Top 106 Baseball Players: #3 - Barry Bonds*

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds has hit more home runs than any other player in history, but accusations of steroid use have added controversy to that record and prevented him from being elected to the Hall of Fame so far.

Bonds first played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, joining the team in 1986. After a few years of growing into his role, he became the MVP in 1990, when he joined the 30-30 club with 33 homers and 52 stolen bases, and also hit above .300 for the first time. A slight dropoff in homers led to him being the MVP runner-up the next year, but he was not nearly finished.

In 1992, he won his 2nd MVP, with another 30-30 season in which he also led the league in runs as well as walks. He became a free agent after the season, and the Pirates were unable to offer him a large enough contract, so he signed with the San Francisco Giants for what was then the largest contract in history.

During his first season in California, he led the league in home runs for the first time, as well as RBI and total bases, which earned him a 3rd MVP, tying the all-time record. Over the next 4 years he continued to hit home runs at a good pace, while leading the league in intentional walks and total walks each time.

He started a career resurgence in 2000, when he hit 49 home runs, which was then his career high, and led the league in walks for the 6th time. It was also during that season that he tested positive for steroids, though that result was not made public for several years.

In 2001 he started his assault on the record books, starting when he joined the 500-home-run club in April. By the end of the season, he had broken the season records for walks and slugging percentage, as well as the famous home run record. He also had the highest on-base percentage of any player in over 40 years, and took home his record 4th MVP award.

In 2002, it was more of the same for Bonds. He reached 600 home runs, less than a year after his 500th. He broke the walks record again that year, along with the intentional walk record and the on-base percentage record, which was previously held by Ted Williams. It was no surprise that he took home his 5th MVP that season.

That was also the first season in which he won a playoff series. He was able to guide the Giants to the World Series that year, and he was great, batting .471 with 4 home runs and 13 walks, and he set an all-time record with a slugging percentage of 1.294, but they lost to the Angels in 7 games, which was the closest he ever got to a championship.

In 2003 he became the first player ever to reach the 500-500 club, with 500 home runs and stolen bases, and he was already the only member of the 400-400 club, and no player has joined either one since either. Though he did not break any major records that year, he did win his 3rd straight MVP and 6th overall, both records.

He had his best season in 2004, when he again broke several records. He reached 700 home runs in September, becoming the 3rd player ever to reach it. He also hit 45 home runs while only striking out 41 times, which is an extremely rare feat. He also destroyed his old records for walks, intentional walks, and on-base percentage. He won his 4th straight MVP, which is more in a row than any other player has total, also becoming the oldest MVP ever, and broke Rickey Henderson's all-time steals record.

He missed most of 2005 with injuries, then returned for two final seasons. He passed Babe Ruth for 2nd place on the all-time home run list in 2006, then surpassed Hank Aaron in 2007. At the conclusion of the season, the Giants declined to re-sign him, and no other team expressed interest, even though he still had enough talent to play, most likely because of the steroid allegations.

Though it is apparent that he cheated for a while in his career, Bonds' greatness is still indisputable. He had a record 13 straight seasons with at least 30 home runs, holds the all-time records for stolen bases, home runs, walks, and intentional walks, and the single-season records for home runs, walks, intentional walks, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, along with those 7 MVP's, more than double any other player's total. There is no denying that Barry Bonds is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.