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SACOBSERVER.COM STAFF REPORT
The San Francisco Giants released
home run king Barry Bonds Friday.
"There's no question about
what Barry has meant to this organization and to our success
over the past 15 years. He is the greatest player of his generation
and one of the very best of all time," said Giants Senior
Vice President and General Manager Brian Sabean in a statement.
"Barry has been the cornerstone of our franchise and
his amazing contributions will be sorely missed."
He will conclude his 15-year career
with the Giants at this weekend's final series in Los Angeles.
From hitting a home run in his
first at bat as a Giant at Candlestick Park in 1993 to becoming
the game's all-time home run leader on August 7, the future
Hall of Famer has delivered many indelible moments over his
15 seasons with his boyhood team. Bonds won five of his unprecedented
seven MVPs with San Francisco, while helping the club produce
one of its most successful runs in franchise history from
1997-2004 that included three National League West titles
and the 2002 National League pennant.
One of the greatest players to
ever play the game, the 13-time All-Star, 8-time Gold Glove
winner, two-time winner of the National League batting title
and lone member of baseball's 500 homer-500 steal club holds
Major League Baseball's all-time records for home runs (762)
and walks (2,558). Bonds also ranks among the game's best
for RBI (tied for second - 1,996), extra-base hits (second
- 1,440), runs (third - 2,227), total bases (fourth - 5,976),
on-base percentage (sixth - .444), slugging percentage (sixth
- .607), doubles (14th - 601) and stolen bases (32nd - 514).
Bonds' impressive resume also includes baseball's single-season
records for home runs (73 in 2001), walks (232 in 2004), intentional
walks (120 in 2004), on-base percentage (.609 in 2004), slugging
percentage (,863 in 2001), home run ratio (6.52 in 2001) and
home run percentage (12.06 in 2004). The 43-year old also
holds Major League career records with 13-consecutive 30-home
run seasons and 14 campaigns with 100-or-more walks.
Having grown up in the clubhouse at Candlestick Park as he
accompanied his father the late Giant Bobby Bonds, it's only
fitting that younger Bonds dominates both the Giants franchise
and San Francisco-era record books. He has established virtually
every San Francisco-era offensive standard, holding the records
for average (.312), home runs (586), RBI (1,440), runs (1,555),
doubles (381) and is tied for first with his father with 263
stolen bases. Only his godfather Willie Mays has more home
runs in a Giants uniform, clubbing 646 in both New York and
San Francisco.
The eight-time Gold Glove winner is also fourth in franchise
history with 1,975 games (third in SF annals), fifth with
6,260 at-bats (third for SF), third with 1,555 runs, fifth
with 1,951 hits (third with SF), third with 381 doubles, third
with 1,440 RBI, first with 1,947 walks, tied for ninth with
263 stolen bases and third with 4,172 total bases (second
for SF).
Many of AT&T Park's defining moments in its eight-year
history have included Bonds' milestone home runs. The slugger
clubbed the team's first clout in the inaugural game April
11, 2000, while adding his 500th career blast in 2001. He
became the single-season home run champion in 2001 with his
71st, 72nd and 73rd roundtrippers coming on the Shores of
McCovey Cove. Bonds connected for his 600th home run August
9, 2002 off his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. The two
greatest Giants of all-time, Bonds and Mays, were tied at
third on the all-time home run list when Bonds drilled his
660th clout during the 2004 home opener. He also added his
700th blast later that season off San Diego's Jake Peavy and
surpassed Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list May 28,
2006 off Colorado's Byung-Hyun Kim. The new home run king
reached the pinnacle of power on August 7, 2007 when he clubbed
a solo, one-out clout off Washington's Mike Bacsik. |