745*

[WJMorris3]

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds hit his 745th career home run on Tuesday to move to within 11 of becoming baseball's all-time home run leader.

The Giants slugger, who now needs 10 homers to tie Hank Aaron's legendary mark, hit his 11th homer of the season in the fourth inning of the game against the

New York Mets.

San Francisco was trailing 4-0 when Bonds hit his fourth career home run against future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. The shot to right-centerfield came with no-one on base.

The RBI was the 23rd of the season for Bonds, who lifted his batting average to .342 with the home run. It came on Bonds' 76th at-bat, a furious pace for the 42-year-old left field.

The home run was the 38th of Bonds' career against the Mets.

Rats, rats, rats. Can we please give him the four-fingered salute now, no matter the situation?

[HedleyLamarr]

My prediction of late-July isn't looking too good right now.....

Barry's on some kind of roll. I wonder if people will get off his back if he has a 30-HR season this year, knowing that he wasn't aided by steroids?

[STL FANATIC]

My prediction of late-July isn't looking too good right now.....

Barry's on some kind of roll. I wonder if people will get off his back if he has a 30-HR season this year, knowing that he wasn't aided by steroids?

It's not like the affects just go away.

But I'm not out to be on anybody's back anymore.

What has happened has happened.

Hopefully in a few years guys like A-Rod and Pujols will be taking runs at that record and it can assumed to be a clean record again. Hopefully the same thing happens with the single season record.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Can we have a show of fans of people actually rooting for Bonds? I feel like I'm in the vast, vast minority. But I have a fondness for surly ballplayers, I guess. I'm also the last Albert Belle fan in the universe.

[HedleyLamarr]

Can we have a show of fans of people actually rooting for Bonds? I feel like I'm in the vast, vast minority. But I have a fondness for surly ballplayers, I guess. I'm also the last Albert Belle fan in the universe.

The only reason I don't want Bonds to break the record is because he'll be taking a record away from a Brave.

I don't care if he's been a jerk to the media. As long as he hasn't cheated his way to the record (which, so far, he hasn't), I'm fine with him breaking the record. It's going to fall eventually.

[Jigga]

Can we have a show of fans of people actually rooting for Bonds? I feel like I'm in the vast, vast minority. But I have a fondness for surly ballplayers, I guess. I'm also the last Albert Belle fan in the universe.

I'm rooting for Barry Bonds to become Major League Baseball's all-time Home Run King.

[IronChefShark]

Barry Bonds hitting homeruns is good for the San Francisco Giants chances at a pennant, which is okay by me.

[FiddySicks]

Can we have a show of fans of people actually rooting for Bonds? I feel like I'm in the vast, vast minority. But I have a fondness for surly ballplayers, I guess. I'm also the last Albert Belle fan in the universe.

I'm rooting for Barry Bonds to become Major League Baseball's all-time Home Run King.

:raises hand in favor: And apparently me and gitlin are the only white guys pulling for Bonds too.

Joke. ESPN. Don't ban me.

[Gary]

i'm on the fence, I don't like the guy, but I would like to see the record broken, he's a good player, and I'd like to see him break it but only as a player

[HedleyLamarr]

My prediction of late-July isn't looking too good right now.....

Barry's on some kind of roll. I wonder if people will get off his back if he has a 30-HR season this year, knowing that he wasn't aided by steroids?

It's not like the affects just go away.

But I'm not out to be on anybody's back anymore.

What has happened has happened.

Hopefully in a few years guys like A-Rod and Pujols will be taking runs at that record and it can assumed to be a clean record again. Hopefully the same thing happens with the single season record.

To my knowledge, Bonds hasn't failed a steroid test since the league started testing.

Also, if there were no testing during his 73-HR season, how can you prove that Bonds was 100%, no doubt about it, 'roiding up? If you can't, then Bonds' record is clean. (And even if he did take any sort of performance-enhancer, is it "dirty" if the league had no penalty to those taking steroids? It's kind of difficult to cheat if it's not against the rules.)

I realize he broke the record of a Cardinal, and you take offense to that, but if you don't have any sort of proof (and "we all know" isn't proof), is it intelligent to insist he cheated his way to a record when there's no support to your claim?

[FiddySicks]

The thing im curious about is if Curt Schilling's garbage ass worthless statements about cheating on the record, his wife, and his taxes were serious or not.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Wow...I'm surprised to see the support, and from such a diverse group. Cool. When he gets 756, we can all have a party. I'll bring the punch.

[patsox]

HE'S ON PACE TO BREAK THE RECORD IN BOSTON!!!!! I MUST GET TICKETS NOW SO I CAN STONE HIM!!!!

kidding obviously. I do want tickets so I and the remainder of Friendly Fenway can boo him.

[STL FANATIC]

Hedley, I'm not about to go the "we all know" route. That's the same route that leads about four pieces of circumstansial evidence to somehow condemn McGwire beyond a shadow of doubt. (Of course, the great BBWAA was cool with that route.)

I just personally think the fact that there is an entire book worth of evidence to go along with his own admission (whether he knew he was taking them or not) is pretty solid evidence. I don't endorse it as proof. I don't endorse that he deserves punishment or some kind of asterik or whatever by the record.

But there's so much there that I think I can make a very reasonable judgement myself that he's taken them. And I know that immediately will draw questions about my beliefs on McGwire, and all I can say there is that (1) I obviously want to believe he was clean, and (2) there just hasn't been enough evidence uncovered (I'm open to the possibility it's there) to prove it. Scientific evidence not with standing, I think you could just about prove in court that Bonds took them. With McGwire, they'd need to do a lot more digging to see (which is what I've always said...enough to investigate, not enough to prove).

As for whether they were illegal. They were. There doesn't have to be a specified punishment. Commissioner said they're illegal, they're illegal.

So I'm rooting for a clean record for one. If nothing else, I'm rooting for a DEFINITELY clean record (no, I wouldn't want something McGwire held broken, but I'd rather Pujols hold it than Mac because than all but the most extreme doubts would be cleared).

But also, I just can't root for Bonds the person. There's not many things I can see to like about him. There's players that are standoffish with the media, and that's fine. But Bonds is just a flat jerk, and it's not just with the media. I can't root for that.

All of that said, if he gets the record, retires, becomes eligible for the HOF and all that...I hope the BBWAA keeps up their crazy scrutiny and holds him out (not because I don't think he should be in...he should). I can't think of anything funnier in a pathetic way than a sports Hall of Fame not having two of the most revered record holders enshrined in it.

[DEAD!]

Rats, rats, rats. Can we please give him the four-fingered salute now, no matter the situation?

How's this?

[infrared41]

I wonder if people will get off his back if he has a 30-HR season this year, knowing that he wasn't aided by steroids?

Please. MLB doesn't test for human growth hormone so he can take that stuff all day long and never worry about getting caught. Barry Bonds can hit 1500 homeruns but he'll never be half the player Hank Aaron was. The sad part is that before he started juicing Bonds was a lock for the hall of fame. If he had stayed clean he might have gone down as the best player ever. Now he's just going to be seen as a product of chemistry.

People can claim that he's never failed a test etc. all they want but the fact remains that Bonds of 2007 doesn't look a thing like Bonds of 1995. C'mon the guy's head literally grew larger over the years. I was smaller at 25 than I am at 45 but my hat size has remained the same throughout. Bonds cheated plain and simple. As far as I'm concerned Hank Aaron will remain the home run leader no matter what Bonds does. No one gets that much better as they get older. At least it never happened before the 90's. That's all the "proof" you need.

[ProvidenceRI]

My feelings:

1) Homeruns are much easier now than they were 50 years ago. Go to Yankee Stadium and see the 20 foot difference between the old and current outfield wall. So no matter who breaks this record, I will not be impressed.

2) Bonds did steroids. And don't think he is the only one. Most of the guys out there look jacked. And pitchers used steroids against him. I think cheating is relative.

3) Records need to be measured against the norm. Babe Ruth really is the home run king of baseball. He was hitting 59-60 homeruns a year. 2nd place had 47. 3rd place had 30!

[spyboy1]

Just because they didn't test him, doesn't mean he didn't do it. I'm convinced he's a juicer and 70% of me doesn't want to see him break any records because of that. The other 30% of me doesn't want to see him break any records because he's a lousy human being.

JeffB

[Hat Boy]

In a WWE-style move, the day that Barry hits 754, MLB will announce a deal with the Japanese Baseball League and declare Sadaharu Oh the all-time HR king with 868. I don't think Barry's body will hold up for another 114 homers.

[McCall]

Just because they didn't test him, doesn't mean he didn't do it. I'm convinced he's a juicer and 70% of me doesn't want to see him break any records because of that. The other 30% of me doesn't want to see him break any records because he's a lousy human being.

JeffB

That's pretty much how I feel.

And though I'm not a big A-Rod fan, I'd still have no problem if he broke the record (Though Pujols would eventually break it again... had to throw that in there for those who claim me to be a homer.) But A-Rod is a legit player. A relatively decent guy, though I have heard some stories of A-Rod being an A-Hole, but all in all a stand up guy. Plus, it's rather obvious he's not a cheater and is just a great ballplayer. I also just would want to see Hank Aaron's record fall to Bonds. He's not deserving of it. And Aaron, if he's gonna lose his record someday, deserves to have it lost to a more respectable guy, someone who respects the game of baseball as much as Aaron did, and as much as baseball respects Hammerin' Hank.