Bookmark or Add to Favorites

.

 
 
 
 
  Barry Bonds; The Homerun King
           DESTINED FOR GREATNESS by
Terry Williams
 


Barry Lamar Bonds born July 24th, 1964 in Riverside California was destined for greatness being the son of 3 time All-Star Bobby Bonds and the godson of Hall -Of -Famer Willie Mays (arguably along with his godson Barry Bonds as the greatest player to ever play the game). On August 7th, 2007 Barry Bonds hammered a pitch off of Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik over right-center field at AT&T Park in San Francisco 435 feet to break Hank Aaron's homerun record of 755 homeruns. Henry Aaron was not in attendance but gave a dignified televised speech congratulating the new homerun king. After all the talk of Bonds ALLEGED steroid-use in what is now called the steroid-era of baseball it was only fitting for Henry "Hank" Aaron to congratulate him in front of the world after what he himself endured in 1974 when he was threatened and sent hate mail when he was threatening to surpass Babe Ruth's record of 714 homeruns.

On April 4th 1974 Henry Aaron requested to the league to have a moment of silence on the Sixth Anniversary of Martin Luther King's Death. The request was rejected, he was forced to play and he tied Ruth's record of 714 homeruns on his very first swing. Barry Bonds worked hard in the weight room to get stronger but extra batting practice and other methods of training was also required for him to be the best all around baseball player of this era and arguably of all time. Just like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and others work extremely harder, get bigger, stronger and take hundreds of shots after practice once they have been in the league for a while to better their game and keep up with younger competition that's the same road Bonds took. The 81 points scored by Kobe Bryant came from hard work like Bonds put in. It takes hand and eye coordination to hit a baseball' put a professional wrestler up there to the plate against Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens, see how many they can knock out the park.

Bonds records and play speaks for itself. He stole bases and is the only player to hit 500 or more home runs and steal 500 bases. He's the 3rd fastest to reach 600 homeruns behind Babe Ruth and Sammy Sosa. He is 5th all-time in slugging percentage with an average of 607 and is less than 100 hits away from hitting 3000 hits in a career. His record breaking single season record of 73 homers in a season in 2001 was big that year but what is the fuss over he never hit over 50 homeruns any other time in his career just like a football player rushing for 2000 yards in a season only once in their career. Bonds was third in runs scored behind Ricky Henderson and Ty Cobb. He's fifth in runs batted in with 1981 rib's. He's an 8-time Gold Glove winner I guess steroids helped him defensively as well. He's the 7-time unprecedented National League MVP and who in any sport comes close to being an MVP in a season seven times in a career. He's a 13-time all-star and The Sporting News Player of The Decade of the 1990's that means best all-around player not just hitting homeruns.

Bonds is the most feared hitter in the history of the game garnering a single-season record of 120 intentional walks,232 walks and is the all-time walks leader. The opposing team weren't scared that he was going to hit a homerun every time but when the game was in reach, they knew he could get a hit or with his watchful eye he would be walked. He was also a two-time BATTING Champion in 2002 and 2004(I didn't say homerun champion). Barry Lamar Bonds was The 1999 Philanthropist of the Year Award Winner, an award given to him by The National Conference of Black Philanthropy. His love and devotion to his children led him to launch The Bonds Family Foundation which helps underprivileged youth in The Bay Area. Due to his conviction to EDUCATION the foundation established The Link n' Learn Program and Bridge to The Future Campaign. He also established The Bonds Private School Scholarship Fund. We may never know if he knowingly or not knowingly took steroids, but we do know he's the best all-around player to lace up some cleats. He may not have been the most charismatic player or most popular player but if you look at him as a baseball player you have to agree he's arguably the best to ever play the game I do.

Terry
Williams, Centerstage Magazine CEO/Publisher
 
Terry@centerstagemag.com   http://www.centerstagemag.com/
                        
       Holla At Ya Boy

Personal Updates

Send to a friend

Top of Page

Home

copyright  center stage magazine all rights reserved |  privacy policy | terms of use | design: fine art and graphics