Bonds
While Barry Bonds is known as an incredible baseball player, it is other things about him which may eventually be what he is remembered for. Bonds won four MVP awards as an outfielder, four years in a row. He played in the 2007 World Series and is one of the most widely known players in the sport. In 2006, he surpassed even Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in home runs.
However, this was not accomplished under ideal circumstances, there were already stories of steroid use, and Bonds was not loved dearly by a majority of fans. This feeling was apparently very mutual and Bonds has never been one to bite back hostile words. Even Hank Aaron became disillusioned and disenchanted, and at the end of the history making record chase, refused to attend any more of Bonds’ games. He has a standing record of 762 homeruns giving him sole possession of first place. Bonds also holds records for most homeruns in a single season-73. There are numerous records and accolades that belong to Bonds, but no ball team would sign him during the 2008 season.
Having already broken many records and his financial future in no doubt, Bonds was investigated in relation to his steroid use as part of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative case and has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about his use of steroids.
This case has cast a shadow over his entire career in the sport. The validity of his awards and records have been called into question by fans and the administrative body governing the sport alike.
A pall has been thrown over a career in baseball which began in high school, when Bonds was courted by the Giants while still a senior. He did not end up signing on with the Giants, choosing to pursue a college education. Bonds played in college as well, where in a single year he scored seven hits in a row in the College World Series and was picked as All American selection of the year by the publication Sporting News.
Bonds will have his day in court for obstruction of justice charges stemming from the BALCO investigation in March of this year. Bonds still argues that he never knowingly took steroids, but how the case will play out in the courts remains to be seen.
Off the diamond, Binds has become involved with working with sick and terminally ill children. Bonds has an honorary chair with the Macy’s Tree Lighting Committee, which fundraises for the children’s hospice UCSF Children’s Hospital Palliative Care Program.