by Juliana Birnbaum Fox
Barry Bonds salutes baseball fans hugged by his son during the great home run No. 756 day at the Giants stadium, AT&T Park.
Barry Bonds took his place in the baseball record books by hitting his 756th homer on August 7 at San Francisco’s AT&T park, taking the all-time Major League home run record. The homer, Bonds’ 22nd of the season, ended the legendary Hammerin’ Hank Aaron’s more 33-year reign as home run king.
A California native born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, Calif., Bonds, who went to high school in San Mateo, he comes from a long line of baseball stars. He is the son of former Major League All-Star Bobby Bonds, the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
The lefty-swinging slugger’s 22-year career has won him a number of other baseball records, including seven Most Valuable Player awards, thirteen All Stars games and eight Golden Gloves. He is the all-time career leader in both walks (2,540) and inpertentional walks (679). He holds numerous single-season records, among them the single-season Major League record for home runs (73), set in 2001.
Connecting with a full-count ball off of the Washington Nationals left-hander Mike Bacsik, Bonds’ blast traveled 435 feet (133m) into the bleachers just to the right of center, creating a wild chase for the ball that was won by Matt Murphy, a tourist from New York. After the game, he answered the question on everybody’s mind, denying any suggestion that this landmark was marred by steroids.
“This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period,” Bonds said.
Bonds has been a central fi gure in the BALCO scandal, though Bonds has never failed a steroid test. Though he is under investigation for perjury by a federal grand jury While Bonds rounded the bases to the roar of the cheering stadium, he met his son, Nikolai, as usual, at home plate, and was then surrounded by his elated teammates.
Even the Nationals stood at their positions and applauded, and Bonds mother Pat, his wife, Liz, and daughters Aisha and Shikari were also present.
“Right now, I’m very happy that it’s all over with,” Bonds said after the Nationals defeated his Giants, 8-6. “I’m really happy with my teammates. That’s the most important thing.
And the fans, like I said, the fans here are my family. No one will ever take that Aaron has stated that he had no interest in being there when his record was broken. Though he was not present, he gave a taped message of congratulations that played on the stadium’s scoreboard while the game took a 10 minute break.
Alex Rodríguez hits homerun No. 500
“Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years,” Aaron said. “I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement.
My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.”
Alexander Rodríguez, a Dominican-American Yankee who is commonly nicknamed A-Rod, may be next in line for the coveted title that Bonds holds. He is the youngest player at 32, who reached 500 homeruns record in the majors. Of all players in baseball history at age 30, he is fi rst all-time in both homers and runs scored. Just six days after Bonds captured the home run record, Rodríguez became the youngest player ever to hit his 500th home run, breaking the record Jimmie Foxx set in 1939.
Rodríguez is also known for signing the richest contract in sports history: a 10-year, $252 million deal. And if he keeps his 30 to 40 homeruns per year, he probably will catch up and brake any Barry’s record, all this before the age of 40.
