ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It was a 58-foot curveball, a pitch that Barry Bonds would never swing at, not even on his worst day. Even Angels catcher Bengie Molina couldn't corral the unruly orb, and it caromed off his shinguard back toward the mound. And then, a funny thing happened. Before Molina could retrieve it, before a bat boy could charge from the dugout to assist, Bonds walked out there himself -- a decent hike, 15 feet or so -- and got it, tossing the scuffed ball out of play toward the Angels dugout.

Barry Bonds, chasing a ball down like he was working the net at Wimbledon? Lending a helping hand in the middle of a crucial at-bat in a one-run game in his first World Series ever?

	The Barr-O-Meter
	During each World Series game, the Barr-O-Meter will measure the degree to which Anaheim pitchers challenge Barry Bonds. Here's a quick summary of what went down in Game 1: 2nd inning: Hit a solo homer on a 2-1 fastball. 4th inning: Struck out after chasing a pitch out of the zone. 6th inning: Grounded out on the first pitch. 8th inning: Walked on four pitches.
	GAME 1 SUMMARY AB Hits Walks R/RBI Balls Strikes 3 1 1 1/1 8 6

Yup. Funny how your mood improves when you're getting pitches to hit.

Of course, the fact that he had bombed a solo home run two innings earlier also helped Bonds' teddy bear act. But still, after much debate over how Anaheim would pitch to the surly slugger, the Angels gave Bonds plenty of cuts in the Giants' 4-3 Game 1 win, which upgraded Bonds' disposition from stormy to simply gloomy.

In batting practice before the game, Angels pitching coach Bud Black promised Bonds that he'd have a pitch to hit. ("I got it," said Bonds.) He actually got more than that. Before he was semi-intentionally walked in the eighth, Bonds enjoyed three at-bats like any other normal hitter, trading blows with Anaheim starter Jarrod Washburn, who retired Bonds twice after allowing the second-inning gopherball.

"I always want to challenge hitters," said Washburn, who allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings to suffer his first loss of the postseason. "I was able to get guys out before him so he came up with nobody on, and we went after him."

And while some pitchers swallow their pride when facing Bonds (beats swallowing a loss, right?), Washburn apparently never got that memo. Despite falling behind in the count in two of his three duels with Bonds, Washburn didn't buckle. Sure, things would've been different if Bonds had come up with runners in scoring position. As it stood, he never even came up with a runner on base. And when things got sticky, with one out in the top of the eighth, nobody on and the Giants up 4-3, the Angels ushered him to first on four straight balls by Scott Schoeneweis.

But as long as the situation dictated that Anaheim pitch to Bonds, you'd better believe that Washburn was going to do it. And despite some vicious cuts that could've knocked David Eckstein over with their breeze, Bonds didn't kill the Angels -- the solo shot was his only hit of the day, as he finished 1-for-3.

But the go-get'-em strategy certainly looked questionable after Bonds' first at-bat, like Washburn's guts might be overriding his brains. After Washburn got the Giants 1-2-3 in the first, Bonds led off the second inning and immediately watched two quick balls go by. But instead of issuing the standard free pass that usually comes when pitchers fall behind to Bonds, Washburn threw a high fastball that Barry whiffed on to make the count 2-1.

The crowd nudged one another. Hey, maybe we've got Bonds' number this Series. Maybe, just maybe, Barry's never seen anything like Washburn's nasty tailing fastball. Maybe ... hey, what was that?

They looked up to find Bonds ditching his bat like a murder weapon and admiring a 418-foot blast into right field. It came after Washburn delivered an inside fastball that Bonds was waiting on like a paycheck.

	“	There are going to be times when you back off Barry (Bonds) and times when you go after him. Tonight, Jarrod (Washburn) challenged him (in Bonds' first at-bat) and didn't quite get the fastball where he wanted to. That's baseball. ”
		— Mike Scioscia, Angels manager

"I never even heard it hit the bat," Washburn said. "Usually, that's a good sign for them." The crowd was so stung they started yelling "Throw it back!" even though the ball hadn't landed in the stands, instead coming to rest in a maintenance tunnel between sections. And at that very moment, the Angels understood the reason for each and every one of Bonds' 198 walks this season.

Washburn was diplomatic after the game. The Angels' game plan was to pitch Bonds low and away, and the home-run pitch was a mistake out over the plate. "You can usually have some bad pitches and that doesn't necessarily mean they'll turn into home runs," Washburn said. "Unfortunately, when you're dealing with the greatest home run hitter in the game, they often do."

Of course, Bonds wouldn't admit any extra gratitude toward the Angels for letting him swing the bat. Was he excited to uncork a few cuts? "I'll only be excited when we win," he said, speaking as soft as he could to wreak havoc on reporters' tape recorders.

In Bonds' second at-bat -- the one marked by Barry's goodwill ball retrieval -- Washburn again fell behind 2-1. Washburn got Barry to foul off a pitch before throwing another curve low to make the count 3-2. Prime Ball Four territory, right? Sure. And everyone at Edison Field was expecting Ball Four. But when Ball Four came, Barry did something very uncharacteristic. He swung at it. A 90-mph heater from Washburn, shoulder-high, that veered inside as it came through the zone. Whiff. Barry smacked his bat in disgust.

Bonds' third at-bat was less dramatic, as he grounded Washburn's first pitch, an off-speed offering, to Scott Spiezio at first. In three at-bats against Washburn, Bonds saw six strikes. Of course, he definitely would've seen less if the Giants before him in the lineup had gotten on. But still, nobody can accuse the Angels of ducking Barry.

In fact, maybe Washburn was a little too jazzed to come at Bonds. The 28-year-old got into his biggest trouble of the day by falling victim to some of the less-fearsome members of the San Francisco lineup after Bonds' at-bat in the inning was already over. Washburn allowed a solo homer to Reggie Sanders, his first of the postseason, two batters after Bonds' monster shot. And in the sixth, after Bonds' groundout, Washburn allowed a single to Sanders and then served up a two-run homer to J.T. Snow, which proved to be the game-winning blast. Washburn was yanked immediately after the homer.

So, to answer your question -- yes, the Angels pitched to Barry Bonds, who is now the oldest player in history to hit a home run in his first official Series at-bat. And you can applaud the Angels all you want for letting the game's greatest home-run hitter get his cuts, but they still lost the game. There's no telling what their strategy will be in Game 2, with Kevin Appier on the mound. As they've been saying all week, it depends on the situation. On Saturday, most of the situations demanded they pitch to Bonds.

"There are going to be times when you back off Barry and times when you go after him," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "Tonight, Jarrod challenged him (in Bonds' first at-bat) and didn't quite get the fastball where he wanted to. That's baseball."

It calls to mind a question Bonds fielded on Friday, the eve of Game 1. A reporter asked the cleanup hitter's opinion of pitchers who walk him. Were they playing smart? Or just playing scared?

Bonds didn't take the bait. "Next question," he spit.

It's definitely open to interpretation whether the Angels played smart by pitching to Bonds on Saturday night. But they certainly weren't playing scared.

Andy Latack writes for ESPN The Magazine.