Barry Lamar Bonds is a former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. Bonds received seven NL MVP awards and 14 All-Star selections, and is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Bonds was born on July 24, 1964 in Riverside, California to former major leaguer Bobby Bonds and Patricia Howard. He attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California where he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football. He batted for a .467 batting average his senior year and was named prep All-American. In the 1982 MLB draft, the San Francisco Giants drafted Bonds as a high school senior, but were unable to agree on contract terms. Instead Bonds decided to attend college.

Bonds attended Arizona State University, hitting .347 with 45 home runs and 175 runs batted in (RBI). In 1984 he batted .360 and had 30 stolen bases and in 1985 finished with 23 home runs, 66 RBIs and a .368 batting average. Bonds tied the NCAA record with seven consecutive hits in the College World Series as a sophomore and was named to All-Time College World Series Team in 1996. He graduated from Arizona State in 1986 with a degree in criminology and a promising MLB career ahead. He was named ASU On Deck Circle Most Valuable Player.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Bonds as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft. In 1993, Bonds signed with the San Francisco Giants, following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, where he would spend the next 15 seasons and retire in 2007.

Bonds was regarded as an exceptional hitter, and finished his regular season career with a very high on-base percentage (.444) and isolated power (.309). He holds many MLB hitting records, including most career home runs, most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001) and most career walks. Bonds also received eight Gold Gloves for his defense in the outfield. Ranked second in career Wins Above Replacement among all major league position players by both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference.com, Bonds is behind only Babe Ruth.

Bonds was a superb all-around baseball player. He won eight Gold Glove awards for his defensive play in the outfield. He stole 514 bases with his baserunning speed, becoming the first and only MLB player to date with at least 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases (no other player has even 400 of each). He is ranked second in career Wins Above Replacement among all major league position players by both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference.com, behind only Babe Ruth.

Bonds won his first MVP Award in 1990, hitting .301 with 33 home runs and 114 RBIs. He also stole 52 bases, which were third in the league, to become a first-time member of the 30–30 club. He won his first Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. That year, the Pirates won the National League East title for their first postseason berth since winning the 1979 World Series. However, the Cincinnati Reds, whose last post-season berth had also been in 1979 when they lost to the Pirates in that year’s NLCS defeated the Pirates in the NLCS en route to winning the World Championship.

In 1991, Bonds also put up great numbers, hitting 25 homers and driving in 116 runs, and obtained another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. He finished second to the Atlanta Braves’ Terry Pendleton (the NL batting champion) in the MVP voting. The Pirates slugging outfield of Bonds, Bonilla and Van Slyke performed miserably in the 1990 and 1991 playoffs hitting .190 in 1990 (12 for 63) and .200 in 1991 (15 for 75).

In 1993, Bonds left the Pirates to sign a lucrative free agent contract worth a then-record $43.75 million (equivalent to $77.4 million in 2019) over six years with the Giants, with whom his father had spent the first seven years of his career, and with whom his godfather Willie Mays played 22 of his 24 Major League seasons. The deal was at that time the largest in baseball history, in terms of both total value and average annual salary.

Once he signed with the Giants, Bonds had intended to wear 24, his number during most of his stay with the Pirates, and after receiving Mays’s blessing the Giants were willing to unretire it until the public commotion from fans and media became too much. To honor his father, Bonds switched his jersey number to 25, as it had been Bobby’s number in San Francisco.

Bonds hit .336 in 1993, leading the league with 46 home runs and 123 RBI en route to his second consecutive MVP award, and third overall. As good as the Giants were (winning 103 games), the Atlanta Braves won 104 in what some call the last great pennant race (because the wild card was instituted shortly thereafter)

In 1996, Bonds became the first National League player and second (of the current list of four) major league player(s) to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.^[55] The other members of the 40–40 club are José Canseco–1988, Alex Rodriguez–1998, and Alfonso Soriano–2006; his father Bobby Bonds was one home run short in 1973 when he hit 39 home runs and stole 43 bases.

Bonds hit his 300th and 301st home runs off the Florida Marlins‘ John Burkett on April 27.^[57] He became the fourth player in history to join the 300–300 club with 300 stolen bases and 300 home runs for a career, joining Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, and his father. Bonds’s totals for the season included 129 runs driven in, a .308 average and a then-National League record 151 walks. He finished fifth in the MVP balloting.

With two outs in the 9th inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 28, 1998, Bonds became only the fifth player in baseball history to be given an intentional walk with the bases loaded. Nap Lajoie (1901), Del Bissonette (1928) and Bill Nicholson (1944) were three others in the 20th century who received that rare honor. The first to receive one was Abner Dalrymple in 1881.

On August 23, Bonds hit his 400th career home run. By doing so, he became the first player ever to enter the 400–400 club by having career totals of 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases; he is still the only player to have achieved this feat. The milestone home run came off Kirt Ojala, who, like Burkett, was pitching for the Marlins. For the season, he hit .303 with 37 home runs and drove in 122 runs, winning his eighth Gold Glove, He finished 8th in the MVP voting.

Bonds’s offensive production reached even higher levels, breaking not only his own personal records but several major league records. In the Giants’ first 50 games in 2001, he hit 28 home runs, including 17 in May—a career high. This early stretch included his 500th home run hit on April 17 against Terry Adams of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also hit 39 home runs by the All-star break (a major league record), drew a major league record 177 walks, and had a .515 on-base average, a feat not seen since Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams over forty years earlier. Bonds’s slugging percentage was a major league record .863 (411 total bases in 476 at-bats), and he ended the season with a major league record 73 home runs.

On October 4, by homering off Wilfredo Rodríguez in the 159th game of the season, Bonds tied the previous record of 70 set by Mark McGwire – which McGwire set in the 162nd game in 1998. He then hit numbers 71 and 72 the following night off Chan Ho Park. Bonds added his 73rd off Dennis Springer on October 7. The ball was later sold to toy manufacturer Todd McFarlane for $450,000. He previously bought Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998. Bonds received the Babe Ruth Home Run Award for leading MLB in homers that season.

Bonds re-signed with the Giants for a five-year, $90 million contract in January 2002. He hit five home runs in the Giants’ first four games of the season, tying Lou Brock‘s 35-year record for most home runs after four games. He won the NL batting title with a career-high .370 average and struck out only 47 times. He hit 46 home runs in 403 at-bats.

Despite playing in nine fewer games than the previous season, he drew 198 walks, a major-league record; 68 of them were intentional walks, surpassing Willie McCovey‘s 45 in 1969 for another Major League record. He slugged .799, then the fourth-highest total all time. Bonds broke Ted Williams’ major league record for on-base average with .582. Bonds also hit his 600th home run, less than a year and a half after hitting his 500th.^[77] The home run came on August 9 at home against Kip Wells of the Pirates.

2002 postseason

Bonds batted .322 with 8 home runs, 16 RBI, and 27 walks in the postseason en route to the 2002 World Series, which the Giants lost 4–3 to the Anaheim Angels

In 2003, Bonds played in just 130 games. He hit 45 home runs in just 390 at-bats, along with a .341 batting average. He slugged .749, walked 148 times, and had an on-base average well over .500 (.529) for the third straight year. He also became the only member of the career 500 home run/500 stolen base club by stealing second base on June 23 off of pitcher Éric Gagné in the 11th inning of a tied ball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers (against whom Bonds had tallied his 500th home run). Bonds scored the game-winning run later that inning.

In 2004, Bonds had perhaps his best season. He hit .362 en route to his second National League batting title, and broke his own record by walking 232 times. He slugged .812, which was fourth-highest of all time, and broke his on-base percentage record with a .609 average. Bonds passed Mays on the career home run list by hitting his 661st off of Ben Ford on April 13. He then hit his 700th off of Jake Peavy on September 17. Bonds hit 45 home runs in 373 at-bats, and struck out just 41 times, putting himself in elite company, as few major leaguers have ever had more home runs than strikeouts in a season. Bonds would win his fourth consecutive MVP award and his seventh overall. His seven MVP awards are four more than any other player in history. In addition, no other player from either league has been awarded the MVP four times in a row. (The MVP award was first given in 1931). The 40-year-old Bonds also broke Willie Stargell‘s 25-year record as the oldest player to win a Most Valuable Player Award (Stargell, at 39 years, 8 months, was National League co-MVP with Keith Hernandez in 1979). On July 4, he tied and passed Rickey Henderson‘s career bases on balls record with his 2190th and 2191st career walks.

Bonds’s salary for the 2005 season was $22 million, the second-highest salary in Major League Baseball (the Yankees‘ Alex Rodriguez earned the highest, $25.2 million). Bonds endured a knee injury, multiple surgeries, and rehabilitation. He was activated on September 12 and started in left field. In his return against the San Diego Padres, he nearly hit a home run in his first at-bat. Bonds finished the night 1-for-4. Upon his return, Bonds resumed his high-caliber performance at the plate, hitting home runs in four consecutive games from September 18 to 21 and finishing with five homers in only 14 games.

2006 season

In 2006, Bonds earned $20 million (not including bonuses), the fourth highest salary in baseball. Through the 2006 season he had earned approximately $172 million during his then 21-year career, making him baseball’s all-time highest paid player. Bonds hit under .200 for his first 10 games of the season and did not hit a home run until April 22. This 10-game stretch was his longest home run slump since the 1998 season. On May 7, Bonds drew within one home run of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time list, hitting his 713th career home run into the second level of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, off pitcher Jon Lieber in a game in which the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies. The towering home run—one of the longest in Citizens Bank Park’s two-season history, traveling an estimated 450 feet (140 m)—hit off the facade of the third deck in right field.

On May 20, Bonds hit his 714th career home run to deep right field to lead off the top of the 2nd inning, tying Ruth for second all-time. The home run came off left-handed pitcher Brad Halsey of the Oakland A’s, in an interleague game played in Oakland, California. Since this was an interleague game at an American League stadium, Bonds was batting as the designated hitter in the lineup for the Giants. Bonds was quoted after the game as being “glad it’s over with” and stated that more attention could be focused on Albert Pujols, who was on a very rapid home run pace in early 2006.

On May 28, Bonds passed Ruth, hitting his 715th career home run to center field off Colorado Rockies pitcher Byung-hyun Kim. The ball was hit an estimated 445 feet (140 m) into center field where it went through the hands of several fans but then fell onto an elevated platform in center field. Then it rolled off the platform where Andrew Morbitzer, a 38-year-old San Francisco resident, caught the ball while he was in line at a concession stand. Mysteriously, radio broadcaster Dave Flemming‘s radio play-by-play of the home run went silent just as the ball was hit, apparently from a microphone failure. But the televised version, called by Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, was not affected.

On September 22, Bonds tied Henry Aaron’s National League career home run record of 733. The home run came in the top of the 6th inning of a high-scoring game against the Milwaukee Brewers, at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The achievement was notable for its occurrence in the very city where Aaron began (with the Milwaukee Braves) and concluded (with the Brewers, then in the American League) his career. With the Giants trailing 10–8, Bonds hit a blast to deep center field on a 2–0 pitch off the Brewers’ Chris Spurling with runners on first and second and one out. Though the Giants were at the time clinging to only a slim chance of making the playoffs, Bonds’s home run provided the additional drama of giving the Giants an 11–10 lead late in a critical game in the final days of a pennant race. The Brewers eventually won the game, 13–12, though Bonds went 3 for 5, with 2 doubles, the record-tying home run, and 6 runs batted in.

On September 23, Bonds surpassed Aaron for the NL career home run record. Hit in Milwaukee like the previous one, this was a solo home run off Chris Capuano of the Brewers. This was the last home run Bonds hit in 2006. In 2006, Bonds recorded his lowest slugging percentage (a statistic that he has historically ranked among league leaders season after season) since 1991 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On August 7 at 8:51 PM PDT, at Oracle Park (then known as AT&T Park) in San Francisco, Bonds hit a 435 foot (133 m) home run, his 756th, off a pitch from Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals, breaking the all-time career home run record, formerly held by Hank Aaron. Coincidentally, Bacsik’s father had faced Aaron (as a pitcher for the Texas Rangers) after Aaron had hit his 755th home run. On August 23, 1976, Michael J. Bacsik held Aaron to a single and a fly out to right field. The younger Bacsik commented later, “If my dad had been gracious enough to let Hank Aaron hit a home run, we both would have given up 756.” After hitting the home run, Bonds gave Bacsik an autographed bat.

The pitch, the seventh of the at-bat, was a 3–2 pitch which Bonds hit into the right-center field bleachers. The fan who ended up with the ball, 22-year-old Matt Murphy from Queens, New York (and a Mets fan), was promptly protected and escorted away from the mayhem by a group of San Francisco police officers. After Bonds finished his home run trot, a ten-minute delay followed, including a brief video by Aaron congratulating Bonds on breaking the record Aaron had held for 33 years, and expressing the hope that “the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.” Bonds made an impromptu emotional statement on the field, with Willie Mays, his godfather, at his side and thanked his teammates, family and his late father. Bonds sat out the rest of the game.

President George W. Bush called Bonds the next day to congratulate him. On August 24, San Francisco honored and celebrated Bonds’s career accomplishments and breaking the home run record with a large rally in Justin Herman Plaza. The rally included video messages from Lou Brock, Ernie Banks, Ozzie Smith, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. Speeches were made by Willie Mays, Giants teammates Omar Vizquel and Rich Aurilia, and Giants owner Peter Magowan. Mayor Gavin Newsom presented Bonds the key to the City and County of San Francisco and Giants vice president Larry Baer gave Bonds the home plate he touched after hitting his 756th career home run.

The record-setting ball was consigned to an auction house on August 21. Bidding began on August 28 and closed with a winning bid of US$752,467 on September 15 after a three phase online auction. The high bidder, fashion designer Marc Ecko, created a website to let fans decide its fate. Subsequently, Ben Padnos, who submitted the (US) $186,750 winning bid on Bonds’s record-tying 755th home run ball also set up a website to let fans decide its fate. Of Ecko’s plans, Bonds said “He spent $750,000 on the ball and that’s what he’s doing with it? What he’s doing is stupid.” 10 million voters helped Ecko decide to brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Padnos sold 5-year ads on a website, www.endthedebate.com, where people voted by a two-to-one margin to smash the ball.

Bonds concluded the 2007 season with a .276 batting average, 28 home runs, and 66 RBIs in 126 games and 340 at bats. At the age of 43, he led both leagues in walks with 132.

On February 6, 2018, the San Francisco Giants announced their intentions to retire his number 25 jersey, which happened on August 11, 2018

Several of Bonds’s family and extended family members have been involved in athletics as either a career or a notable pastime. Bonds has a younger brother, Bobby, Jr., who was also a professional baseball player. His paternal aunt, Rosie Bonds, is a former American record holder in the 80 meter hurdles, and competed in the 1964 Olympics. In addition, he is a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

Career distinctions

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Barry Bonds’s number 25 was retired by the San Francisco Giants in 2018.

Besides holding Major League career records in home runs (762), walks (2,558), and intentional walks (688), at the time of his retirement, Bonds also led all active players in RBI (1,996), on-base percentage (.444), runs (2,227), games (2,986), extra-base hits (1,440), at-bats per home run (12.92), and total bases (5,976). He is 2nd in doubles (601), slugging percentage (.607), stolen bases (514), at-bats (9,847), and hits (2,935), 6th in triples (77), 8th in sacrifice flies (91), and 9th in strikeouts (1,539), through September 26, 2007

Bonds is the lone member of the 500–500 club, which means he has hit at least 500 home runs (762) and stolen at least 500 bases (514); no other player has even 400 of both. He is also one of only four baseball players all-time to be in the 40–40 club (1996), which means he hit 40 home runs (42) and stole 40 bases (40) in the same season; the other members are José Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano.

Records held

• Home runs in a single season (73), 2001
• Home runs (career) (762)
• Home runs against different pitchers (449)
• Home runs since turning 40 years old (74)
• Home runs in the year he turned 43 years old (28)
• Consecutive seasons with 30 or more home runs (13), 1992–2004
• Slugging percentage in a single season (.863), 2001
• Slugging percentage in a World Series (1.294), 2002
• Consecutive seasons with .600 slugging percentage or higher (8), 1998–2005
• On-base percentage in a single season (.609), 2004
• Walks in a single season (232), 2004
• Intentional walks in a single season (120), 2004
• Consecutive games with a walk (18)
• Consecutive games with an intentional walk (6)
• MVP awards (7—closest competitors trail with 3), 1990, 1992–93, 2001–04
• Consecutive MVP awards (4), 2001–04
• National League Player of the Month selections (13) (2nd place, either league, Frank Thomas, 8; 2nd place, N.L., George Foster, Pete Rose, and Dale Murphy, 6)
• Oldest player (age 38) to win the National League batting title (.370) for the first time, 2002
• Putouts as a left fielder (5,226)

Records shared

• Consecutive plate appearances with a walk (7)
• Consecutive plate appearances reaching base (15)
• Tied with his father, Bobby, for most seasons with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases (5); they are the only father-son members of the 30–30 club
• Home runs in a single post-season (8), 2002

Other accomplishments

National League statistical leader

Category	Times	Seasons
Adjusted OPS+ leader	9	1990−93, 2000−04
Bases on balls leader	12	1992, 1994−97, 2000−04, 2006, 2007
Batting champion	2	2002, 2004
Extra base hits leader	3	1992, 1993, 2001
Games played leader	1	1995
Home run leader	2	1993, 2001
Intentional base on balls leader	12	1992−98, 2002−04, 2006, 2007
On-base percentage leader	10	1991−93, 1995, 2001−04, 2006, 2007
On-base plus slugging leader	9	1990−93, 1995, 2001−04
Runs batted in leader	1	1993
Runs scored leader	1	1992
Slugging percentage leader	7	1990, 1992, 1993, 2001−04
Total bases leader	1	1993

Awards & distinctions

Awards received

Award	# of Times	Dates	Refs
Babe Ruth Home Run Award	1	2001
Baseball America All-Star	7	1993, 1998, 2000–04
Baseball America Major League Player of the Year	3	2001, 2003, 2004
MLB All-Star	14	1990, 1992–98, 2000–04, 2007
Major League Player of the Year	3	1990, 2001, 2004
Rawlings Gold Glove Award at outfield	8	1990–94, 1996–98
Silver Slugger Award at outfield	12	1990–94, 1996–97, 2000–04

• 5-time SF Giants Player of the Year (1998, 2001–04)
• 3-Time NL Hank Aaron Award winner (2001–02, 2004)
• Listed at #6 on The Sporting News‘ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranked active player, in 2005.
• Named a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999, but not elected to the team in the fan balloting.
• Rating of 352 on Baseball-Reference.com’s Hall of Fame monitor (100 is a good HOF candidate); 9th among all hitters, highest among hitters not in HOF yet.
• Only the second player to twice have a single-season slugging percentage over .800, with his record .863 in 2001 and .812 in 2004. Babe Ruth was the other, with .847 in 1920 and .846 in 1921.
• Became the first player in history with more times on base (376) than official at-bats (373) in 2004. This was due to the record number of walks, which count as a time on base and as a plate appearance, but not an at-bat. He had 135 hits, 232 walks, and 9 hit-by-pitches for the 376 number.
• With his father Bobby (332, 461), leads all father-son combinations in combined home runs (1,094) and stolen bases (975), respectively through September 26, 2007.
• Played minor league baseball in both Alaska and Hawaii. In 1983, he played for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the Alaska Baseball League, and in 1986, he played for the Hawaii Islanders in the Pacific Coast League.
• Featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He has appeared as the main subject on the cover eight times in total; seven with the Giants and once with the Pirates. He has also appeared in an inset on the cover twice. He was the most recent Pirate player to appear on the cover, until Jason Grilli was featured in SIs edition of July 22, 2013.