updated 10:23 p.m. ET May 20, 2006

OAKLAND, Calif. - Tyler Snyder caught Barry Bonds’ 714th homer on the fly Saturday, snagging it cleanly with his glove. The people around the 19-year-old Athletics fan cheered wildly, with nobody assaulting or gouging him.

Bonds got a standing ovation from the Bay Area’s forgiving faithful — and then Snyder got to speak the minds of millions of baseball lovers who see Bonds as the game’s greatest antihero.

“I hate that guy,” Snyder told reporters before he was whisked away. “I don’t really care for the guy.”

But Snyder’s perfect catch was a rare moment of grace in this ragged, tainted quest for baseball immortality by Bonds, who ended a nine-game homer drought with a second-inning solo shot for the San Francisco Giants. Fans stood and applauded, and Bonds’ peers acknowledged another milestone.

“He finally hit it? It’s about time,” said Ken Griffey Jr., who entered the night with 539 career homers, in the Cincinnati Reds’ clubhouse at Detroit. “Now I don’t have to keep watching TV to see him do it.”

Fans, players and managers across the majors reacted with the same mix of admiration and trepidation that’s been part of Bonds’ every achievement since his 73-homer season in 2001 and late-career power binge fell under strong suspicion of steroid use.

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There’s not much sentimentality around this quest — and it sure has a money-colored tint. The ball still was in Snyder’s glove when the holder of Bonds’ latest horsehide lottery ticket said he definitely would sell the ball.

When asked if he would consider giving it to Bonds, Snyder declined with a mild expletive.

But nearly every fan in the Coliseum joined in a standing ovation when the homer settled into the stands — even a guy right behind home plate wearing a No. 25 Giants jersey with the word “BALCO” stitched where “BONDS” should be.

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Across the nation, the Mets posted a message on the Shea Stadium scoreboard moments after Bonds’ homer — and the Subway Series fans booed. When a similar message went on the scoreboard at Dodger Stadium, the boos from the crowd of 55,587 were more understandable, given the Giants’ archrival status.

“I still remember Barry Bonds as a great player, regardless of steroids or what,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “How many home runs would he have hit without whatever people are saying is going on? I don’t know. I know one thing: That player-wise, he’s pretty good.”

The 714th homer matches one of baseball’s most hallowed numbers, but others thought the hype was overblown, given the 755 homers hit by Hank Aaron.

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“Our reaction in the clubhouse has always been that record’s already been broken,” Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. “Hank broke it. That’s the big one. What’s the big deal?”

Giants fans packed their waterfront ballpark last week, hoping Bonds would reach another milestone at home. The scene atop the right-field arcade resembled a mosh pit most days, but no homers reached the fans.

His drought stretched through three games in Houston and the series opener in Oakland, where he made the last out in the A’s win on Friday night. But Bonds wasted no time on a gorgeous East Bay afternoon, hitting a line-drive homer off Brad Halsey for No. 714.

“It’s a shame that ... such a historic moment has a cloud over it,” Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s a special player for a long time. My rookie year was ’89, he was a great player then. He accomplished a lot of wonderful things before people started speculating. I thought he was a greatest player I saw personally in the ’90s.”

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