have a change of opinion.