Barry Bonds

151

Barry Bonds : biography

July 24, 1964 –

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)
  • 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: 8 – Frank Thomas; 2nd place (N.L.) – George Foster, Pete Rose and Dale Murphy)
  • Oldest player (age 38) to win the National League batting title (.370) for the first time, 2002

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) and are the only father-son members of the 30–30 club
  • Home runs in a single post-season (8), 2002

Other accomplishments

  • 5-time SF Giants Player of the Year (1998, 2001–04)
  • 7-time Baseball America NL All-Star (1993, 1998, 2000–04)
  • 3-Time Major League Player of the Year (1990, 2001, 2004)
  • 3-Time Baseball America MLB Player of the Year (2001, 2003–04)
  • 8-Time Gold Glove winner for NL Outfielder (1990–94, 1996–98).
  • 12-Time Silver Slugger winner for NL Outfielder (1990–94, 1996–97, 2000–04)
  • 14-time All-Star (1990, 1992–98, 2000–04, 2007)
  • 3-Time NL Hank Aaron Award winner (2001–02, 2004)
  • Babe Ruth Home Run Award (2001)
  • 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 times at bats (373) in 2004. This was due to the record number of walks, which count as a time on base but not a time 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.
  • One of only six Pittsburgh Pirates to ever be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The other five are Willie Stargell (twice), Roberto Clemente, Harry Walker, Dick Groat, and Frank Thomas. He is one of ten San Francisco Giants to appear on the cover, along with Kelly Downs, Rick Reuschel, Willie Mays (nine times), Alvin Dark, Juan Marichal, Will Clark, Tim Lincecum (twice), Brian Wilson, and Buster Posey. 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 is the most recent Pirate player to appear on the cover.

Personal life