Yahoo: Andy Van Slyke talks slugging Bonds, coaching first

Here comes Van Slyke! Here’s the punch to the nose! He is…naff!  Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins!  Van Slyke wins!...Van Slyke wins!

Q: There’s an urban legend in Pittsburgh that, from center field, you tried to wave Barry Bonds in to play more shallow in left before Francisco Cabrera’s famous game-winning hit in the 1992 NLCS.

AVS: That’s not a legend, that is not a rumor, that is an absolute, 100-percent, truth that I did.

Q: Was he just ignoring you?

AVS: I always felt that I got a sixth sense on the field that, as an outfielder, I had these premonitions that seemed to come true about half the time. I just felt, given when I saw, that Cabrera was going to hit the ball to left field and nowhere else. Based on scouting reports, based on the count, and that he had just ripped the ball down the left-field line foul when it was 2-0. I was trying to make Barry move in to not let the winning run score from second. He chose to ignore me. Now, if he had moved in two steps, I don’t know if it would have made a difference. I’ll never know that. It might have been a harder play for him because the ball was hit to his left a little.

Q: Maybe he could have trusted you?

AVS: Barry was a great player. It’s sort of like, dealing with Barry made me a greater player in center. But also, it was sort of like being a catcher with a pitcher. He made the last decision. He chose not to move. The unfortunate thing was, if the ball had been hit 10 more feet to his right, I have no question he would have thrown out Sid Bream.

...Q: Seriously, why didn’t Bonds just move in?

AVS: Because he’s a [bleeped by request].