Baseball: Barry Bonds hit the 756th home run of his career to set a new Major League record last night, sparking wild celebrations among his hometown fans and mixed reaction elsewhere because of past steroid allegations.
In belting his landmark homer against the Washington Nationals,
the 43-year-old San Francisco Giants slugger eclipsed the mark set
by Hank Aaron in 1974.
Bonds, in his 22nd Major League season, completed the feat
off Nationals starting pitcher Mike Bacsik in the fifth inning to
put the Giants 5-4 ahead in a game they would go on to lose 8-6.
In a recorded message broadcast on the stadium's video board,
Aaron paid tribute to Bonds.
"Throughout the past century the home run has held a special
place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record
for 33 of those years," he said.
"I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his
family on this historic achievement."
The lucky fan who caught the home run ball was identified by
the Giants as 22-year-old New Yorker Matt Murphy, who was not
available for comment but other fans described the scrum in the
stands for the valuable keepsake.
"It was a mess, bodies on top of bodies, four layers deep for
five minutes," said 52-year-old Mark Peel, who witnessed the mass
scramble for the ball. "I didn't think anyone was going to come
up."
Bonds said he does not want the ball back.
"He caught it, it's his."
Instead, the slugger has his eyes on a World Series
championship ring, a prize that has eluded the seven-time Most
Valuable Player.
"I haven't quit yet so that ring is still coming," he said.
Bacsik became the 446th different pitcher to surrender a
homer to Bonds and the slugger's 435-foot, right center-field shot
to the deepest part of AT&T Park was his 22nd home run of the
2007 season.
"He's the greatest of all time," Bacsik told reporters.
"Giving it up to Barry Bonds is nothing to be ashamed of."
Earlier, Bonds had doubled to deep right centre-field in the
second innings and scored the game's first run on a single by
Benjie Molina. In the third, Bonds singled and scored on a home run
by Molina.
After bashing his way into sporting history and crossing home
plate to a greeting by baseball legend and godfather Willie Mays,
the game was delayed for 10 minutes to celebrate the achievement.
Giants fans were ecstatic, chanting "Barry, Barry" as camera
flashes filled the stands of San Francisco's AT&T Park as
fireworks exploded in the night sky.
The accomplishment, however, is not without controversy.
While a hero in San Francisco, Bonds is often jeered in other
ballparks because many baseball fans suspect he may not have spoken
truthfully when denying steroid use.
"This record is not tainted at all - at all. Period," Bonds
told reporters. "You guys can say whatever you want.
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who was not at
the game, congratulated Bonds by telephone.
"While the issues which have swirled around this record will
continue to work themselves toward resolution, today is a day for
congratulations on a truly remarkable achievement," Selig said in a
statement.
-Reuters