Barry Bonds

Bobby Bonds secured himself a spot in the annals of baseball history early in his career. In only his second year in the major leagues, as a San Francisco Giant, he became the first player in league history to hit thirty home runs and steal thirty bases in a single season. Over a fourteen-year career, Bonds achieved this feat four more times, a still-standing record.

Bonds honed his skills at Polytechnic High School in Riverside, California, where he also excelled on the football team. He was not the only athlete in the family; his brother, Robert, was a 13th-round draft pick for the Kansas City Chiefs and his sister, Rosie, was a world-class hurdler who earned a place on the 1964 Olympic track team. Bobby was signed by the Giants in 1965 and was promoted to the majors in 1968. In his first major-league game, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, he hit a grand slam home run, becoming the first major leaguer to do so in his first game since the Phillies' Bill Dugglesby in 1898.

Bonds became the Giants' leadoff hitter and he did not disappoint. During his first full season in 1969 he hit thirty-two home runs, stole forty-five bases, drove in ninety runs and scored 120 runs, leading the National League. Bonds was named to the All-Star Team twice when he was with the Giants, in 1971 and 1973. In 1973 he also led the National League with 131 runs and thirty-nine homers. He was traded to the New York Yankees after the 1974 season and he again made the All-Star Team in 1975. Following that season, he was traded to the California Angels. An injured finger hindered his 1976 season, but the following year he hit thirty-seven home runs, had 115 RBIs, 103 runs and forty-one stolen bases. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox prior to his becoming a free agent in 1978.

Bonds was traded to the Texas Rangers mid-season and his last few years as a player were marked by numerous subsequent trades and an alcohol problem. He played for the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs before retiring in 1981. He returned to Cleveland as a first-base coach and hitting instructor from 1984-1987 and in 1989 acted as player-manager to the St. Lucie Legends of Florida's short-lived Senior League. He returned to San Francisco in 1993, signing on as a hitting coach as part of son Barry's lucrative deal with the team. Father and son had a shot at sharing a World Series victory in 2002, but, after a promising start, the Giants lost the seven-game series to the Anaheim Angels.