Nats' Bacsik, next pitcher to face Bonds*, enjoying hype

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ever wonder what the lion tamer thinks just before he steps into the cage?

Mike Bacsik faced Bonds* three times in '02 and didn't give up a home run. (AP)

"Oh, I'm glad you're here!" Washington starting pitcher Mike Bacsik tells me just after I introduce myself to him in the visiting dugout Monday afternoon.

Why, what a lovely sentiment.

"I do Fantasy Football with CBS SportsLine, and I've been having trouble with. ..."

Yes, you heard right.

Barry Bonds* is one swat away from going where no man has ever gone. The pitcher who served up No. 755 on Saturday was optioned to the minors quicker than you can say "Red Lion Inn."

And roughly 24 hours before he steps onstage for the biggest game of his life, the man who will take the ball Tuesday for the Nationals couldn't be happier to see me because there's a glitch with his Fantasy Football.

"I'm the Commissioner of our league," Bacsik explains. "And. ..."

I am an angel sent straight from heaven. I am a tow truck driver passing by at precisely the right moment. What can I say?

I'm here to help. And the way things are going, I'm figuring I may as well offer some advice on how to pitch to Bonds* as well: Away. Make him hit it to the opposite field.

"We're a bunch of nobodies, and everybody wants to talk to us right now," Bacsik says. "That's what's going on.

"Not many people know who's in the Nationals rotation, or even who's on the Nationals team. But it's kind of dream-come-true time. I've been in the minor leagues for 2½ years, and to pitch in this atmosphere against the Home Run King ... I couldn't ask for anything more right now."

He is 29, the Nationals signed him as a minor league free agent last winter after he went 11-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 28 appearances (10 starts) with Tucson, Arizona's Triple-A affiliate.