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By RAINER SABIN

New York Times News Service

Published: August 7, 2008

NORFOLK, Va. - A group of Columbus Clippers is playing poker in the cramped clubhouse at Harbor Park, their bodies hunched over a table and the cards pressed to their faces. None are recognizable, except the one with the bald pate and blond goatee. That is Mike Bacsik, a journeyman pitcher better known as the man who gave up Barry Bonds' 756th home run - the one that broke Hank Aaron's career record.

It has been exactly one year since Bonds, the former Giants slugger, made that memorable jaunt around the bases at AT&T Park in San Francisco, on Aug. 7, 12 months since Bacsik unleashed an 84 mph fastball that was supposed to change his life forever.

"If you pitch in the big leagues, you're going to give up a home run," said Ryan Perry, Bacsik's childhood friend. "He just happened to give up the most famous one."

Instead of fading away as another undistinguished player, Bacsik, a former Washington Nationals pitcher, will remain a footnote in baseball history, joining the likes of Ralph Branca and Al Downing as pitchers linked to a significant event.

Almost immediately, Bacsik saw the benefits that could come from the role he played in Bonds' achievement: card shows, autograph signings, public appearances, maybe even a future career in the news media. The hourglass counting his 15 minutes of fame was flipped the second Bonds connected, and it has not stopped, even though the grains of sand are dwindling.

"People associate him with the home run now," said Chris Schroder, a reliever with the Clippers. "So, obviously it has opened up some doors financially. I know he does stuff, but I don't think he's done near as much as he thought he was going to."

There is a reason for that. With the anniversary of Bonds' record-breaking home run here, neither man involved is in the majors. Bonds, the embattled slugger, is not playing this season - seemingly exiled after a remarkable career tainted by controversy. Last fall, he was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges related to his testimony in a federal investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

Bacsik, meanwhile, is in the minors, where he has scratched out a living for most of the past 13 years. After pitching in a career-high 29 major-league games last year, Bacsik has spent this season with the Clippers, the Nationals' Triple-AAA affiliate.

During the past few months, he has struggled to locate his pitches and has watched fastballs he intended to throw on the outer edges of the plate drift toward the middle, much like the one that Bonds redirected into the outfield stands last summer. But for all of his struggles, Bacsik, 30, says he does not want to walk away from the game, even though he is almost certain he will not be pitching in the Nationals' organization next season.

"They've moved on, which has let me know that I need to move on," he said. "It's a mutual feeling. But I love this game and I think I will only give it up after nobody gives me a chance."

Bacsik seems to have other options. He had tried to carve out a career as a media personality long before he had entered the public eye. He regularly appears on The Ticket, a sports radio station in his hometown of Dallas. During the playoffs last year, he was a studio analyst for ESPN.

In the aftermath of the Bonds' home run, Bacsik became a pseudo-celebrity. He faced the nation in front of a phalanx of cameras and reporters hours after delivering that fateful pitch.

"I met him down in the locker room and we were going to go to dinner that night," Perry said. "We come out and he was bombarded by people who wanted his autograph. For a week or two, he was on all the radio shows and his phone was blowing up."

Now, it rarely rings.

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