San Francisco Giants History: Barry Bonds Joins 300-300 Club
By David Hill
Prior to this day in 1996, there were three members of the 300 home run/300 stolen base club. San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds made it four with his third inning home run.
Today, there are eight members of the 300-300 club. It takes a special type of player to reach those marks, one who not only has a good deal of pop, but impressive speed as well. That combination, to the point of reaching the 300-300 club, is extremely rare.
It was even rarer prior to this day in 1996. At that point in time, only three players had reached those marks: Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, and Andre Dawson. Meanwhile, San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds was close, sitting just one home run shy of joining that illustrious trio.
Although Bonds had built a reputation as a solid hitter, he was not yet considered the other worldly star he would become just a couple of years later. Still, he had already earned three MVP awards, and was coming off his third 30-30 campaign. It was just a matter of time before he joined that club.
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That time came in the third inning of the Giants game against the Florida Marlins. After two singles started the inning, Steve Scarsone doubled, giving San Francisco a 2-0 lead. That brought Bonds to the plate, who deposited the first pitch he saw from Marlins starter John Burkett into right center, doubling the Giants lead and notching his 300th career homer.
Bonds was not done after joining the 300-300 club. He went on to be the founding, and only member, of both the 400-400 and the 500-500 club. Even with the PED allegations, he is easily one of the top players in the history of the game. Perhaps in the near future, he will get his due in Cooperstown.
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Barry Bonds made history on this day in 1996, as the San Francisco Giants slugger became just the fourth player to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases in a career. As it turned out, he was only getting started.