Barry's just keeping the seat warm

It came to me in a dream, a transcript from an MLB.com broadcast on August 18, 2015:

Studio: "Let's send it out to Los Angeles, where Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, in his 65th year of calling Dodgers home games, is standing by for the next at-bat by the Braves' Alex Rodriguez as he goes for the magical 784."

Scully: "Good evening from Dodger Stadium, where Alex Rodriguez will make his fourth attempt to pass Barry Bonds on the baseball's all-time home run list here in the first against third-year left-hander Hui Chen."

"And there in the front row, on the third-base line, is Bonds himself, attending his first baseball game since his retirement after the 2009 season. Bonds, the spokesman for his own line of vitamins sold in Northern California, hit his 783rd and final home run on September 15, 2009 as a pinch hitter for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Located In Orange County, The Home Of Disneyworld."

Anonymous sidekick: "I believe that was back when they were just called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Vin."

Scully: "Correct, Tim. And next to Bonds is his son, Lakers guard Nikolai Bonds, and their good buddy Greg Anderson, who was in jail for contempt when Bonds hit his record-breaking homer. And there on the first-base line is none other than Hammerin' Hank Aaron himself, now 81, whom many still consider the true home run champ. He said he wouldn't miss this day for the world.

"Rodriguez, who hit his 500th career home run on the same day as Bonds hit his 755th, stands in against Chen. Outside, Ball 1.

"Rodriguez is in his second season with the Braves, his sixth major-league team. He came over in a trade at the deadline last season from the Cubs in which the entire roster of the Myrtle Beach Pelcians was sent to the Cubs organization. The Braves then lost in the first round of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.

"The pitch from Chen is on the outside corner, Strike 1.

"Rodriguez adjusts his batting glove. At 39, he's six years younger than Bonds when he hit his 783rd. Rodriguez has 36 home runs and 93 RBIs this season, hitting .317. The fans are on their feet, a scene unlike in 2007 when Bonds tied the record in San Diego. Rodriguez had some controversy back with the Yankees, but the only allegations of on-field wrongdoing on his part came in Jose Canseco's fifth book, entitled "Juiced 5: I Swear I'm Not Making This Stuff Up." In the book, Canseco alleges that Rodriguez drank at least two cups of coffee on the day he hit his 703rd career homer in 2013, and should have been suspended for use of illegal stimulants.

"Ball two, up high.

"Also looking on is Alex's former teammate in Seattle, Ken Griffey Jr., whose son, 19-year-old rookie Trey Griffey, is in center field for the Dodgers tonight. A lot of people thought Griffey Jr. would be the one to break the record, but injuries slowed him down. He's fourth on the all-time list with 712, two behind Babe Ruth and five ahead of former Indians, Red Sox and Mets slugger Manny Ramirez.

"Fouled away to the upper deck.

"Rodriguez, the American League MVP in every odd-numbered season from 2003 to 2011, stands in against Chen, the 24-year-old from mainland China. He who was a 15-game winner last season and is 12-7 this year. ... The fans are on their feet ... The 2-and-2 to Alex Rodriguez... It's a drive to deep left-center ... Griffey is at the wall..."