Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds belongs to a family with a history of playing baseball, it can be convincingly said that baseball runs in his family. He was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California. He was born to Pat and Bobby. Bobby was a high-school baseball star, he chose baseball over football. He played with Riverside City College and later on signed a contract with the San Francisco Giants. He was married to Susann Margreth Branco and had two children. Bonds attended Junipero Serra High School and grew up in San Carlos, California. In high school, he played for the Junior Varsity Team. He was named Prep All-American after scoring 467 batting average his senior year. He attended Arizona State University. In 1984, he was a Sporting News’s All-American selection.

In 1986, Bonds graduated from Arizona State University and in 1985, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft. On May 30, 1986, Bonds made his major league debut. The same year, he led the National League rookies and finished sixth as the Rookie of the Year. For three consecutive years, through his skills and continuous improvement, the Pirates won the National League East title. Since both his father and godfather played for the San Francisco Giants, upon becoming a free agent in 1993 he went to play for the Giants as well. During playing for the Giants, he won his third MPV award overall with an average of 336, 46 home runs and 123 RBI. This contract that he signed with the Giants was worth $43.75 million. The number that he wore with the Giants was 24, later on to honor his father he changed the jersey number to 25.  In the following two years, his batting average declined to 294. During this time, he was not just playing baseball but also was seen playing a role in a film called “Jane’s House.”

In 1996, Bonds broke a few records, he made quite a comeback and became the first National League Player and the second Major League player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. In 1998, Bonds tried to improve his batting average since it had declined in 1997, scoring 303 with 37 home runs and drove in 22 runs. With this, he became the first player to have a career total of 400 home and 400 stolen bases.  2004 proved to be a great year for Bonds as he won his second National League title. He scored an average of 609 and the same year, he hit his 700th home run. Ultimately, getting his fourth MPV out of the seven he received. Henry Aaron’s National League home run record of 733 was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007 when he scored his 756th home run, with this he became an All-Time career home run record holder. His contract with the Giants ended on September 21, 2007.

Bonds has been 5-times San Francisco Giants Player of the Year, 7-times Baseball America National League All-Star, 3 times each Major League Player of the Year and Baseball America MLB Player of the Year. Along with these, he was the proud winner of 8 times Gold Glove for National League Outfielder and was further awarded with Babe Ruth Home Run Award.


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