Bonds hits 756

[Emprov]

Cool stuff! I know that there isn't a lot of love for Bonds but he's still one of the greatest players in baseball history. He hit it to the deepest part of AT&T Park and watched it go. Incredible scene, Aaron gave a taped message and Mays was right by Barry's side as Bonds gave his speech. You've overcome a lot of stuff, not the least of which is losing your dad. Congrats #25.

[Zebra]

Me and my friend are in San Diego. I'm from SF, and he's from Santa Cruz, and we're both Giants fans. We stood outside the park saturday and watched the board, and actually went to their game Sunday. Just missed being near the homerun.

Too bad they lost all three games.

[Emprov]

Dang, that didn't take long...

 

link

 

SAN FRANCISCO -- With a mighty swing of his black maple bat, in front of a raucous and all-forgiving home crowd at AT&T Park, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds became baseball's home run king Tuesday night, crushing career homer No. 756 deep into the stands in right field to wrest the most hallowed record in sports from Hank Aaron.

 

Bonds, reviled by many around baseball for his role in the sport's ever-deepening steroids scandal, stood motionless for a few moments before slowly circling the bases as the crowd of more than 43,000 at AT&T Park cheered and fireworks exploded over McCovey Cove, the small inlet beyond the right field wall named for Giants great Willie McCovey. When Bonds reached home, he was greeted by his 17-year-old son, Nikolai, and swarmed by his Giants teammates.

 

"Thank you very much. I got to thank all of you, all the fans here in San Francisco. It's been fantastic," he said shortly after crossing home plate, his godfather, Willie Mays, at his side.

 

Thus ended a long and contentious journey for the 43-year-old Bonds, in his 23rd season in the major leagues. A once-lithe and multi-talented outfielder who played the first seven seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bonds has spent much of the past decade dodging charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs to transform himself into a bulky power hitter. Bonds, whose seven Most Valuable Player awards are the most of any individual in any major American sport, set the single-season record for home runs in 2001, launching 73 of them -- 24 more than he'd ever hit in a season.

 

Since 2000, when he turned 35 and at a time when sluggers traditionally see a sudden dropoff in their power numbers, Bonds has hit 311 home runs. That's better than 41 percent of his career total and 66 more than Aaron hit in a similar timeframe in his career. Aaron retired after the 1976 season.

 

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Bonds lied when he reportedly testified, in the famed BALCO steroids case, that he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds' alleged drug use has been detailed, in a thorough and often painstaking manner, in the book Game of Shadows, written by two investigative reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle and excerpted in the March 13, 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated that carried this headline: The Truth.

 

Tuesday night, the only truth that the fans at AT&T Park recognized was that Bonds is now the new home run king. The fans in San Francisco, unlike those in other cities who have alternately booed and been wooed by the slugger's prowess, have been unflinchingly supportive throughout the slugger's travails. Bonds is practically royalty with the Giants. His late father, Bobby, played for them from 1968-74. His godfather, the Hall of Famer Mays, signed with the New York Giants in 1951 (they moved to Northern California before the 1958 season) and played for them for the better part of two decades.

 

The 76-year-old Mays, fourth on the all-time home run list behind his godson, Aaron and Babe Ruth, watched Tuesday as Bonds crunched the record-setting homer off Washington Nationals' lefthander Mike Bacsik in the fifth inning. Not there to witness the moment: Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, a longtime friend of Aaron's who has been mostly silent about Bonds and his quest for the record. Selig, who has been at several recent Giants games and was present for the record-tying home run last Saturday in San Diego, was back in Milwaukee attending business. Representing Major League Baseball in his place was vice president Jimmie Lee Solomon.

 

Aaron, 73, wasn't at AT&T Park, either. He flatly declined to follow Bonds on this quest, citing his age, the uncertainty of when the record-breaker might come and the rigors of travel. Many around baseball suspect, though, that Aaron is disturbed by the charges of performance-enhancing drug use -- considered cheating by many in and around baseball -- that surround Bonds.

 

His involvement Tuesday night was limited to a recorded statement on AT&T Park's huge video board.

 

"It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination," Aaron said. "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. 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."

 

After he broke Ruth's longstanding home run record in 1974, hitting No. 715 at now-demolished Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Aaron smacked 40 more to finish at 755, a number that stood in the record book, without question, until Tuesday. Bonds -- whose record is destined to be questioned for as long as it stands -- has nearly two more months to add to the total, and he's said that he'd like to play next year as well. His employability beyond this season, though, is in question. As good a hitter as Bonds remains -- he still is so feared that no one in the game is walked more -- he is 43 years old, he does not play the outfield well anymore and he makes more than $15 million a season.

 

None of that was of any particular importance Tuesday to anyone in the beautiful ballpark by the bay. With his singular left-handed stroke, Bonds became the greatest home run hitter in the grand old game's long and often scandalous history. And the city that embraces him, amid a baseball-loving nation that is torn about him, cheered its new home run king.

[rbstern]

Too bad, IMO.

 

Baseball is a game that relies on history for its future, and when you start putting question marks, asterisks, and italics into the record books (or people read it that way), it detracts. Badly.

 

Barry Bonds has two advantages that Aaron, Ruth, Mays, et. al., never had:

 

1) Chemical enhancements, the nature of which we may never now.

 

2) Body armor in the form of that ridiculous, massive elbow brace, that lets him stand atop the plate like no other hitter can.

 

Take those away, and perhaps he's a 500+ home run hitter. Would probably still have been a hall of fame worthy career.

 

Instead, we get controversy.

 

[sigh]

 

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

[Crescent Seven]

I'm ecstatic, personally. I only have to endure one more week of the sports mouthpieces talking about Bonds nonstop, then it will be a non-story because NFL is getting underway!

Thanks Barry, for getting it over with as quickly as possible.

C7

[Emprov]

Too bad, IMO. Baseball is a game that relies on history for its future, and when you start putting question marks, asterisks, and italics into the record books (or people read it that way), it detracts. Badly.

You can put an asterisk by just about any baseball record and if you put one by this record, you'll have to put them beside every record that's been set in this era, including Ripkin's.

 

Whatever position that you chose to take, this is a great night for Bonds and Giants fans.

[Funkee1]

I could care less about the Steroids and stuff.... This is still cool, and I am glad I saw it!!!

[Estebum]

Did someone in the crowd get the ball?

[phildogger]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Enjoy your *, Barry!

[willsellout]

I personally think it's bull{censored}, but yeah congrats on taking a shortcut to history Barry!

 

 

Dan

[DevilRaysFan]

...may he ride the great asterisk of glory into the Cooperstown

[AntiStuff]

I don't really have a problem with steroid use, so I don't have a problem with the record.

 

I wish he was still in Pittsburgh. :-(

[King Kashue]

 

You can put an asterisk by just about any baseball record and if you put one by this record, you'll have to put them beside every record that's been set in this era, including Ripkin's.

 

 

Ripken's streak was before "this era"...

 

And the only other record of any note set during this era is Bonds' Single Season record, beside which most folks have no problem putting an asterisk (along with Sosa and McGwire).

 

 

Bonds testified under oath that he took the cream and the clear (the only thing in question is whether he knew what they were or not).

 

Bonds has tested positive for amphetamines (and then blamed a teammate until the teammate had the audacity to say "No, you didn't get that from my locker" and Barry quit claiming that).

 

Those are the facts of his performance enhancement use, and people seem to forget that. He has admitted using steroids and was caught using amphetamines. Neither of those are disputed.

[Funkee1]

As pointed out by one of the talking heads on ESPN:

 

Barry Bonds may have used steroids to get those hits, but most of them came against pitchers who might have been juicing too, so..................

[King Kashue]

 

As pointed out by one of the talking heads on ESPN: Barry Bonds may have used steroids to get those hits, but most of them came against pitchers who might have been juicing too, so..................

 

 

It isn't about the level of competition, it's about extending his productive years.

 

Mitch Albom (greatest sports writer on the planet, now if he'd just stop writing sappy books) did a great column when he hit 755 last weekend...Two of the things he pointed out regarding Barry's later career:

 

"You choose to ignore the mind-boggling fact that, for his first 13 seasons, Bonds averaged 32 home runs and a .290 batting average, but, beginning when he was 34 -- an age that foreshadows retirement for many ballplayers -- Bonds somehow averaged 49 home runs and a .329 average for the next six seasons.

 

You choose to ignore that Bonds, who, in his 20s, never hit more than 46 home runs a year, suddenly, when he was 37, hit 73 in one season."

 

That's the important thing when dealing with a record like this. It's not about level of competition, it's not about "all the records from this era need to be asterisked" (nevermind there are no other records), it's about the fact that his production increased when every other ball player in history has declined, and without the career-prolonging benefits of steroids, he'd never have had a chance to reach this point...

[Kindness]

Notice how unexcited his teammates were? I did.

[Emprov]

Ripken's streak was before "this era"...

Ooops, that's right...my bad. I forgot that juicing had made its way into every sport but Baseball when Ripken was beginning his career.

 

 

[DevilRaysFan]

It isn't about the level of competition, it's about extending his productive years. Mitch Albom (greatest sports writer on the planet, now if he'd just stop writing sappy books) did a great column when he hit 755 last weekend...Two of the things he pointed out regarding Barry's later career: "You choose to ignore the mind-boggling fact that, for his first 13 seasons, Bonds averaged 32 home runs and a .290 batting average, but, beginning when he was 34 -- an age that foreshadows retirement for many ballplayers -- Bonds somehow averaged 49 home runs and a .329 average for the next six seasons . You choose to ignore that Bonds, who, in his 20s, never hit more than 46 home runs a year, suddenly, when he was 37, hit 73 in one season." That's the important thing when dealing with a record like this. It's not about level of competition, it's not about "all the records from this era need to be asterisked" (nevermind there are no other records), it's about the fact that his production increased when every other ball player in history has declined, and without the career-prolonging benefits of steroids, he'd never have had a chance to reach this point...

 

 

 

.....so are you saying that the careers of both Nolan Ryan and The Rocket prove that they juiced?

 

[Kindness]

Ripken is a fraud as well. No question. His record was all about ego and that gets no respect from me. None.

[Kindness]

.....so are you saying that the careers of both Nolan Ryan and The Rocket prove that they juiced?

 

If he isn't, I am.

[Funkee1]

 

It isn't about the level of competition, it's about extending his productive years. Mitch Albom (greatest sports writer on the planet, now if he'd just stop writing sappy books) did a great column when he hit 755 last weekend...Two of the things he pointed out regarding Barry's later career: "You choose to ignore the mind-boggling fact that, for his first 13 seasons, Bonds averaged 32 home runs and a .290 batting average, but, beginning when he was 34 -- an age that foreshadows retirement for many ballplayers -- Bonds somehow averaged 49 home runs and a .329 average for the next six seasons . You choose to ignore that Bonds, who, in his 20s, never hit more than 46 home runs a year, suddenly, when he was 37, hit 73 in one season." That's the important thing when dealing with a record like this. It's not about level of competition, it's not about "all the records from this era need to be asterisked" (nevermind there are no other records), it's about the fact that his production increased when every other ball player in history has declined, and without the career-prolonging benefits of steroids, he'd never have had a chance to reach this point...

 

You're right, but I still say he did it in an era where many of his competitors and teammates were doing the same thing. It doesn't make it right, but it doesn't change the statistic.

 

Side note: That's the most humble I have ever seen Barry be!

[DevilRaysFan]

Side note: That's the most humble I have ever seen Barry be!

A Humble Be!

[Emprov]

(nevermind there are no other records),

You mean like most hits in a season, total stolen basses, steals in a season and most consecutive games played? Oh, and didn't some guy just become the fastest player ever to hit 500 home runs?

[Kindness]

You mean like most hits in a season, total stolen basses, steals in a season and most consecutive games played? Oh, and didn't some guy just become the fastest player ever to hit 500 home runs?

 

You're not telling me Henderson juiced are you? Gasp!

[King Kashue]

Ooops, that's right...my bad. I forgot that juicing had made its way into every sport but Baseball when Ripken was beginning his career.

 

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying...excellent summary...

 

 

When people talk about the "steroid era" in Baseball and the explosion of offensive numbers, they're talking about the decade starting in the early-90s...

 

When you say "This era" and you're saying Ripken's streak is encompassed in it, you're defining "This era" as a 25 year span, which is not a definition I've seen anyone but you use...

 

Even Canseco, who says that everyone, including the batboys and club house attendants, juiced, claims that in the late 80s it was largely unused and it was the late 80s and early 90s that saw the wide explosion of usage.

 

 

Also, nevermind that steroids may increase performance and maintain productivity, they don't increase durability (and most studies show it reduces it)...