A Personal Bond:

Giants' Superstar Goes To Bat For Youngster With Leukemia

Barry Bonds has earned a reputation as being one of baseball's great clutch hitters. When the game's on the line, the Giants' three-time National League MVP is usually at his best.

But, as 13-year-old Anthony "Lee" Franklin can personally attest, Barry can also hit a home run when someone's life is on the line.

A special friendship between Franklin and Bonds began on Feb. 12 of this year, when Bonds visited Children's Hospital Oakland after reading a heart-wrenching article in the Oakland Tribune about Franklin. A near straight-A student and star shortstop/pitcher on Oakland's Babe Ruth League national championship team, Franklin was honored by Oakland's mayor at city hall last summer only to be diagnosed with leukemia a week after his 13th birthday in January.

The Tribune article spoke of a young African-American man who seemed to have everything going for him in life. A great athlete and student with a loving grandfather and guardian, Willie Purvis. But Franklin's world turned upside down on Jan. 31, when doctors informed him of his illness.

As his family desperately began searching for a bone marrow donor, they became painfully aware that African-Americans represent only 8 percent (213,274) of the 2.8 million volunteer donors listed with the National Marrow Donor Program^® (NMDP).

Franklin's story hit a nerve with Bonds, who drove to the hospital in Oakland and spent time with the youngster and his grandfather. In the ultimate sign of support, the Giants' All-Star then stopped by the Blood Bank of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association nearby and donated two samples of his blood.

"I read it and started thinking about how it always seems this kind of stuff happens to the good ones--the kids who make a difference," Bonds said. "I was reading about how talented he was, how good a player and person he is, how his team was doing so well. I told my fiancee (Liz), 'Hey, I wonder if there's a chance that maybe I might be a match.' I figured I'd come over and give blood. Maybe we might get lucky. You never know. I could be the one."

While his blood sample was not a match for young Lee, Bonds' gesture sent a message to the African-American community at large: "All you have to do is go in and donate, and there's a possibility that you might be the one who saves someone's life," said Bonds, who's now registered with the National Marrow Donor Program.

Bonds decided to contribute more than his blood to this cause. On May 25 at Oakland's Allen Temple Baptist Church, he launched the Barry Bonds Bone Marrow Campaign.

Bonds and his father, ex-Giants great Bobby Bonds, have announced that $1 will be donated to United Way of San Francisco for bone marrow research for every individual sale of their popular baseball card game, "HOME PLATE," which is now available nationally at Toys-R-Us stores. Also, the Giants are offering two free tickets to the first 12,000 customers to buy the Bondses' game. The special $1 donation offer runs during the period of June 24, 1997, through January 1, 1998.

Also, Bonds has joined with the United Way and the Judie Davis Program, a donor recruitment organization for the NMDP, to stage on-site blood and marrow drives at 3Com Park on selected Giants' home games. What's more, Bonds also made blood/marrow drive appearances at the All-Star Game in Cleveland, and will continue to do the same at various National League cities during the second half of the 1997 season.