Barry Bonds Becomes Home Run King

On August seventh, two thousand and seven, San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his seven hundred and fifty sixth career home run, officially breaking Hake Aaron's record for the most home runs all time by any player, making him the new home run King. Despite the controversy shrouding Barry Bonds' career, He's still listed as the King of home runs. And here's his story today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day. And today's trivia question to listen out for is why did Barry Bonds decide to go to college? Now? To start out with, I know there's controversy. Many people don't consider Barry Bonds the home run King. Do all the steroids allegations, the stuff with Balco. We've gone over that in a previous episode, and there is a lot behind all that. But he did achieve this moment. It's interesting to go look back on how he achieved it and what may have changed, what may have caused him to go down a path that tainted his career. So Barry Bonds is the son of former Major leaguer Bobby Bonds, who was a three time All Star and a member of the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame. So grew up in baseball around baseball, but that's not all he did. He actually was a varsity level athlete in baseball, basketball, and football, but baseball is where he really shined, and he had a four to sixty seven batting average his senior year and was named an All American where he got drafted in the second round in the nineteen eighty two Major League Baseball MLB Draft by his father's team, the San Francisco Giants, but they were unable to reach contract terms as the match they were going to offer him was seventy thousand, and Bond said he needed seventy five or else he would attend. They wouldn't budge, and he went to Arizona State, where he was one of the best college athletes that stepped onto the field that his whole career hitting, as he hit over three forty seven for his career and had forty five home runs. He was a five tool player for them and helped lead them to the College World Series championship. Although this is where his attitude started to become in question as as many on the team did not like him. They thought he was rude, he thought he was self cinnered, he thought he was arrogant, and many didn't even consider him a friend. But Barry just kept focusing on himself, which makes sense if he was self centered. He would go on to graduate with a degree in criminology, and after his junior year, he would be drafted with the number six pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the nineteen eighty five draft, where he quickly showed he had an aptitude for hitting and would make his debut the following year on May thirtieth, nineteen eighty six, where he would go on to lead all rookies in home runs, all National League rookies in home runs, RBIs and stolen bay, stolen bases and walks, and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting. Now in the early part of his career, he would actually be the leadoff hitter, as he was a five to a player. He could run and hit not only for power, but was great on getting on base, whether from hits or walks, as he had a great eye for the ball. But this limited him to have more RBIs, and he would later be changed in nineteen ninety to hitting in the middle of the lineup where he had more chance of RBI's and that's what led to his first MVP in nineteen ninety, when he hit three zho one with thirty three home runs and one hundred and fourteen RBIs, also adding in fifty two stolen bases, as well as winning his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger that year. But despite this success, he would constantly be in contract disputes with the Pirates as he wanted to be the highest paid player in the league and the Pirates did not want to do that, and he made it known that if they wouldn't pay him, he would leave, and despite being a two time MVP, they'd let him walk and go on to sign a record deal with his father's team. The same Forrancisco Giants, signing a forty three point seven million dollar contract over six years, and although the Giants had retired to number twenty four for Willie Mays, he gave permission for Barry to wear it as Willie Mays was actually Barry Bond's godfather, but the public condemned this. They hated this possibility, so instead Barry picked twenty five, which was his father's number with the Giants, and Barry was so happy to be with the Giants. He felt like he was back home. This is where he grew up. It was his dream to play where his father played. In that same year, Bobby would actually join the team as a coach, and probably the most unique thing that had ever happened, as in nineteen ninety three, both Barry and Bobby Bonds were ejected from a game being involved in the field fight with the Colorado Rockies, making it the first time a father and son had been ejected into game together in the major league game. But Barry would continue his success from his con secutive MVPs with the Pirates, hitting over three hundred and thirty six his first season with forty six home runs and one hundred and twenty three RBIs, winning another MVP. The following year, he finished fourth in MVP voting in a strike shortened where he hit three twelve and had thirty six home runs, leading the league and led the league with fifty four walks. In the nineteen ninety six season, he would become the second player to join the forty forty club, hitting forty home runs and sealing forty bases, which had previously only been done by Jose Conseco, and in nineteen seventy three, his father was one home run away from joining that club. In nineteen ninety seven, he started to drip a little bit, hitting only two ninety one, being the first time he hit under three hundred since nineteen eighty nine, although he did hit forty home runs that year and drove in one hundred and hit over one hundred and one RBIs and still led the league with walks with one hundred and forty five, and as by his low average, he was still able to finish fifth in MVP voting. In nineteen ninety eight, he actually had a moment facing the Arizona Diamondbacks where he was the first player since nineteen forty one to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded, as they did not want to face his chance at hitting a home run, which would become a common theme throughout the rest of his career. Now in nineteen ninety nine, this was a career low point for Barry Bonds, as this was the first time he suffered a significant injury, as he tore as tindet in his bicep as well as had a bone spur in his elbow which required surgery which cost him almost all of April and May that season, and upon returning in June, he struggled with injuries and he struggled to get back to where he was and had nagging injuries in his elbow and knees throughout the season. Now, this is where many think that the steroids balco scandals started around Barry Bonds as he was trying to come back from injury. And this was very common back in the day that injuries led to this. As you wanted to get back on the field as fast as possible, you wouldn't be as strong as you were before. What led a lot of athletes to do this to get into the steroids game, and they were pretty prominent back in the nineties. You could get steroids if you wanted them. And this is when he really started to look different. His head got a little bit bigger, his body got bigger, and there was lots of speculation around this, but you know, he hadn't tested. He kept going and in two thousand and one he really jumped out of what he had normally done as He hit his five hundredth home run in April that year and would go on to break the home run record first season, hitting seventy three, breaking Mark McGuire's seventy record set in nineteen ninety eight, another player who had steroid allegations around him as well, and he did all this despite being thirty seven years old, which is normally when players start to decline their abilities. But despite his age, he had such a great successful season the Giants gave him a five year, ninety million dollar contract, and though he would not eclipse that seventy home run mark ever again, over the next three seasons he would hit over forty five home runs, and from two thousand and one to two thousand and four he won four consecutive MVPs, becoming the first player to do so and gave him a record of seven MVPs for his career. But in two thousand and five, he suffered a knee injury and had to have multiple surgeries and missed all but fourteen games that year, and he came back in two thousand and six, where he broke he passed Babe Ruth on the home run list and had his sight set to break the all time record in two thousand and seven, the Giants were set to make this the last time he would play for the Giants as he was forty three and they wanted to allow him the chance to break the record for home runs, but they didn't want to pay him anymore. And on August seventh, facing against the Washington Nationals, Barry Bonds headed to the plate, going against Mike Basick and with a three to two count, Barry hit the ball over the right center field bleachers a four hundred and thirty foot home run and everyone was cheering as when he finish his home run trot. There was a ten minute delay as there was a brief video from Hank Aaron congratulating Bonds on breaking the record, and Willie Mays even gave a speech as well, but Commissioner Bud Selik was not at the event as in to protest maybe his possible steroid use, and George W. Bush, the president at the time, called Bond's the next day to congratulate him on the honor, and the guy that caught the ball went on to sell the ball at auction for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars that was later bought by the Baseball Hall of Fame so they could have it on display now. Bonds went on to hit a few more home runs that year, finishing with a seven hundred and sixty two career home runs. But after this year, he didn't really want to finish his career, but no one wanted to offer him a contract as he was forty three years old. In dealing with previous injuries, the Giants didn't offer him a contract and no other team did so. The following year, he would retire, finishing his career with fourteen All Stars, seven emvp's eight Gold Gloves and be part of the Pittsburgh and Giants Hall of Fame as well as having his number retired by the San Francisco Giants. And on top of all the home runs, he also holds the record for the most bases on balls with two thousand, five hundred and eight. Now, I know, steroids will always follow Barry Bonds and that's why he's not in the Hall of Fame at this moment. As if you take that away, he's a surefire Hall of Famer just based off his numbers, But sadly, steroids has followed him around as well as other countless players from the nineteen nineties in the early two thousands. It seems like that has been taken out of the game now, but we can't take away what some of these players did as it was as they were tested, and their records still officially stand at the moment. And I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please go tell a friend all about it, send him a DM say hey, you can be a sports historian just like me. Come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History and today's trivia question to listen out for is why did Barry Bonds decide to go to college? The San Francisco Giants. They were unable to reach contract terms, as the match they were going to offer him was seventy thousand, and Bond said he needed seventy five or else he would attend college. They wouldn't budge, and he went to Arizona State