Barry Bonds

However, as a player with 10 years of major league service (five with the same club), Bonds must approve any deal, and he has stated on the record that he will not accept a trade. The M Coupe/M Roadster made Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1999. Giants owner Peter Magowan says he wants Bonds back but would not rule out a trade. George O'Callaghan - Professional footballer. The Giants, it is presumed, may be better off moving forward without Bonds than spending another season fretting over his availability at a price of $18 million; however, the box-office benefits to the club of Bonds' seemingly-inevitable chase to overtake Hank Aaron's 755 home runs could result in Bonds' continued sojourn in San Francisco. Spec) or S50 (Europe) motor from the E36 BMW M3, while all the 2001 and 2002 models came with the S54 motor from the E46 BMW M3. Bonds, who will turn 42 in July 2006, may be better off as a designated hitter than trying to play left field regularly on his thrice-surgically repaired right knee. The 1999 and 2000 M models were equipped with the 3.2L S52 (U.S.

His salary for the 2005 season was $22 million, and is tied with Manny Ramirez for the second-highest salary in Major League Baseball. The Z3 Coupes were only available with the largest 6-cylinder engine offered in the Z3 roadster: the 2.8 L in 1999 and 2000 and the 3.0 L in 2001. Bonds re-signed with the Giants for a five-year, $90 million contract in January 2002. The coupe was available as the Z3 Coupe from 1999 to 2001 or as the BMW Motorsport-enhanced M Coupe from 1999 to 2002.. However, according the San Francisco Chronicle, in the transcript of Bonds' December 4, 2003 grand jury testimony, prosecutors showed Bonds documents detailing both the steroids they alleged he used, as well as "a drug for female infertility that can be used to mask steroid use" [2]. In addition to the roadster version of the Z3, BMW also released a coupe featuring a chassis-stiffening rear hatch area. Bonds has failed no Major League Baseball drug test taken in 2003, 2004 or 2005. Hardtops were available as an option.

Some baseball pundits, fans, and even players have taken this as evidence that Bonds has used illegal steroids. Exterior changes were larger wheels spaced further apart and more aggressive fenders than were installed on the regular Z3. 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. There were also interior upgrades with additional gauges in the center console, lighted "M" shift knob, various chrome bits throughout the cockpit and sport seats as standard equipment. Bonds said that at the time he did not believe them to be steroids. The 2001 and 2002 models had the S54 motor from the E46 M3. BALCO founder Victor Conte had identified "the clear" as the designer steroid THG, and prosecutors contended "the cream" was a testosterone-based ointment. Spec) or S50 (Europe) motor from the E36 M3 into it with quad exhaust.

During grand jury testimony on December 4, 2003 — which was obtained through unknown means by the San Francisco Chronicle and published almost a year later, on December 3, 2004 [1] — Bonds said Anderson gave him a rubbing balm and a liquid substance he called "the cream" and "the clear". The 1998, 1999 and 2000 M roadster had the 3.2L S52 (U.S. Bonds declared his innocence, attributing his changed physique and increased power to a strict regimen of bodybuilding and legitimate dietary supplements. From 1998 to 2002, the Motorsports division of BMW produced the M Roadster which included suspension upgrades and the engine from the BMW M3. This led to speculation that Bonds had used performance-enhancing drugs during a time when there was no mandatory testing in Major League Baseball. The car's retro styling was popular, and Z3s have held their value fairly well in the resale market. Anderson of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, Bonds' trainer since 2000, was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with supplying anabolic steroids to athletes, including a number of unnamed baseball players. The Z3 proved quite reliable, with problems limited to bad oxygen sensors, a flimsy plastic water pump, and failing rear shock mounts.

In 2003, Bonds became embroiled in a scandal when Greg F. Also freshened was the car's interior appointments, though the plastic window remained. Bonds continued his pre-injury dominance at the plate, hitting home runs in four consecutive games from September 18 to September 21. All three of these straight-6 engines lasted through the end of the car's run in 2002. Bonds finished the night 1-for-4 with a double. Now, the range consisted of the 2.5 L M52B25, 3.0 L M52B30, and (for the M Roadster) 3.2 L S54B32. In his return against the San Diego Padres, he nearly hit a home run in his first at-bat, but the ball was ruled to be only a double due to fan interference. All of the engines were replaced when the car was freshened for 2001.

He was indeed activated that day and immediately returned to being a starter in left field. The M Roadster (see below) appeared in 1998 with a 3.2 L S52B32 I6, just as the four was retired. On September 10, the Giants announced that Bonds would be activated on September 12. The 2.8 L engine, taken from the 328i, was especially desirable with its 189 hp. In September, Bonds started working out with the team while the team was in Los Angeles, playing the Dodgers. This little four was complemented by a pair of straight-6es in 1997, the 2.3 L and 2.8 L M52B28. On August 5, however, he stated on his website that he was unsure but remained optimistic. Interior appointments, too, were not up to the standard of other BMW models, and the plastic rear window looked especially bad compared to the glass unit found on the much-cheaper 1999 Mazda Miata.

On August 1, in an interview with MLB.com, Bonds stated that he would most likely not return for the 2005 season due to continued buildup of fluid in the knee due to activities. At first, just the 1.9 L M44B19 straight-4 engine was offered, though its 138 hp made the car less of a performer than many buyers wanted. It also raised much speculation as to whether Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755 is out of reach. The rear semi-trailing arm suspension from the E30 was used rather than the more sophisticated multilink suspension from the E36. This setback led many to assume Bonds would not play in the 2005 season. The resulting platform is sometimes referred to as the E36/7. On May 4, Bonds revealed on his website that he had undergone a third arthroscopic knee surgery because of a bacterial infection in his knee. The Z3 was developed from the E36 platform of the 3 Series.

For the media, this story was irresistible in light of baseball's recently toughened testing program for steroids. . Later, Bonds sounded 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 relentlessly through the summer by ESPN, in anticipation of potentially unprecedented scrutiny by the media and baseball fans. The Z3 was replaced by the BMW Z4 in late 2002 at the Paris Auto Show. At the press conference, Bonds also indicated that he was frustrated by the focus on his alleged steroid use and the negative portrayal of him in the media. It was manufactured and assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On March 22, 2005, Bonds announced that he could be sidelined for the rest of the 2005 season because of surgery on his knee. There were a few variants of the car before its production run ended in 2002, including a coupe version for 1999.

Many of the game's best players, hitter and pitcher alike, remain in awe of Bonds' bat speed and dominance at the plate. It was introduced as a 1996 model year vehicle, shortly after being featured in the James Bond movie, GoldenEye. Today Bonds is generally considered to be the best hitter in the game, and comparable only to a handful of hitters in the sport's entire history. The BMW Z3 was the first modern mass-market roadster produced by BMW, as well as the first BMW model assembled in the United States. Bonds holds virtually every record associated with walks, whether in a season (232), in a game (6), or intentional (4). Sports Car International 21 (6): 96.. The very next year, he broke Ted Williams' single-season on-base percentage record with .582, and then shattered his own record in 2004 with an unprecedented .609. Affordable Sports.

In 2001, Bonds hit 73 HRs (the only time he has hit over 50 in a season), and even more astonishingly, surpassed Babe Ruth's record of single-season slugging percentage with a mind-blowing .863. Nick Pon (2005). While by the end of the decade Bonds was regarded as a surefire Hall of Famer, it was in the beginning of the millennium - at the age of 37 - when Bonds would surpass his peers and achieve a level that only a couple of hitters in the history of the game have achieved. Through the decade, Bonds was a very patient hitter and great slugger who stole bases and played exceptional defense. However, while Bonds was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team that year, Griffey was actually elected to it, probably due to being more popular rather than more impressive or more respected.

When the Sporting News list was redone in 2005, Bonds jumped up 28 spaces to Number 6 All Time, behind only Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Hank Aaron. In 1999, with only statistics through 1997 counted, Bonds ranked Number 34 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, making him the highest-ranking active player (next-best was Greg Maddux at Number 39), while Griffey came in at Number 93. was voted Player of the Decade in the 1990s, many believed that Bonds was the better player. Although Ken Griffey Jr.

The Proceeds were then split between Popov and Hayashi. In the end Comic book creator and producer Todd McFarlane, paid $450,000 for the ball at an auction. Several experts estimated the ball to be worth around $1.5 Million. 28, 2002 ruling that stated: Since Popov did briefly have control of the ball, and since Hayashi ultimately ended up with it and could not be shown to have caused Popov to lose it, both men, said McCarthy, had "equal claim under the law.".

In the end, McCarthy issued a Dec. He even convened a summit of experts, during which the case law was applied to the legal quandary: Just what constitutes possession of a baseball that lands in the stands?. Ultimately Superior Court Judge Kevin McCarthy considered arguments based on old whaling laws, precedent-setting fox hunting cases, and laws about abandoned property. Patrick Hayashi said he found it rolling free in the minute-long melee.

Alex Popov claimed he was the first person to get a glove on the baseball only to have it taken away in the ensuing scuffle. 7, 2001 two men laid claim to ownership of the baseball. After the homerun on Oct. On September 17, 2004, Bonds hit his 700th home run off San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy in San Francisco and became only the third man to achieve the 700 home run plateau.

On May 28, 1998, Bonds became one of only four players in major league history to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded, when the Arizona Diamondbacks elected to give up a run and face catcher Brent Mayne instead. He broke his previous record of 68 intentional walks, set in 2002, on July 10, 2004 in his last appearance before the All-Star break. In the first month of the 2004 season, Bonds drew 43 walks, 22 of them intentional. Bonds, a prolific home run hitter, is an easy candidate for the intentional walk.

Bonds holds almost every major league record in existence for intentional walks with four in a nine-inning game (2004), 120 in a season (2004) and 604 in his career (more than the next two players on the all-time list, Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey, combined). He has been the league leader in the category for 13 of the past 14 seasons. Bonds also has the 2nd- and 3rd-highest single-season intentional walk totals, with 68 in 2002 and 61 in 2003. Included in Bonds' 2004 total were 120 intentional walks, the most issued since MLB began recording them separately in 1954.

His total of 232 walks was 105 more than the next closest leader, Lance Berkman, Todd Helton, and Bobby Abreu who all had 127. Later in 2004, he broke his own single-season record for walks, becoming the first player with over 200 in a season and ending the season with 232. On July 4, 2004, Bonds passed Rickey Henderson to take the lead in career walks, with his 2191st. (Ellison was in a kayak in McCovey Cove, an arm of San Francisco Bay that lies behind the right-field stands at SBC Park, so this wasn't quite the amazing coincidence it appears at first sight.).

Ellison also caught number 661, but kept it for himself with Barry's blessing. He hit his 661st home run at the same venue the next day, April 13, placing him in outright third behind Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755). Larry Ellison (not the CEO of Oracle Corporation) caught the home run and returned it to Barry. On April 12, 2004, Bonds hit his 660th home run, tying him with his godfather Willie Mays for 3rd on the all-time career home run list in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at SBC Park.

The new regulations also banned hitters from using hard protective gear apart from helmets (e.g., hard elbow or chest guards), which enabled them to get closer to the plate. Because of Bonds and others like Mo Vaughn, in 2001 Major League Baseball instructed umpires to call a slightly different strike zone, calling more high inside pitches strikes. Bonds is among the power hitters who "crowd the plate": standing in such a way that his body is almost over the plate (and thus close to the strike zone). The other two members are José Canseco and Alex Rodriguez.

In addition, in 1996 Bonds became the second of the three current members of the so called 40-40 club: 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in one season. With 633 career home runs at the time, Bonds became the first 500-500 player in baseball history, already the only member of the 400-400 club. By chance, his ailing father Bobby was in attendance that night. Bonds later scored the winning run.

On June 23 2003, Bonds recorded his 500th stolen base in the eleventh inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Pacific Bell Park. He had stolen his 400th base on July 26, 1997 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Candlestick Park. Bonds became the first 400-400 player (400 home runs and 400 stolen bases) on August 23, 1998, when he hit home run number 400 off of Florida's Kirt Ojala. He has been named to 13 National League All-Star teams: 1990, 1992-1998, 2000-2004.

Bonds' eight Gold Glove awards as an outfielder are the third-most ever for that position. The Giants would lose the World Series that year to the Anaheim Angels, four games to three. During the 2002 season, Bonds became the fourth man to hit 600 career home runs, and also set the record for most home runs hit in a single post-season (8). He was also second in the voting for the award twice: in 1991 to Terry Pendleton of the Atlanta Braves, and in 2000 to then-teammate Jeff Kent.

He is the first player in history to be MVP in four or even three consecutive years, and no other player has won the award more than three times. Bonds has been voted the National League's Most Valuable Player a record seven times, in 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. He also broke two of his own records: OPS, with 1.422, and on-base percentage with .609 - the only time a player has bettered .600 over a full season. In 2004, he won his second batting title with a .362 average.

He also won the National League batting title with a .370 average, becoming the oldest player to win the honor for the first time. Partly because pitchers tried to "pitch around" him whenever possible, he bettered his own record for walks with 198, which contributed greatly to a .582 on-base percentage, breaking Williams' 1941 record of .551. In 2002, however, he did not repeat his 73-homer feat. Besides the home run record, he set single-season marks for walks (177) and slugging percentage (.863) (topping Ruth's records of 170 and .847, set in 1923 and 1920, respectively).

Some analysts consider Bonds' 2001 performance among the greatest hitting seasons in history. That's frightening." The next year, Bonds set the single-season home run record, hitting 73 to break Mark McGwire's 70-homer mark set in 1998. In Sports Illustrated (June 5, 2000), San Francisco Giant Shawon Dunston said of his teammate Bonds, "He's not going to hit 70 homers, but he believes he can. His aunt Rosie Bonds finished 8th in the Women's 80-meter hurdles (Extended to 100-meter hurdles in 1971) at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo,Japan.

Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is his godfather; Reggie Jackson, another Hall of Famer, is his uncle. Bonds' speed and power in his early and middle years recalled his father's abilities. In 1993, he left the Pirates to sign as a free agent with the Giants, for whom his father had played the first seven years of his career. He began his major league career in 1986 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Although he was immediately drafted by the San Francisco Giants, Bonds chose to go to college first, playing baseball and earning a degree at Arizona State University in criminal justice. The son of former All-Star Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds graduated in 1982 from Junipero Serra High School (San Mateo, Calif.), excelling in baseball, basketball and football. . However, he is the focus of a raging debate in the baseball world, centering on two questions: has he had help in the form of illegal performance-improving drugs, and if so, to what degree, if any, does the use of these drugs account for his accomplishments? This debate has been further fueled by reports of testimony given in the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative scandal.

He has won eight Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence. He is the only player in history to have hit at least 400 home runs and stolen at least 400 bases, as well as the only player in history to hit 500 homeruns and steal 500 bases. He is generally considered among the greatest players of all time, and has won a record seven MVP awards; for those who view baseball through the prism of sabermetrics, he, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams are the top three hitters. He holds the record for most homers in a season with 73 and is third on the career list with 708.

Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964 in Riverside, California) is a left fielder in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants; he is most famous for his home run hitting.