Barry Bonds – 762 HR
You would think anyone breaking Hank Aaron’s career home run record would be yet another cause for celebration. Unfortunately, Barry Bonds‘ pursuit of Aaron’s all-time mark turned into a serious headache for Major League Baseball and many of its fans.
Bonds didn’t start his career as a muscle-bound slugger. Far from it, he debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 as a legitimate five-tool prospect. A lanky outfielder, he could definitely hit for power but was just as likely to impact a game with his speed as with his bat. At no point was this more evident than in 1990, when Bonds smacked 33 home runs while also stealing 52 bases. His efforts netted him the MVP that season, his first of seven.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
After signing with the Giants before the 1993 campaign, power became an increasingly prominent aspect of Bonds’ game. He hit an MLB-leading 46 homers his first year in San Francisco, and between 1993 and 2000 he averaged 40 a season. By that point he had collected 494 round-trippers for his career, just short of the 500 milestone.
The 2001 season was, of course, the one that changed everything. Only three years after Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both shattered Maris’ single-season record, Bonds again rewrote the history books. At age 36, he belted an astounding 73 homers. Suddenly, more ambitious goals appeared to be within reach.
Bonds’ public image took a crippling hit, however, after his implication in the BALCO steroid scandal in 2003. He remained defiant, continuing to rack up home runs at a rapid pace into his 40s. On August 7, 2007, he hit the 756th homer of his career to pass Hank Aaron. He finished the season, and his career, with a total of 762, setting a new all-time benchmark.
If Bonds had his way, that number would have kept climbing, too. He intended to continue playing after 2007, but no team signed him as a free agent. Bonds would later claim that MLB owners had colluded to force him and his polarizing presence out of the game, although his indictment for perjury in connection to the BALCO case likely didn’t help. If he had been able to latch on somewhere (or if he hadn’t missed almost all of 2005 with a knee injury) 800 home runs could have been a real possibility.
To Bonds’ credit, he’s taken recent steps to ensure that his life in baseball has another chapter. He is currently serving in his first season as Miami Marlins hitting coach, a role in which he has reportedly thrived. He also took responsibility for his negative image in the latter part of his career.
Next: Pitchers Who Disappointed Post-Trade
When A-Rod enters the 700-homer club, he’ll join Bonds as a member whose legacy is much more complicated than Ruth’s or Aaron’s. In a way, the group is sort of a microcosm for the highs and lows of baseball history, particularly in regard to popular perceptions of the home run and the players that hit them.