Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds hit his 756th major league home run on 7 August 2007, surpassing Hank Aaron as the man with the most home runs in American baseball history. Bond is also the single-season home run champ: he hit 73 during the 2001 season, passing Mark McGwire for that record. Bonds is famous for his strength and all-purpose talent; The Sporting News named Bonds the top player of the 1990s, and he was voted the National League's most valuable player an unprecedented seven times: in 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Bonds played left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-1992, after which he became a free agent and signed with the San Francisco Giants. In his banner season of 2001 he outdid McGwire (who hit 70 homers in 1998) and sluggers of the past like Babe Ruth (60 homers in 1927) and Roger Maris (61 in 1961). Despite his heroics at the plate, Bonds has had strained relations with the press and with fans, gaining a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly to reporters. Bonds has also been dogged by accusations that he used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs late in his career. He was in the middle of a 2003 grand jury investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) and his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, over the use of steroids. Bonds testified he had unknowingly used steroid products, and Anderson did jail time rather than testify against Bonds. Based on his testimony in that case, Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in November of 2007, just weeks after announcing his departure from the Giants for the 2008 season.

Extra credit: Bonds is the son of Bobby Bonds, a major league player from 1968-81... Bonds bats and throws left-handed, and wears #25... He joined the elite 40-40 club in 1996, hitting 42 home runs and stealing 40 bases... He hit his 715th career home run on 28 May 2006, surpassing Babe Ruth for second on the all-time American homer list, right behind Aaron... Slugger Sadaharu Oh hit 868 homers during his career (1959-80) with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's major leagues, making him the worldwide home run leader. Despite the common nickname of Giants, the San Francisco and Yomiuri teams are not related.