Twins day at camp: Home run king now a coach

"Are you asking me if I could still hit a home run?'' he said. "Sure. Do I want to do it. No.''

Why not?

"I don't need to,'' he said. "Ain't nobody paying me to do it. There's no need.''

Baseball's all-time home run leader held court for a few minutes before the Twins-Marlins game on Friday to explain why he would want to coach. Bonds, 51, said he wasn't looking for a job when Marlins owner Jeff Loria called him to pitch the idea, but he liked what he heard.

"Right now, I've been here all of three weeks,'' he said. "My job now is to get to know each individual player first before I can analyze them or what they're doing or what the team is doing.''

Bonds said the concepts of hitting are the same for every hitter, it's just a matter of getting each hitter to that point.

There were some hard-hit balls Friday during the Twins' loss to the Marlins.

First baseman Byung Ho Park hit a 3-1 pitch from Andre Rienzo—a fastball that registered 91 miles per hour — down the left- field line and over the wall for his third home run of spring training. Park went 1-for-3 on Friday and is batting .316 this spring. All three home runs have come on fastballs.

Designated hitter Joe Mauer hammered a Rienzo pitch in the fifth off the wall in dead center field for a double, then Miguel Sano followed with an even harder line drive off the wall in left, scoring pinch runner Adam Brett Walker.

Sano was 2-for-2 with a walk Friday and is batting .357 with a .571 on-base percentage. He hit a single in the first inning, then took second as the Marlins threw the ball toward third, drawing praise from manager Paul Molitor.

• Twins General Manager Terry Ryan made an interesting comment when asked if the organization still views prospect Jorge Polanco as a shortstop. ''Depends on who you ask,'' he said. Polanco likely will start the season at short for Class AAA Rochester but will play other infield positions in camp because that's what his role would be in the majors this year.

Polanco had a rough day in the field Friday, getting charged with fielding and throwing errors. Molitor felt Polanco was guiding the ball on his throws.

• Twins minor leaguer Reynaldo Rodriguez will leave camp to join Mexico in time for World Baseball Classic qualifying games starting next Thursday in Mexicali, Mexico.

• Reliever Nick Burdi has retired 10 of the 11 batters he's faced this spring. On Friday he got three outs on six pitches. The first one hit 96 miles per hour on the radar gun. The others went 97, 97, 99, 84 and 99.

The Twins have a home-and-home set with the Orioles this weekend. It begins on Saturday, when righthander Phil Hughes faces the Orioles at Sarasota. Ubaldo Jimenez will start for Baltimore. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III