Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24 1964 in ) is a left fielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds, the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. He debuted in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 and joined the San Francisco Giants in 1993, where he stayed through 2007. Giants management has stated that he will not be with the team for the 2008 season.

Bonds holds the all-time Major League Baseball home run record with 762, after surpassing Hank Aaron's career mark of 755 in a game against the Washington Nationals on August 7, 2007. He is also the all-time career leader in both walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). He holds numerous other records, including the single-season Major League record for home runs (73), set in 2001, and a record seven Most Valuable Player awards.

Since 2003, Bonds has been a key figure in the BALCO scandal, though he has never failed a steroid test. He is also under investigation for perjury by a federal grand jury regarding his testimony in the BALCO case, but he has not been indicted.

Bonds grew up in and attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California and excelled in baseball, basketball and football. As a freshman, he spent the baseball season on the JV team. The next 3 years — 1980 to 1982 — he starred on the varsity team. He batted .467 his senior year, and was honored as a prep All-American. The Giants drafted Bonds in the second round of the 1982 MLB draft as a high school senior, but the Giants and Bonds were unable to agree on contract terms, so Bonds instead decided to attend college.

Bonds attended Arizona State University, where he had a stellar baseball career, hitting .347 with 45 home runs and 175 RBI. In 1984 he batted .360 and stole 30 bases. In 1985 he hit 23 home runs with 66 RBIs and a .368 batting average. He was a Sporting News All-American selection that year. He tied the NCAA record with 7 consecutive hits in the College World Series as 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.

Bonds was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1985 MLB draft. Bonds joined the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and was named July 1985 Player of the Month for the league. In 1986, he hit .311 in 44 games for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League, and he made his major league debut on May 30.

In 1986, Bonds finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting, hitting 16 home runs and stealing 36 bases. He hit 25 home runs in his second season, along with 32 stolen bases and 59 RBIs. Bonds improved in 1988, hitting .283 with 24 home runs. Bonds started off his 1989 campaign well, but tapered off quickly, finishing with 19 homers and 58 RBIs.

Bonds won his first MVP award in 1990, hitting .301 with 33 home runs and 114 RBIs. His 52 stolen bases were third in the league. He won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. 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 next season, Bonds won his second MVP award. He dominated the NL, hitting .311 with 34 homers and 103 RBIs, and propelling the Pirates to their third straight National League East division title. However, Pittsburgh was defeated by the Braves in a seven-game National League Championship Series. Bonds was involved in the final play of Game 7 of the NLCS, where he fielded a base hit by Francisco Cabrera and attempted to throw out Sid Bream at home plate. But the throw to Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere was late and Bream scored the winning run. For the third consecutive season, the NL East Champion Pirates were denied a trip to the World Series.

In 1993, Bonds left the Pirates to sign a lucrative free agent contract worth a then-record $43.75 million over 6 years with the Giants, with whom his father spent the first 7 years of his career, and with whom his godfather Willie Mays played 22 of his 24 Major League seasons. To honor his father, Bonds switched his jersey number to 25 once he signed with the Giants, as it had been Bobby's number in San Francisco. (His number during most of his stay with the Pirates, 24, was retired in honor of Mays anyway.) 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 (due to the Wild Card being instituted shortly after).

In the strike-shortened season of 1994, Bonds hit .312 with 37 home runs and a league-leading 74 walks. He finished 4th in MVP voting. In 1995, Bonds hit 33 homers and drove in 104 runs, hitting .294 but finished only 12th in MVP voting.

In 1996, Bonds became the first National League player (and 2nd of 4 major league players) to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. (Others are Canseco-1988, A.Rodriguez-1998, and Soriano-2006; his father Bobby Bonds was 1 hr short in 1973). Bonds drove in 129 runs with a .308 average and walked a then-National League record 151 times. During the 1996 season Bonds became the 4th player in history to steal 300 bases and hit 300 home runs for a career, joining Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, and Bobby Bonds. In 1997 Bonds hit .291, his lowest average since 1989. He hit 40 home runs for the second straight year and drove in 101 runs, leading the league in walks again with 145. He tied his father in 1997 for having the most 30/30 seasons.

In 1998, Bonds got off to a very rocky start, but by season's end he hit .303 with 37 home runs and drove in 122 runs, winning his eighth Gold Glove, and became the first player ever to have career totals of 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases. With two outs in the 9th inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 28, 1998, Bonds became the third player in baseball history to be walked intentionally with the bases loaded (Nap Lajoie and Bill Nicholson were two others). Bonds finished 8th in the MVP voting.

Throughout the 1990s, Bonds was an exceptionally patient hitter and a great slugger who stole bases and played Gold Glove defense. Bill James ranked Bonds as the best player of the 1990s, adding that the decade's 2nd-best player (Craig Biggio) had been closer in production to the decade's 10th-best player than to Bonds.

In 1999, with statistics through 1997 being considered, Bonds ranked Number 31 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking active player. When the Sporting News list was redone in 2005, Bonds was ranked 6th behind Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Henry Aaron. Bonds was omitted from 1999's Major League Baseball All-Century Team, to which Ken Griffey Jr. was elected. James wrote of Bonds, "Certainly the most unappreciated superstar of my lifetime... Griffey has always been more popular, but Bonds has been a far, far greater player."

In 1999, James rated Bonds as the 16th best player of all time. "When people begin to take in all of his accomplishments", James predicted, "Bonds may well be rated among the five greatest players in the history of the game." However, at the time of this statement, the controversy regarding Bonds' use of performance enhancing substances was not yet a factor.

In 2000, at age 36, Bonds hit .306, with a slugging percentage of .688 (career best at that time), hit 49 home runs in just 143 games (also a career high to that point), while drawing a league-leading 117 walks.

The next year, Bonds' 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, Bonds hit 28 home runs, including 17 in May — a career high. 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' slugging percentage was a major league record .863 (411 total bases in 476 at-bats), and, most impressively, he ended the season with a major league record 73 home runs.

Bonds re-signed with the Giants for a five-year, $90 million contract in January 2002. That year, he hit 46 home runs in 403 at-bats. He won the NL batting title with a career-high .370 average and struck out only 47 times. Despite playing in nine fewer games than the previous season, he drew 198 walks, a major-league record, 68 of them intentional. 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.

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.

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, hitting his 700th near the end of the season. 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. (The MVP award was first given in 1931.) On July 4 2004 he tied and passed Rickey Henderson's career bases on balls record with his 2190th and 2191st career walks.

During an investigation of BALCO Laboratories, Bonds' grand jury testimony was illegally leaked and obtained by the media. In the testimony he admitted he may have unknowingly been given "the clear" and "the cream", claiming he was told the substances were flaxseed oil. This ignited much media speculation on Bonds in relation to the BALCO investigation.

Bonds' 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). On March 22, 2005, Bonds announced that he could be sidelined for the rest of the 2005 season because of continuing knee problem for which he had already had surgery. At the press conference, Bonds also indicated that he was frustrated by the focus on his steroid use and the negative portrayal of him in the media. Later, he sounded more positive about his rehabilitation and told fans at the Opening Day festivities, "I will be back!" The chances of Bonds' return to the playing field were covered throughout the summer by ESPN, in anticipation of potentially unprecedented scrutiny by the media and baseball fans (baseball had toughened its steroid-testing program since Bonds had last played and Bonds was tested regularly even though he did not play). On May 4,2005, Bonds revealed on his website that he had undergone a third arthroscopic knee surgery because of a bacterial infection in his knee. This setback led many to assume that Bonds would not play in the 2005 season, and in the process raised much speculation as to whether Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755 would be attainable by Bonds.

In September, Bonds started working out with the team while the Giants were in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. Bonds was activated on September 12,2005, returned to start 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 mostly continued his pre-injury dominance at the plate, hitting home runs in four consecutive games from September 18,2005 to September 21,2005 and finishing with five homers in only 14 games.

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. On February 19, 2006, Bonds announced in an interview with USA Today that he planned on retiring at the conclusion of the season, with or without the all-time home run record. "I've never cared about records anyway", he said, "so what difference does it make? Right now, I'm telling you, I don't even want to play next year. Baseball is a fun sport. But I'm not having fun... I love the game of baseball itself, but I don't like what it's turned out to be. I'm not mad at anybody. It's just that right now I am not proud to be a baseball player." On March 9, 2006, after his first game of the preseason with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds said that he would know around the All-Star Break and in a time period ranging from July to August 2006, whether or not he would be returning for the 2007 MLB season.

Bonds started the 2006 season with a slump. Bonds hit under .200 for his first 10 games of the season and did not hit a home run until April 22,2006. This 10 game stretch was his longest home run slump since the 1998 season. Throughout May, June, July, and early August, Bonds continued with a sub-par offensive performance. In late August, Bonds began an offensive surge, hitting 10 home runs in 25 starts from August 21,2006 through September 23,2006, and lifting his batting average 40 points in the same stretch. On August 20,2006, Bonds' batting average fell to .235, his lowest average since early May. From then to September 23,2006, Bonds could look back to a full month on an offensive tear: a .400 batting average (34 hits in 85 official at-bats), a .800 slugging percentage, with 10 home runs, 6 doubles and 26 runs batted in, along with 19 walks and only 8 strikeouts. With season long media speculation about the questionable likelihood of Bonds' re-signing with the Giants for the 2007 season, by late season commentators were concluding that it would be difficult to ignore the late-season contribution by Bonds that was keeping the Giants in the pennant race. 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. With his 733rd and 734th career home runs, hit respectively on September 22,2006, and September 23,2006, Bonds tied and then passed Henry Aaron's National League career home run record in Milwaukee. As of the end of the 2006 MLB season, he had 734 total homers.

In January 2007, the New York Daily News reported that Bonds had tested positive for amphetamines. Under baseball's amphetamine policy, which had been in effect for one season, players testing positive were to submit to six additional tests and undergo treatment and counseling. The policy also stated that players were not to be identified for a first positive test, but the New York Daily News leaked the test's results. When the Players Association informed Bonds of the test results, he initially attributed it to a substance he had taken from the locker of Giants teammate Mark Sweeney, but would later retract this claim.

On January 29 2007, the Giants finalized a contract with Bonds for the 2007 season. After the commissioner's office rejected Bonds's one-year, $15.8 million deal because it contained a personal-appearance provision, the team sent revised documents to his agent, Jeff Borris, who stated that "At this time, Barry is not signing the new documents." Bonds signed a revised 1 year, $15.8 million contract on February 15,2007, and reported to the Giants' Spring Training camp on time.

During the 2007 season, some sports writers and insiders criticized Bonds' defense and lack of effort in left field. His last game was on September 26th, at San Diego versus the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-3, finishing the year with a .276 batting average, 28 home runs, and 66 RBIs.

;Chasing the all-time Major League home run record

On May 7,2006, 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 an ESPN nationally-televised 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. Curiously, and perhaps revealingly, the jeers from the Philadelphia crowd that had haunted Bonds earlier that night turned noticeably into cheers as he completed his swing, watched the flight of the ball, rounded the bases, and touched home plate, all this to flashbulbs going off throughout the stands. The mixed and often paradoxical reaction to Bonds' impending achievement exemplified the polarizing effect of his controversial career upon baseball aficionados and casual observers alike. Some have ventured to say that while many fans hate Bonds, they all come to the park to see him play.

On May 20,2006, Bonds tied Ruth, hitting his 714th career home run to deep right field to lead off the top of the 2nd inning. 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 "just 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 28,2006, Bonds passed Ruth, hitting his 715th career home run to center field off of Colorado Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. Bonds, like Aaron, needed more at bats than Ruth to surpass the Babe's record. 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. This historic home run was not officially celebrated by MLB, however. The Giants organization unfurled two large banners from light standards alongside the scoreboard in center field to honor the event. As Bonds took his position in left field at the top of the fifth inning, Ed Montague, the long-time National League and MLB umpire and crew chief who was officiating at second base for this game, approached Bonds to congratulate him, and the two hugged.

On September 22,2006, 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 of 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' 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, despite Bonds' going 3 for 5, with 2 doubles, the record-tying home run, and 6 runs batted in.

On the following day, September 23,2006, Bonds surpassed Aaron for the NL career home run record. Hit in Milwaukee like the previous one, this was a solo home run off of Chris Capuano of the Brewers. This was the last home run Bonds hit in 2006.

Bonds resumed his march to the all-time record early in the 2007 season. After an opening game in which all he had was a first-inning single past third base against a right-shifted infield (immediately followed by a stolen base and then a base-running misjudgment that got him thrown out at home) and a deep out to left field late in the game, Bonds returned the next day, April 4,2007, with another mission. In his first at-bat of the season's second game at the Giants' AT&T Park, Bonds reached out and flipped a Chris Young (of the San Diego Padres) pitch just over the wall to the left of straightaway center field for career home run 735. This home run put Bonds past the midway point between Ruth and Aaron.

Bonds did not homer again until April 13,2007 when he hit two (736 & 737) in a 3 for 3 night that included 4 RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Home runs number 739 and 740 came in back to back games on April 21,2007 and April 22, 2007 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

According to a poll by ABC News and ESPN, 52% of fans were rooting against Bonds becoming the all time career home run champion, although 57% stated that they would recognize his achievement, and 58% believed he should be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

The hype surrounding Bonds' pursuit of the home run record escalated on May 14,2007. On this day, Sports Auction for Heritage (a Dallas-based auction house) offered US$1 million to the fan that caught Bonds' record-breaking 756th-career home run. The million dollar offer was rescinded on June 11,2007 out of concern of fan safety. On that same day, Bonds launched home run 747, ending the relative drought of the previous month. This one came off Josh Towers of the Toronto Blue Jays, and landed in AT&T Park's right center field stands. His next home run, 748, came on Father's Day, June 17,2007, in the final game of a 3-game road series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where Bonds had never previously played. With this homer, Fenway Park became the 36th major league ballpark in which Bonds had hit a home run. He hit a Tim Wakefield knuckleball just over the low fence into the Giant's bullpen in right field. It was his first home run off of his former Pittsburgh Pirate teammate, who became the 441st different pitcher to surrender a four-bagger to Bonds. The 750th career home run, hit on June 29,2007, also came off a former teammate: Livan Hernandez. The blast came in the 8th inning and at that point tied the game at 3-3.

On July 19,2007, after a 21 at-bat hitless streak, Bonds hit 2 home runs, numbers 752 and 753 against the Chicago Cubs. He went 3-3 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, and a walk on that day. The struggling last place Giants still lost the game 9-8. On July 27,2007, Bonds hit home run 754 against Florida Marlins pitcher Rick VandenHurk. Bonds was then walked his next 4 at bats in the game, but 2-run shot helped the Giants win the game 12-10. It marked the first game Bonds had homered in that the Giants won since he had hit #747. On August 4,2007, Bonds hit a <span style="white-space:nowrap">382 foot (116 m)</span> home run against Clay Hensley of the San Diego Padres for home run number 755, tying Hank Aaron's all-time record. Bonds greeted his son, Nikolai, with an extended bear hug after crossing home plate. Bonds greeted his teammates and then his wife, Liz Watson, and daughter Aisha Lynn behind the backstop. Hensley was also the 445th different pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds. He was walked in his next at bat and eventually scored on a fielder's choice.

On August 7,2007 at 8:51 PM PDT, Bonds hit a <span style="white-space:nowrap">435 foot (133 m)</span> 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, 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 and was replaced in left field.

The commissioner, Bud Selig, was not in attendance in this game but was represented by the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, Jimmie Lee Solomon. Selig called Bonds later that night to congratulate him on breaking the record. President George W. Bush also called Bonds the next day to congratulate him. On August 24,2007, San Francisco honored and celebrated Bonds' 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 756 career home run.

The record-setting ball was consigned to an auction house on August 21,2007, and sold with a winning bid of USD$752,467 on September 15, 2007. The high bidder, fashion designer Mark Ecko, created a website to let fans decide its fate. Ben Padnos, who submitted the USD$186,750 winning bid on Bonds' 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."

On September 26, 2007, Ecko announced that the ball will be branded with an asterisk (to suggest that Bonds' achievement is tainted by his alleged steroid use), then sent to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

On September 21, 2007, the San Francisco Giants confirmed that they would not re-sign Bonds for the 2008 season. The story was first announced on Bonds' own web site earlier that day. There is much speculation about where Bonds might play in 2008 and possibly beyond. Experts have suggested nearly a dozen teams as possible destinations.

Bonds stated that he would like to sign with the New York Yankees as a designated hitter, but that since the team currently has two designated hitters on the roster, it would be unlikely they would sign him.

Most talk is of Bonds signing just for the 2008 season as he needs just 65 hits to reach the 3000 hit plateau. There is little discussion of the 800 home run plateau or other milestones (see watchlist section below) as motivation for continuing beyond 2008. In addition to the hits, Bonds needs 68 runs to move past Ty Cobb and Rickey Henderson as the all-time runs scored champion and 37 extra base hits to move past Hank Aaron as the all-time extra base hits champion. Although the media discusses Bonds' motivation as statistical, Bonds talks of his continued quest for a World Series championship as his motivation.

Bonds lives in San Francisco with his second wife, Liz Watson, and their daughter Aisha. He also owns a home in the exclusive gated community of Beverly Park in Beverly Hills, CA. He also has two children, Nikolai and Shikari, from his first marriage to Sun Bonds. Nikolai is a batboy for the Giants, and always sits next to his dad in the dugout during games.

In 2003, Bonds became embroiled in a scandal when Greg Anderson of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, Bonds' trainer since 2000, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and charged with supplying anabolic steroids to athletes, including a number of baseball players. This led to speculation that Bonds had used performance-enhancing drugs during a time when there was no mandatory testing in Major League Baseball. Bonds declared his innocence, attributing his changed physique and increased power to a strict regimen of bodybuilding, diet and legitimate supplements. During grand jury testimony on December 4, 2003 — which was later found to be obtained through an illegal leak by Troy Ellerman, a defense lawyer for Victor Conte, to the San Francisco Chronicle (leaking grand jury testimony is a felony, to which Ellerman pleaded guilty to on February 14,2007) and published almost a year later, on December 3, 2004 — Bonds said Anderson gave him a rubbing balm and a liquid substance that Anderson said was arthritis cream and flaxseed oil, respectively. The prosecutors contended that what Bonds was actually given was "the cream" and "the clear", which are both forms of the designer steroid THG. In August 2005, all four defendants in the BALCO steroid scandal trial, including Anderson, struck deals with federal prosecutors that did not require them to reveal names of athletes who may have used banned drugs.

Bonds withdrew from the MLB Players Association's (MLBPA) licensing agreement because he felt independent marketing deals would be more lucrative for him. If Bonds had not withdrawn, his name and likeness would be deemed usable in any merchandise licensed by the MLBPA. In order to use his name or likeness, a company must deal directly with Bonds. For this reason he does not appear in some baseball video games, forcing game-makers to create generic athletes to replace him. For example, Bonds is replaced by "Jon Dowd" in MVP Baseball 2005, "Wes Mailman" in All-Star Baseball 2005, "Joe Young" in MLB 2K7, "Dean Gibeau" in All-Star Baseball 2006 and "Reggie Stocker" in MLB 07: The Show. Also, Strat-o-Matic baseball publishes a card with no name, but abilities based on Bonds' statistics.

In March, 2006 the book Game of Shadows, written by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, was released amid a storm of media publicity including the cover of Sports Illustrated. Initially small excerpts of the book were released by the authors in the issue of Sports Illustrated. The book alleges Bonds used stanozolol and a host of other steroids, and is perhaps most responsible for the change in public opinion regarding Bonds' steroid use.

The book contained excerpts of grand jury testimony that is supposed to be sealed and confidential by law. The authors have been steadfast in their refusal to divulge their sources, and at one point faced jail time. On February 14, 2007, Troy Ellerman, one of Victor Conte's lawyers, pled guilty to leaking grand jury testimony. Through the plea agreement, he will spend two years in jail and pay a $250,000.25 fine. The government also dropped their case against Williams and Fainaru-Wada in the process.

In May 2006, former Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman released a scathing biography of Bonds entitled Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Anti-Hero. Though obscured by Game of Shadows, the book also contained many allegations against Bonds.

* April 13,2006, CNN reported that federal investigators were looking into whether or not Bonds committed perjury during his 2003 grand jury testimony relating to the BALCO steroids scandal when he testified that he believed a clear substance and a cream, given to him by personal trainer Greg Anderson, were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm. (see "The BALCO Scandal", above). The United States Attorney's Office in San Francisco brought evidence before another grand jury to determine if Bonds should be indicted. Before testifying to the original grand jury (in 2003), witnesses were told that they could not be charged with any crime other than perjury based on their testimony.

* July 5,2006, Anderson was found in contempt of court by U.S. District Judge William Alsup for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating perjury accusations against Bonds. Anderson was denied bail and immediately sent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. Anderson's attorney, Mark Geragos, said he would file an appeal based on his assertion that the subpoena to testify violated Anderson's plea bargain agreement in the BALCO case.

* July 20,2006, the grand jury investigating the incident retired without issuing an indictment. Anderson was immediately released and promptly subpoenaed to testify before a new grand jury that would take up the case. Geragos stated that his client would continue to refuse to testify.

* July 22,2006, federal prosecutors were reported to have obtained Bonds’ medical files as part of their perjury investigation. Bonds’ former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, testified that Bonds blamed an elbow injury on steroid use. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, prosecutors had subpoenaed the documents nearly two months before, but Bonds’ attorneys went to federal court to stop the government from obtaining them.

* August 17,2006, Anderson again refused to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds. Judge Alsup ordered Anderson to return to court August 28 for a contempt hearing. In requesting the hearing, prosecutors for the first time publicly acknowledged they were targeting Bonds.

* August 28,2006, Anderson was held in contempt of court and sent to federal prison for a second time for refusing to answer questions from the federal grand jury. Judge Alsup said Anderson had provided no legal justification for refusing to tell the grand jury on Aug. 17 whether he had supplied steroids to Bonds or other athletes, or even whether he knew Bonds. Geragos said he would file an appeal with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

* October 5,2006, Anderson was ordered released from prison after 37 days. Judge Alsup ordered his release because the federal appeals court hadn't affirmed the contempt order within the required 30 days after Anderson was jailed. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal had sent the contempt order back to Judge Alsup, thus delaying any ruling. The main contention of Anderson's appeal is that a secret, illegally-recorded tape of him discussing Bonds' steroid use was the basis for the grand jury questions he refused to answer. Prosecutors, however, said the tape was legal and was made in a face-to-face meeting with Anderson. Although Judge Alsup dismissed Anderson's tape claim and others, the 9th Circuit Court sent Anderson's appeal back to the judge, saying Alsup's ruling regarding the tape was not clear enough. In clarifying his order, Alsup said he agreed with prosecutors that there was ample evidence beyond the tape to question Anderson. Prosecutors also said the questions they wanted answered were based on athletes' secret testimony in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative case and a search of Anderson's house that turned up drug records, some with Bonds' name on it. Other than the tape dispute, the 9th Circuit Court had rejected the merits of Anderson's appeal. In November, after the order was clarified, the 9th Circuit Court agreed to hear Anderson's argument that his "entire grand jury process was tainted" because the government let the grand jury hear the tape. If the appeals court had agreed that the tape unfairly contributed to Anderson's guilty plea, his conviction could have been be thrown out, even though Anderson had already completed his three-month sentence. In the disputed tape recording, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Anderson reportedly told an unidentified person that Bonds was using drugs that could not be detected. Judge Alsup, who had read a transcript of the tape, called it "as worthless a piece of evidence as I've ever seen", according to newspaper reports.

* November 16,2006, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court rejected Anderson's appeal and ruled that he must return to prison for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds. The court ordered him to report to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin by November 20. The court agreed with Judge Alsup, ruling there was ample evidence beyond the tape to justify the grand jury's interest in questioning Anderson about Bonds. Anderson's lawyers announced they would seek an appeal before the entire 9th Circuit Court.

* January, 2007, U.S. attorney Kevin V. Ryan resigned and was replaced by Scott Schools. Despite rumors the probe into Bonds would be hampered, the Associated Press reported that by February 2007, the investigation had resumed. The AP quoted Michael Rains, a lawyer for Bonds, as saying "There is absolutely no doubt that the U.S. attorney is still running a grand jury and still taking evidence that involves Bonds. There is still an active effort to indict Barry."

* March 2007, the 9th Circuit Court rejected Anderson's appeal. Geragos stated that he intended to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if the 9th Circuit court rejected his appeal. After losing the appeal, Geragos told ESPN "My client is never going to speak...He has got absolutely no intention of talking."

* July 21,2007, the New York Daily News reported that the grand jury investigating Bonds had been extended for six months. According to the Daily News, the "U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco is confident it will have enough evidence to secure an indictment once [the grand jury] resumes in September." The Daily News quoted an anonymous source as saying "[Prosecutors] seem to feel they have a strong case...If the case is 90% now, there's no reason not to go for 100%. They aren't just waiting around for Greg Anderson."

*August 13,2007, Bonds hired two attorneys, John Burris of Oakland and Todd Schneider of San Francisco, to defend him against false statements against him, including claims that he took steroids.

In April 2006 and May 2006, ESPN aired a few episodes of a 10-part reality TV series starring Bonds. The show, titled Bonds on Bonds, focused on Bonds' chase of Babe Ruth's and Hank Aaron's home run records. The series was cancelled in June 2006, ESPN and producer Tollin/Robbins Productions citing "creative control" issues with Bonds and his representatives.

*<font color="brown">^</font> = Led NL *<font color="blue">~</font> = Led MLB *<font color="green">+</font> = Former MLB Record *Bold = MLB Record *Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player: 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001—2004 *All-Star Team, NL:1990, 1992—1998, 2000—2004, 2007 *Through September 26, 2007

*Through 2007 Major League Baseball season

Bonds has hit at least one home run in 36 different ballparks, in 26 different cities. For parks with more than one name through the years, the names listed are not necessarily all of the parks' names, but rather their names when the home runs were hit.

Besides holding Major League career records in home runs (762), walks (2,558), and intentional walks (688), Bonds also leads 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), thru 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 500 bases (514). 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.

* Home runs in a single season (73), 2001 * Home runs in a single post-season (8), 2002 * 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 - the next highest in either league is 8 by Frank Thomas, and the next highest in the N.L. is 6 by George Foster, Pete Rose and Dale Murphy) * Oldest player (age 38) to win the National League batting title (.370) for the first time, 2002

* 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 (five) and are the only father-son members of the 30-30 club

* 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) * 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.

* 400-400 club Only Member * 500-500 club Only Member * 300-300 club * 30-30 club * 40-40 club * 50 home run club * 500 home run club * 600 home run club * 700 home run club * List of Major League Baseball batting champions * List of Major League Baseball home run champions * List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records * List of Major League Baseball RBI Records * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs * List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles * List of Major League Baseball players with 400 stolen bases * List of Major League Baseball players with 500 stolen bases * List of Major League Baseball RBI champions * List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions * List of major league players with 2,000 hits * List of MLB individual streaks * List of second generation MLB players * Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game * MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * List of Barry Bonds 73 Home Runs

* barrybonds.com - Official website * * * Home run watch