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Barry Bonds

, Baseball Player

Born: 24 July 1964
Birthplace: Riverside, California
Best Known As: Major league baseball's all-time home run leader

Barry Bonds hit his 756th major league home run on 7 August 2007, surpassing Hank Aaron as the man with the most home runs in American baseball history. Bond is also the single-season home run champ: he hit 73 during the 2001 season, passing Mark McGwire for that record. Bonds is famous for his strength and all-purpose talent; The Sporting News named Bonds the top player of the 1990s, and he was voted the National League's most valuable player an unprecedented seven times: in 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Bonds played left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-1992, after which he became a free agent and signed with the San Francisco Giants. In his banner season of 2001 he outdid McGwire (who hit 70 homers in 1998) and sluggers of the past like Babe Ruth (60 homers in 1927) and Roger Maris (61 in 1961). Despite his heroics at the plate, Bonds has had strained relations with the press and with fans, gaining a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly to reporters. Bonds has also been dogged by accusations that he used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs late in his career. He was in the middle of a 2003 grand jury investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) and his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, over the use of steroids. Bonds testified he had unknowingly used steroid products, and Anderson did jail time rather than testify against Bonds. Based on his testimony in that case, Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in November of 2007, just weeks after announcing his departure from the Giants for the 2008 season.

Bonds is the son of Bobby Bonds, a major league player from 1968-81... Bonds bats and throws left-handed, and wears #25... He joined the elite 40-40 club in 1996, hitting 42 home runs and stealing 40 bases... He hit his 715th career home run on 28 May 2006, surpassing Babe Ruth for second on the all-time American homer list, right behind Aaron... Slugger Sadaharu Oh hit 868 homers during his career (1959-80) with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's major leagues, making him the worldwide home run leader. Despite the common nickname of Giants, the San Francisco and Yomiuri teams are not related.

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Black Biography: Barry Bonds

baseball player

Personal Information

Born Barry Lamar Bonds, July 24, 1964, in Riverside, CA; son of Bobby (a professional baseball player and coach) and Patricia (Howard) Bonds; Married Sun (divorced); married Liz; children: (with Sun) Nikolai, Shikari, (with Liz) Aisha Lynn.
Education: Attended Arizona State University, 1982-85.

Career

Professional baseball player, 1985-. Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder, 1986-92; San Francisco Giants, 1993-.

Life's Work

Left fielder Barry Bonds is a seven-time Most Valuable Player and the only baseball player to have won the MVP award for his league more than three times. His 73 home runs in one season stands as the game's record. Bonds won all his MVP honors win the National League, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. Bonds, who missed most of the 2005 season following knee surgery, is still on a path to catch Hand Aaron as baseball's all-time home-run leader. But controversy has also dogged Bonds, who was linked to a scandal when a federal grand jury indicted his longtime trainer for providing steroids to pro athletes.

Bonds, the son of former major leaguer Bobby Bonds, has been around the big leagues most of his life. He therefore approaches baseball as a job--with its own pitfalls and pleasures--and does little to enhance his personal image. He has been called uncooperative, arrogant, and selfish. He has quarreled openly with teammates, managers, and especially reporters who try to corner him for interviews. His image, particularly after steroid use made big headlines in 2005, has suffered to such an extent that he has become a favorite target for fan abuse on the road--and an occasional target of scolding from fellow players. Nothing has swayed Bonds to become more tolerant or easygoing. He points to his offensive numbers, eight Gold Glove awards for fielding, and MVP honors, saying they speak for themselves. "I'm not a media person," he told the San Francisco Examiner. "I don't like to answer the same questions. I just like to play baseball. I'm not into the other stuff. I turn down a lot of interviews. It's the United States of America. I have freedom of choice. It's two different jobs--keeping the media happy, and keeping yourself and your family happy. It's too much for one man."

If Bonds is unpopular elsewhere, he is popular in San Francisco. Since joining the Giants in 1993, he has helped turn the ballclub around. In 2002, the Giants made their first World Series appearance since 1990, losing to the Anaheim Angels in a full seven games. Philadelphia Inquirer correspondent Sam Carchidi wrote that Bonds has helped to energize a franchise that nearly moved out of town.

Second-Generation Ballplayer

You might say that Barry Lamar Bonds inherited a family business. He is the oldest son of baseball star Bobby Bonds and the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays. While other boys his age watched longingly from the bleachers, he used to shag fly balls in the Candlestick Park outfield with his dad and Mays. "I was too young to bat with them," Bonds told Sports Illustrated, "but I could compete with them in the field."

Bonds's father joined the Giants in 1968 and played there until 1974. Early in his career, Bobby Bonds was heralded as the successor to Willie Mays, especially since the two men were such good friends. Unfortunately, Bobby could never live up to expectations from fans and media. Even though he hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases the same season five times, his performance never satisfied the critics. His other teams included the New York Yankees, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and Cleveland Indians.

In the San Francisco Examiner, Larry Stone wrote: "The Bonds' ... know what it's like to never do quite enough to satisfy the fans and the media. Bobby was supposed to be the next Willie Mays. Barry was supposed to be the next Bobby Bonds. With both, the story line was always potential, and how it wasn't being fulfilled." Barry Bonds seemed to echo these sentiments when asked about his father by Sports Illustrated. "No one gives my dad credit for what he did, and they want to put me in the same category," he said. "He did 30-30 five times, and they say he never became the ballplayer he should have become. Ain't nobody else done 30-30 five times. Nobody. Zero. So I don't care whether they like me or they don't like me. I don't care."

The elder Bonds was an all-out competitor who liked to push his children to excel. Before he even attended school, young Barry could hit a Wiffle ball so hard it could break glass. He took to baseball naturally and learned from his father as well as his high school and college coaches. As a student at Serra High School in San Mateo, California, he played baseball, basketball, and football. When he graduated in 1982, he was offered a contract with his father's former team, the San Francisco Giants. The money was significant--$75,000--but Bonds asked for more. The offer was withdrawn, and Bonds went to college instead.

At Arizona State University, Bonds played baseball for coach Jim Brock. The young outfielder's talent was evident from the outset, and by his junior year he had been named to the All-Pac 10 team three consecutive years. He hit 23 home runs as a junior and compiled a career .347 average, and he was chosen for the Sporting News All-American Team in 1985. Brock recalled his years coaching Bonds in Sports Illustrated: "I liked the hell out of Barry Bonds. Unfortunately, I never saw a teammate care about him. Part of it would be his being rude, inconsiderate and self-centered. He bragged about the money he turned down, and he popped off about his dad. I don't think he ever figured out what to do to get people to like him."

Drafted by the Pirates

Bonds was drafted again in 1985, this time the Pittsburgh Pirates making him the sixth pick in the first round. Bonds was sent to the minor leagues, where he played for the Prince William (Virginia) Pirates of the Carolina League. There he batted .299, hit 13 home runs, and was named league player of the month for July. The following season found him in Hawaii, where he batted .311 in just 44 games before being called up to Pittsburgh. All told, Bonds spent less than two years in the minor leagues. He was just 21 when he became a Pittsburgh Pirate.

Bonds quickly became the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for the Pirates. On his second day with the team he smacked a double, and less than a week later he had his first home run. By year's end he led the National League rookies in home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, and walks. The Pittsburgh front office rejoiced--it was hoped that Bonds could help the team back into playoff contention.

In 1987 Bonds was switched to left field and moved to fifth in the batting order because he could hit to all fields. His batting average shot to .261, he hit 25 home runs, and he stole 32 bases. The following year a knee injury kept his stolen base total down but did nothing to his average (.283) or home run total (24).

Bonds came into his own in 1990, the year he won his first National League Most Valuable Player award. He hit 32 home runs and stole 52 bases--prompting further comparisons with his father--and he led the National League in slugging percentage with .565. Largely due to Bonds, the Pirates finished first in the National League East, though the Cincinnati Reds defeated them in the National League Championship Series.

In 1990 Pirate manager Jim Leyland told Sports Illustrated: "Barry's at the point in his career where he should be. If he handles himself the way he is capable of, he's going to be a consistent star for years." The if in Leyland's comment was important. Leyland recognized Bonds's talent but also found the young star temperamental and insensitive toward teammates. After he won the MVP award, Bonds asked for salary arbitration. He wanted a bigger raise than the Pirates were willing to give him. He lost.

Matters took a turn for the worse after the Pirates lost the 1990 NLCS. Bonds joined a group of other star players for a goodwill tour of Japan. Associated Press reporter Alan Robinson claimed that Bonds quit early in an exhibition game and then insulted his Japanese hosts by tossing aside a token gift during a post-game ceremony. Trouble followed Bonds back to the United States. During 1991 spring training in Florida, he engaged in a heated swearing match with Leyland and Pirates coach Bill Virdon after he refused to pose for photographs.

Bonds and Leyland reconciled, and once again the team advanced to the league championship seriesthis time losing to the Atlanta Braves--and Bonds hit .292 for the 1991 season. Bonds narrowly missed being voted League MVP again, finishing second to Atlanta's Terry Pendleton. In 1992 Bonds captured his second MVP award and a .311, 34-home run year, though the Pirates missed the World Series yet again in an NLCS rematch with the Braves, when Atlanta rallied for three runs in the ninth inning.

Became Baseball's Highest Paid Player

It is especially rare for a team to trade a Most Valuable Player. Almost any club will try every avenue to keep such a star happy. The Pirates made little effort to court Bonds when he became a free agent at the end of the 1992 season. It was essentially a foregone conclusion that Bonds would leave the team, and everyone acted accordingly. For some time in the fall of 1992 it looked as though Bonds would sign with the New York Yankees. Then, in December, he received a more tempting offer.

The San Francisco Giants had narrowly escaped being sold and sent to St. Petersburg, Florida. New ownership surfaced in San Francisco, one that wanted to make a fifth-place team a serious contender. The new owner/president, Peter Magowan, eyed Bonds as the most desirable free agent on the marketplace. Magowan offered Bonds a deal that would make him the highest-paid player in baseball. Then the president sweetened the deal by adding Bonds's father, Bobby, as a Giants hitting coach. Recognizing Barry's solitary personality, Magowan even offered the star private hotel suite accommodations on the road. Bonds's average salary for one year of the six-year deal came to more money than his father and godfather earned--in their entire careers.

Together, Bobby and Barry Bonds hold the major league record for home runs from fathers and sons. Until the elder Bonds died in August of 2003, they worked side-by-side on the Giants, and were closer than ever. If anyone understood Barry's unwillingness to talk to reporters and sign autographs, it was Bobby. "For them to say my son is moody is not right," the elder Bonds once told the San Francisco Examiner. "How many days have they spent with my son? How many nights? They've met him for a couple of minutes, and because he might be busy that day, or they don't know his business-like attitude at the ballpark, they say, 'My god, he's got an attitude.' And that's wrong."

Changed Gears

Fans and critics were not the only people that Bonds was having difficulties with in the early 1990s. In the summer of 1994, Bonds filed for divorce from his wife, Sun, and requested joint physical and legal custody of his children. After the divorce was final in 1995, Bonds vowed to the media as well as to his teammates that he was resolved to work to improve both his personal and professional lives. He began a rigorous off-season workout program and began to try and curb his famous "bad" attitude toward teammates and fans. He wanted to change the impressions of people who thought he was a bad person, for according to Bonds, "I feel the press puts a stamp on certain players and once they stamp you as a 'bad person' then that's what they feed on and there's nothing you can do about it," he explained. "I know in my heart the type of ballplayer I am and the type of person I am." This transformation by Bonds would not be easily accepted, especially by the fans, who wanted not only a nicer Barry Bonds, but a better baseball playing Barry Bonds. Defending his demeanor on and off the field, Bonds asked Sports Illustrated interviewer Richard Hoffer: "Why can't people just enjoy the show? And then let the entertainer go home and get his rest, so he can put on another show?"

Over the next few years, Bonds made sure to live up to his title as an entertainer, continuing to improve his game and his statistics to become one of the best players of the 1990s. In 1996 he become one of only four players to ever hit 300 home runs and steal 300 bases, sharing the honor with such greats as Willie Mays and Andre Dawson. The following year, he led the Giants to a National League West Division title, but San Francisco lost to the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins in the National League playoffs. Bonds, though, continued to rise in prominence. By the end of the 1990s, Sport magazine named him Player of the Decade and he was starting to turn his image around.

Bonds, meanwhile, was restructuring his personal life. In 1998 he married girlfriend Liz Watson and in 1999 he became a father for the third time with the birth of his daughter, Aisha Lynn. The following year, he began to step up his on-field play becoming the first player to ever hit 400 home runs and steal 400 bases. By the end of the decade, Barry Bonds had won three MVPs and eight Golden Glove Awards.

Made the History Books

By the middle of the 2001 season, Bonds had already hit forty-five homeruns and was on pace to make a run at Mark McGuire's record of 71 homeruns set back in 1998. He was also chasing after Mickey Mantle's walk record as well as the all time MVP record. The chase for the records would last all season, coming down to the last three games of the Giants' regular season.

On September 27, 2001, Bonds lost good friend and sometimes bodyguard Franklin Bradley and many were worried that this would hamper his play. Bonds, however proved to everyone, including himself, that nothing was going to stop him from slugging his way into the record books. On October 5, 2001, his first day back from leave, Bonds hit home run number 70, which he dedicated to Bradley. The next day, he would bat his way into history as he hit homeruns 71 and 72. Bonds finished the 2001 season with an amazing 73 homeruns, 177 walks, 137 runs batted in, and an outstanding average of .328.

Bonds broke every record he had been chasing all season, including the coveted MVP award. The Giants re-signed Bonds to a five year $90 million contract, ensuring them a powerful clean-up hitter for years to come. He signed with a team of agents to win endorsements. That paid off with his face on the Wheaties box and being named a spokesman for Kentucky Fried Chicken. As the 2002 season began, many fans and players worried that Bonds could not match the feats of the previous season. Those fears seem to be unfounded however, for Bonds began the season with five homeruns in six games and maintaining a .375 average. He also surpassed Mark McGwire in career home runs when he batted his 576th homerun in May of 2002. It was also his 400th homerun with the Giants. In a Sports Illustrated interview Bonds said, "I'm shocked, as shocked as anybody." Barry Bonds has developed from a rough and tumble outfielder and outsider to one of the greatest players baseball has ever seen, on and off the field. Reggie Jackson said of Bonds during the awarding of the MVP award, "Bonds's burgeoning legacy is almost palpable in the air. Babe Ruth. Ted Williams. Henry Aaron. Sooner or later they'll have to end that list with Barry Bonds."

Bonds played in his lone World Series in 2002; the Anaheim Angels, intent on not letting Bonds beat them, walked the slugger 13 times in a seven-game series. Bonds did homer four times have eight hits in 17 at-bats for a .471 average in that World Series, but the Giants, on the cusp of their first World Series title since 1954, blew a 5-0 lead late in the sixth game and dropped the seventh as well. Anaheim came away with the championship.

Bonds captured his sixth and seventh MVP awards in 2003 and 2004, respectively, but endured injuries and controversy the following year. After the 2004 season, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. In December of that year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Bonds testified to a Bay Area grand jury that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by his trainer, Greg Anderson, who was indicted in a steroid-distribution ring; Bonds, though, said he did not know they were steroids. Anderson and Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative 9BALCO), received prison sentences of less than six months for their roles in providing athletes with undetectable banned substances. Federal authorities late in 2005 were targeting BALCO auppliers in the next step of their investigation.

After having three operations on his right knee, Bonds played in 14 games for the Giants near the end of the 2005 season. He homered five times and batting .286. At the end of the season, he had 708 regular-season homers and trailed Aaron by 47 on the all-time list.

Awards

Named National League Most Valuable Player, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998; Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Award, 1993; AP Male Athlete of the Year, 2001; Silver Slugger Award, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; Hank Aaron Award, 2001, 2002, 2004.

**Barry Lamar Bonds**

San Francisco Giants — No. 25
Left fielder
Born: July 24 1964 (1964--) (age 43)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
May 30, 1986 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007 season)
Batting average	.298
Home runs	762
Runs batted in	1,996
Hits	2,935
Stolen bases	514
Slugging percentage	.607
Awards
Most Valuable Player (NL): (1990, 1992-1993, 2001-2004) Gold Glove (NL): (1990-1994, 1996-1998) Silver Slugger (NL): (1990-1994, 1996-1997, 2000-2004) Hank Aaron Award (NL): (2001-2002, 2004) All-Star (NL): (1990, 1992-1998, 2000-2004, 2007)
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-1992) San Francisco Giants (1993-2007)

Early life

Bonds grew up in San Carlos, California and attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California and excelled in baseball, basketball and football. As a freshman, he spent the baseball season on the JV team. The next 3 years — 1980 to 1982 — he starred on the varsity team. He batted .467 his senior year, and was honored as a prep All-American.^[4] The Giants drafted Bonds in the second round of the 1982 MLB draft as a high school senior, but the Giants and Bonds were unable to agree on contract terms, so Bonds instead decided to attend college.^[5]

Bonds attended Arizona State University, where he had a stellar baseball career, hitting .347 with 45 home runs and 175 RBI.^[4] In 1984 he batted .360 and stole 30 bases. In 1985 he hit 23 home runs with 66 RBIs and a .368 batting average. He was a Sporting News All-American selection that year. He tied the NCAA record with 7 consecutive hits in the College World Series as sophomore and was named to All-Time College World Series Team in 1996.^[4] He graduated from Arizona State in 1986 with a degree in criminology.

Major league career

Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-92)

Bonds was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1985 MLB draft. Bonds joined the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and was named July 1985 Player of the Month for the league.^[6] In 1986, he hit .311 in 44 games for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League,^[7] and he made his major league debut on May 30.^[8]

In 1986, Bonds finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting, hitting 16 home runs and stealing 36 bases. He hit 25 home runs in his second season, along with 32 stolen bases and 59 RBIs. Bonds improved in 1988, hitting .283 with 24 home runs. Bonds started off his 1989 campaign well, but tapered off quickly, finishing with 19 homers and 58 RBIs.

Bonds won his first MVP award in 1990, hitting .301 with 33 home runs and 114 RBIs. His 52 stolen bases were third in the league. He won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards.^[4] In 1991, Bonds also put up great numbers, hitting 25 homers and driving in 116 runs, and obtained another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. He finished second to the Atlanta Braves' Terry Pendleton (the NL batting champion) in the MVP voting.^[4] The next season, Bonds won his second MVP award.^[4] He dominated the NL, hitting .311 with 34 homers and 103 RBIs, and propelling the Pirates to their third straight National League East division title. However, Pittsburgh was defeated by the Braves in a seven-game National League Championship Series. Bonds was involved in the final play of Game 7 of the NLCS, where he fielded a base hit by Francisco Cabrera and attempted to throw out Sid Bream at home plate. But the throw to Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere was late and Bream scored the winning run.^[9] For the third consecutive season, the NL East Champion Pirates were denied a trip to the World Series.

San Francisco Giants (1993-2007)

In 1993, Bonds left the Pirates to sign a lucrative free agent contract worth a then-record $43.75 million over 6 years with the Giants, with whom his father spent the first 7 years of his career, and with whom his godfather Willie Mays played 22 of his 24 Major League seasons. To honor his father, Bonds switched his jersey number to 25 once he signed with the Giants, as it had been Bobby's number in San Francisco. (His number during most of his stay with the Pirates, 24, was retired in honor of Mays anyway.) Bonds hit .336 in 1993, leading the league with 46 home runs and 123 RBI en route to his second consecutive MVP award, and third overall. As good as the Giants were (winning 103 games), the Atlanta Braves won 104 in what some call the last great pennant race (due to the Wild Card being instituted shortly after).^[10]

In the strike-shortened season of 1994, Bonds hit .312 with 37 home runs and a league-leading 74 walks. He finished 4th in MVP voting. In 1995, Bonds hit 33 homers and drove in 104 runs, hitting .294 but finished only 12th in MVP voting.

In 1996, Bonds became the first National League player (and 2nd of 4 major league players) to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. (Others are Canseco-1988, A.Rodriguez-1998, and Soriano-2006; his father Bobby Bonds was 1 hr short in 1973). Bonds drove in 129 runs with a .308 average and walked a then-National League record 151 times. During the 1996 season Bonds became the 4th player in history to steal 300 bases and hit 300 home runs for a career, joining Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, and Bobby Bonds. In 1997 Bonds hit .291, his lowest average since 1989. He hit 40 home runs for the second straight year and drove in 101 runs, leading the league in walks again with 145. He tied his father in 1997 for having the most 30/30 seasons.

In 1998, Bonds got off to a very rocky start, but by season's end he hit .303 with 37 home runs and drove in 122 runs, winning his eighth Gold Glove, and became the first player ever to have career totals of 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases. With two outs in the 9th inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 28, 1998, Bonds became the third player in baseball history to be walked intentionally with the bases loaded (Nap Lajoie and Bill Nicholson were two others).^[11] Bonds finished 8th in the MVP voting.

Throughout the 1990s, Bonds was an exceptionally patient hitter and a great slugger who stole bases and played Gold Glove defense. Bill James ranked Bonds as the best player of the 1990s, adding that the decade's 2nd-best player (Craig Biggio) had been closer in production to the decade's 10th-best player than to Bonds.

In 1999, with statistics through 1997 being considered, Bonds ranked Number 31 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking active player. When the Sporting News list was redone in 2005, Bonds was ranked 6th behind Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Henry Aaron. Bonds was omitted from 1999's Major League Baseball All-Century Team, to which Ken Griffey Jr. was elected. James wrote of Bonds, "Certainly the most unappreciated superstar of my lifetime... Griffey has always been more popular, but Bonds has been a far, far greater player."

In 1999, James rated Bonds as the 16th best player of all time. "When people begin to take in all of his accomplishments", James predicted, "Bonds may well be rated among the five greatest players in the history of the game." However, at the time of this statement, the controversy regarding Bonds' use of performance enhancing substances was not yet a factor.

Resurgence

Bonds at the plate with the Giants.

In 2000, at age 36, Bonds hit .306, with a slugging percentage of .688 (career best at that time), hit 49 home runs in just 143 games (also a career high to that point), while drawing a league-leading 117 walks.

The next year, Bonds' offensive production reached even higher levels, breaking not only his own personal records but several major league records. In the Giants' first 50 games in 2001, Bonds hit 28 home runs, including 17 in May — a career high.^[12] He also hit 39 home runs by the All-star break (a major league record), drew a major league record 177 walks, and had a .515 on-base average, a feat not seen since Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams over forty years earlier. Bonds' slugging percentage was a major league record .863 (411 total bases in 476 at-bats), and, most impressively, he ended the season with a major league record 73 home runs.

Bonds re-signed with the Giants for a five-year, $90 million contract in January 2002. That year, he hit 46 home runs in 403 at-bats. He won the NL batting title with a career-high .370 average and struck out only 47 times. Despite playing in nine fewer games than the previous season, he drew 198 walks, a major-league record, 68 of them intentional. He slugged .799, then the fourth-highest total all time. Bonds broke Ted Williams' major league record for on-base average with .582. Bonds also hit his 600th home run, less than a year and a half after hitting his 500th.

In 2003, Bonds played in just 130 games. He hit 45 home runs in just 390 at-bats, along with a .341 batting average. He slugged .749, walked 148 times, and had an on-base average well over .500 (.529) for the third straight year. He also became the only member of the career 500 home run/500 stolen base club.

In 2004, Bonds had perhaps his best season. He hit .362 en route to his second National League batting title, and broke his own record by walking 232 times. He slugged .812, which was fourth-highest of all time, and broke his on-base percentage record with a .609 average. Bonds passed Mays on the career home run list, hitting his 700th near the end of the season. Bonds hit 45 home runs in 373 at-bats, and struck out just 41 times, putting himself in elite company, as few major leaguers have ever had more home runs than strikeouts in a season. Bonds would win his fourth consecutive MVP award and his seventh overall. His seven MVP awards are four more than any other player in history. (The MVP award was first given in 1931.) On July 4 2004 he tied and passed Rickey Henderson's career bases on balls record with his 2190th and 2191st career walks.^[13]

During an investigation of BALCO Laboratories, Bonds' grand jury testimony was illegally leaked and obtained by the media. In the testimony he admitted he may have unknowingly been given "the clear" and "the cream", claiming he was told the substances were flaxseed oil. This ignited much media speculation on Bonds in relation to the BALCO investigation.

2005 season

Bonds' salary for the 2005 season was $22 million, the second-highest salary in Major League Baseball (the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez earned the highest, $25.2 million).^[14] On March 22, 2005, Bonds announced that he could be sidelined for the rest of the 2005 season because of continuing knee problem for which he had already had surgery. At the press conference, Bonds also indicated that he was frustrated by the focus on his steroid use and the negative portrayal of him in the media. Later, he sounded more positive about his rehabilitation and told fans at the Opening Day festivities, "I will be back!" The chances of Bonds' return to the playing field were covered throughout the summer by ESPN, in anticipation of potentially unprecedented scrutiny by the media and baseball fans (baseball had toughened its steroid-testing program since Bonds had last played and Bonds was tested regularly even though he did not play). On May 4,2005, Bonds revealed on his website that he had undergone a third arthroscopic knee surgery because of a bacterial infection in his knee. This setback led many to assume that Bonds would not play in the 2005 season, and in the process raised much speculation as to whether Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755 would be attainable by Bonds.

In September, Bonds started working out with the team while the Giants were in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. Bonds was activated on September 12,2005, returned to start in left field. In his return against the San Diego Padres, he nearly hit a home run in his first at-bat. Bonds finished the night 1-for-4. Upon his return, Bonds mostly continued his pre-injury dominance at the plate, hitting home runs in four consecutive games from September 18,2005 to September 21,2005 and finishing with five homers in only 14 games.

2006 season

Bonds batting against the Chicago Cubs in 2006

In 2006 Bonds earned $20 million (not including bonuses), the fourth highest salary in baseball. Through the 2006 season he had earned approximately $172 million during his then 21-year career, making him baseball's all-time highest paid player.^[14] On February 19, 2006, Bonds announced in an interview with USA Today that he planned on retiring at the conclusion of the 2006 season, with or without the all-time home run record. "I've never cared about records anyway", he said, "so what difference does it make? Right now, I'm telling you, I don't even want to play next year. Baseball is a fun sport. But I'm not having fun... I love the game of baseball itself, but I don't like what it's turned out to be. I'm not mad at anybody. It's just that right now I am not proud to be a baseball player."^[15] On March 9, 2006, after his first game of the preseason with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds said that he would know around the All-Star Break and in a time period ranging from July to August 2006, whether or not he would be returning for the 2007 MLB season.

Bonds started the 2006 season with a slump. Bonds hit under .200 for his first 10 games of the season and did not hit a home run until April 22,2006. This 10 game stretch was his longest home run slump since the 1998 season. Throughout May, June, July, and early August, Bonds continued with a sub-par offensive performance. In late August, Bonds began an offensive surge, hitting 10 home runs in 25 starts from August 21,2006 through September 23,2006, and lifting his batting average 40 points in the same stretch. On August 20,2006, Bonds' batting average fell to .235, his lowest average since early May. From then to September 23,2006, Bonds could look back to a full month on an offensive tear: a .400 batting average (34 hits in 85 official at-bats), a .800 slugging percentage, with 10 home runs, 6 doubles and 26 runs batted in, along with 19 walks and only 8 strikeouts. With season long media speculation about the questionable likelihood of Bonds' re-signing with the Giants for the 2007 season, by late season commentators were concluding that it would be difficult to ignore the late-season contribution by Bonds that was keeping the Giants in the pennant race.

Bonds in the field.

In 2006, Bonds recorded his lowest slugging percentage (a statistic that he has historically ranked among league leaders season after season) since 1991 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his 733rd and 734th career home runs, hit respectively on September 22,2006, and September 23,2006, Bonds tied and then passed Henry Aaron's National League career home run record in Milwaukee. As of the end of the 2006 MLB season, he had 734 total homers.

In January 2007, the New York Daily News reported that Bonds had tested positive for amphetamines.^[16] Under baseball's amphetamine policy, which had been in effect for one season, players testing positive were to submit to six additional tests and undergo treatment and counseling.^[16] The policy also stated that players were not to be identified for a first positive test, but the New York Daily News leaked the test's results.^[17] When the Players Association informed Bonds of the test results, he initially attributed it to a substance he had taken from the locker of Giants teammate Mark Sweeney,^[16]^[18] but would later retract this claim.^[19]

2007 season

Bonds at the plate against the Rockies in 2007

On January 29 2007, the Giants finalized a contract with Bonds for the 2007 season.^[20] After the commissioner's office rejected Bonds's one-year, $15.8 million deal because it contained a personal-appearance provision, the team sent revised documents to his agent, Jeff Borris, who stated that "At this time, Barry is not signing the new documents."^[21] Bonds signed a revised 1 year, $15.8 million contract on February 15,2007, and reported to the Giants' Spring Training camp on time.

During the 2007 season, some sports writers and insiders criticized Bonds' defense and lack of effort in left field.^[22] His last game was on September 26th, at San Diego versus the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-3, finishing the year with a .276 batting average, 28 home runs, and 66 RBIs.^[23]

Chasing the all-time Major League home run record

On May 7,2006, Bonds drew within one home run of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the all time list, hitting his 713th career home run into the second level of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, off pitcher Jon Lieber in an ESPN nationally-televised game in which the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.^[24] The towering home run — one of the longest in Citizens Bank Park's two season history, traveling an estimated 450 feet (140 m) — hit off the facade of the third deck in right field. Curiously, and perhaps revealingly, the jeers from the Philadelphia crowd that had haunted Bonds earlier that night turned noticeably into cheers as he completed his swing, watched the flight of the ball, rounded the bases, and touched home plate, all this to flashbulbs going off throughout the stands. The mixed and often paradoxical reaction to Bonds' impending achievement exemplified the polarizing effect of his controversial career upon baseball aficionados and casual observers alike. Some have ventured to say that while many fans hate Bonds, they all come to the park to see him play.^[25]

A sign counts up to Barry Bonds' 714th home run

On May 20,2006, Bonds tied Ruth, hitting his 714th career home run to deep right field to lead off the top of the 2nd inning.^[26] The home run came off left handed pitcher Brad Halsey of the Oakland A's, in an interleague game played in Oakland, California. Since this was an interleague game at an American League stadium, Bonds was batting as the designated hitter in the lineup for the Giants. Bonds was quoted after the game as being "just glad it's over with" and stated that more attention could be focused on Albert Pujols, who was on a very rapid home run pace in early 2006.

The concession stand where home run number 715 was hit in center field

On May 28,2006, Bonds passed Ruth, hitting his 715th career home run to center field off of Colorado Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim.^[27]^[28] Bonds, like Aaron, needed more at bats than Ruth to surpass the Babe's record. The ball was hit an estimated 445 feet (140 m) into center field where it went through the hands of several fans but then fell onto an elevated platform in center field. Then it rolled off the platform where Andrew Morbitzer, a 38-year-old San Francisco resident, caught the ball while he was in line at a concession stand. Mysteriously, radio broadcaster Dave Flemming's radio play-by-play of the home run went silent just as the ball was hit, apparently from a microphone failure. But the televised version, called by Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, was not affected. This historic home run was not officially celebrated by MLB, however. The Giants organization unfurled two large banners from light standards alongside the scoreboard in center field to honor the event. As Bonds took his position in left field at the top of the fifth inning, Ed Montague, the long-time National League and MLB umpire and crew chief who was officiating at second base for this game, approached Bonds to congratulate him, and the two hugged.

On September 22,2006, Bonds tied Henry Aaron's National League career home run record of 733.^[29] The home run came in the top of the 6th inning of a high-scoring game against the Milwaukee Brewers, at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The achievement was notable for its occurrence in the very city where Aaron began (with the Milwaukee Braves) and concluded (with the Brewers, then in the American League) his career. With the Giants trailing 10-8, Bonds hit a blast to deep center field on a 2-0 pitch off of the Brewers' Chris Spurling with runners on first and second and one out. Though the Giants were at the time clinging to only a slim chance of making the playoffs, Bonds' home run provided the additional drama of giving the Giants an 11-10 lead late in a critical game in the final days of a pennant race. The Brewers eventually won the game, 13-12, despite Bonds' going 3 for 5, with 2 doubles, the record-tying home run, and 6 runs batted in.

On the following day, September 23,2006, Bonds surpassed Aaron for the NL career home run record.^[30] Hit in Milwaukee like the previous one, this was a solo home run off of Chris Capuano of the Brewers. This was the last home run Bonds hit in 2006.

Bonds resumed his march to the all-time record early in the 2007 season. After an opening game in which all he had was a first-inning single past third base against a right-shifted infield (immediately followed by a stolen base and then a base-running misjudgment that got him thrown out at home) and a deep out to left field late in the game,^[31] Bonds returned the next day, April 4,2007, with another mission. In his first at-bat of the season's second game at the Giants' AT&T Park, Bonds reached out and flipped a Chris Young (of the San Diego Padres) pitch just over the wall to the left of straightaway center field for career home run 735.^[32]^[33] This home run put Bonds past the midway point between Ruth and Aaron.

Bonds did not homer again until April 13,2007 when he hit two (736 & 737) in a 3 for 3 night that included 4 RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[34] Home runs number 739 and 740 came in back to back games on April 21,2007 and April 22, 2007 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[35]^[36]

According to a poll by ABC News and ESPN, 52% of fans were rooting against Bonds becoming the all time career home run champion, although 57% stated that they would recognize his achievement, and 58% believed he should be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.^[37]

The hype surrounding Bonds' pursuit of the home run record escalated on May 14,2007. On this day, Sports Auction for Heritage (a Dallas-based auction house) offered US$1 million to the fan that caught Bonds' record-breaking 756th-career home run.^[38] The million dollar offer was rescinded on June 11,2007 out of concern of fan safety.^[39] On that same day, Bonds launched home run 747, ending the relative drought of the previous month.^[40] This one came off Josh Towers of the Toronto Blue Jays, and landed in AT&T Park's right center field stands. His next home run, 748, came on Father's Day, June 17,2007, in the final game of a 3-game road series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where Bonds had never previously played.^[41] With this homer, Fenway Park became the 36th major league ballpark in which Bonds had hit a home run. He hit a Tim Wakefield knuckleball just over the low fence into the Giant's bullpen in right field. It was his first home run off of his former Pittsburgh Pirate teammate, who became the 441st different pitcher to surrender a four-bagger to Bonds. The 750th career home run, hit on June 29,2007, also came off a former teammate: Livan Hernandez.^[42] The blast came in the 8th inning and at that point tied the game at 3-3.

On July 19,2007, after a 21 at-bat hitless streak, Bonds hit 2 home runs, numbers 752 and 753 against the Chicago Cubs. He went 3-3 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, and a walk on that day.^[43] The struggling last place Giants still lost the game 9-8. On July 27,2007, Bonds hit home run 754 against Florida Marlins pitcher Rick VandenHurk. Bonds was then walked his next 4 at bats in the game, but 2-run shot helped the Giants win the game 12-10. It marked the first game Bonds had homered in that the Giants won since he had hit #747.^[44] On August 4,2007, Bonds hit a 382 foot (116 m) home run against Clay Hensley of the San Diego Padres for home run number 755, tying Hank Aaron's all-time record.^[45] Bonds greeted his son, Nikolai, with an extended bear hug after crossing home plate. Bonds greeted his teammates and then his wife, Liz Watson, and daughter Aisha Lynn behind the backstop. Hensley was also the 445th different pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds.^[45] He was walked in his next at bat and eventually scored on a fielder's choice.

On August 7,2007 at 8:51 PM PDT, Bonds hit a 435 foot (133 m) home run, his 756th, off a pitch from Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals, breaking the all-time career home run record, formerly held by Hank Aaron.^[46] Coincidentally, Bacsik's father had faced Aaron (as a pitcher for the Texas Rangers) after Aaron had hit his 755th home run. On August 23,1976, Michael J. Bacsik held Aaron to a single and a fly out to right field. The younger Bacsik commented later, "If my dad had been gracious enough to let Hank Aaron hit a home run, we both would have given up 756."^[47] After hitting the home run, Bonds gave Bacsik an autographed bat.^[48]

The pitch, the seventh of the at-bat, was a 3-2 pitch which Bonds hit into the right-center field bleachers. The fan who ended up with the ball, 22-year-old Matt Murphy from Queens, New York, was promptly protected and escorted away from the mayhem by a group of San Francisco police officers.^[49] After Bonds finished his home-run trot, a ten-minute delay followed, including a brief video by Aaron congratulating Bonds on breaking the record Aaron had held for 33 years,^[50] and expressing the hope that "the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams."^[50] Bonds made an impromptu emotional statement on the field, with Willie Mays, his godfather, at his side and thanked his teammates, family and his late father.^[50] Bonds sat out the rest of the game and was replaced in left field.

The commissioner, Bud Selig, was not in attendance in this game but was represented by the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, Jimmie Lee Solomon. Selig called Bonds later that night to congratulate him on breaking the record. ^[51]^[52] President George W. Bush also called Bonds the next day to congratulate him.^[53]^[54] On August 24,2007, San Francisco honored and celebrated Bonds' career accomplishments and breaking the home run record with a large rally in Justin Herman Plaza. The rally included video messages from Lou Brock, Ernie Banks, Ozzie Smith, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. Speeches were made by Willie Mays, Giants teammates Omar Vizquel and Rich Aurilia, and Giants owner Peter Magowan. Mayor Gavin Newsom presented Bonds the key to the City and County of San Francisco and Giants vice president Larry Baer gave Bonds the home plate he touched after hitting his 756 career home run.^[55]

The record-setting ball was consigned to an auction house on August 21,2007^[56], and sold with a winning bid of USD$752,467 on September 15, 2007.^[57] The high bidder, fashion designer Mark Ecko, created a website to let fans decide its fate.^[58] Ben Padnos, who submitted the USD$186,750 winning bid on Bonds' record-tying 755th home run ball also set up a website to let fans decide its fate.^[59] Of Ecko's plans, Bonds said "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid." ^[60]

On September 26, 2007, Ecko announced that the ball will be branded with an asterisk (to suggest that Bonds' achievement is tainted by his alleged steroid use), then sent to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. ^[61]

2008 Season

On September 21, 2007, the San Francisco Giants confirmed that they would not re-sign Bonds for the 2008 season.^[2] The story was first announced on Bonds' own web site earlier that day.^[62] There is much speculation about where Bonds might play in 2008 and possibly beyond. Experts have suggested nearly a dozen teams as possible destinations.^[63]^[62] Current speculation is that he may serve as a designated hitter in 2008.^[63]^[62]

Most talk is of Bonds signing just for the 2008 season as he needs just 65 hits to reach the 3000 hit plateau. There is little discussion of the 800 home run plateau or other milestones (see watchlist section below) as motivation for continuing beyond 2008. In addition to the hits, Bonds needs 68 runs to move past Ty Cobb and Rickey Henderson as the all-time runs scored champion and 37 extra base hits to move past Hank Aaron as the all-time extra base hits champion. Although the media discusses Bonds' motivation as statistical, Bonds talks of his continued quest for a World Series championship as his motivation.^[2]

Personal life

Bonds lives in San Francisco with his second wife, Liz Watson, and their daughter Aisha. He also owns a home in the exclusive gated community of