Thank heavens Barry Bonds reacts as quickly to mortal danger as he does 90-mph fastballs.
The legendary Major League Baseball slugger is credited with helping save numerous ex-athletes and others from raging wildfires on Monday in Northern California, according to The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Bonds drove stranded attendees of Ronnie Lott’s celebrity fundraiser at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, Calif., from the course to a nearby hotel, as the fire closed in on the club’s grounds.
“Barry said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, it was crazy,’” former Oakland Athletics outfielder and current MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes told The Chronicle. “When he walked out of his bungalow, the flames were right there, so he bounced out of there, and because so many people didn’t have cars, he was taking them all to the next hotel. He made multiple trips. He got evacuated again from that next hotel, but Barry was anticipating it, he said, ‘I know the fire is coming down here.’ It sounded really chaotic.”
Slusser didn’t indicate whom Bonds drove, but the Northern California native’s sense of urgency was critical to raising alarm among other guests of Lott’s fundraiser.
Former American League Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen warned former Toronto Blue Jays star Joe Carter of the advancing fire and sacrificed his golf clubs in order to fit ex-Olympic speedskater Dan Jansen and his wife in his rental car.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox pitcher Eric Gagne later joined the ranks of the Santa Rosa fire heroes by warning guests at the nearby hotel the fire was coming that way.
“Eric was yelling, ‘Get up, get up,’ knocking at every door, and when I opened the door, smoke billowed in and I could see areas on fire,” Saberhagen told The Chronicle. “There was a telephone pole on fire, the grounds were on fire, ashes were flying all over the place, and what really scared me was that there was a gas station across the street.”
UFC fighter Henry Cejudo didn’t evacuate his Santa Rosa hotel room until it was nearly too late. He broke his ankle jumping from a second-floor balcony, Slusser reported, citing Saberhagen and other attendees.
Wildfires have burned over 115,000 acres in Northern California’s wine country since Sunday night, killing at least 13 people, hospitalizing more than 100 more and damaging at least 1,500 structures, including homes, resorts and wineries, according to The New York Times.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Scuteri/USA TODAY Sports Images
