Bonds is the all-time home run king
By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports

  • The new number is 756.

    The new man is Barry Bonds.

    The controversial slugger set the major-league career record for home runs Tuesday night at AT&T Park, passing Hank Aaron with a fifth-inning shot to center field.

    Thirty-three years after Aaron passed Babe Ruth, Bonds, at 43, cut through broad suspicions of steroid use and a perceived slight from Aaron himself to take ownership of the most revered record in American sports.

    When his short, powerful stroke struck the record-breaker off Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik, Bonds thrust his arms in the air and the sellout crowd roared.

    Bonds matched Aaron's 755 three days ago in San Diego, drawing a mixed reaction from a typically leery crowd.

    He said the most difficult part of the process was over, and 10 plate appearances later, he was the home run king.

    Not long after Bonds crossed home plate, greeted there by son Nikolai, who held up his forefinger to signify his father's place on the all-time home-run list, Aaron himself appeared on the center-field video board.

    His image drew a loud cheer, after months of speculation over his attendance. In a recorded message, Aaron told Bonds, "I'll move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family."

    Bonds' teammates, coaches and family mobbed him near the plate. The Nationals players stood at the rail of the dugout, applauding. Catcher Brian Schneider, who'd not caught the fastball Bacsik threw, was on one knee, clapping.

    Bonds tipped his cap to the crowd. He hugged his godfather, Willie Mays. And when he thanked his father, Bobby, who passed away four years ago, he broke into tears.

    "My dad," he shouted into a microphone, "thank you for everything."

    Amid the trappings of his home park, not far from where he idled his toddler years in the Candlestick Park clubhouse and attended high school in San Mateo, the eldest son of Bobby Bonds was again in a place where his popularity seems near unanimous.

    The crowd stands and cheers his every plate appearance, waves rubber chickens when he is intentionally walked, honors him with chants of "Bar-EE! Bar-EE!"

    When allegations of steroid use surfaced, AT&T Park and the people in it, became his refuge. Giants ownership exercised an option on his contract for 2006, then re-signed him in 2007, and it was repaid with sellout crowds and brisk sales of No. 25 jerseys.

    Where he once made Candlestick Park bearable, he made AT&T Park possible. The park itself was built with Bonds in mind. The brick right-field wall that guards the bay, tall but seemingly generous to left-handed hitters, plays instead generously to only one left-handed hitter – Bonds.

    He won five of his seven National League MVP Awards in San Francisco, became a legendary home-run hitter in San Francisco and is defended – or forgiven – in San Francisco.

    So it was they fit the green-and-white panel into its place in right-center field, the "6" in 756, with great ceremony. And Bonds waved and smiled and threw them kisses and told them, yes, he loved them back.

    And so, while many, including commissioner Bud Selig, have serious misgivings about the validity of Bonds' 756 as compared to Aaron's 755, many Giants fans appear to view him as a victim of media slant, or simply the best of the tainted. Bonds has not tested positive for steroids; Major League Baseball instituted testing with discipline in 2004.

    Selig was not in attendance Tuesday night after standing by for most of Bonds' swings over the past two weeks, excluding last weekend's Hall of Fame induction. He sent league officials Jimmie Lee Solomon and Frank Robinson to San Francisco in his place, while he reportedly met with Sen. George Mitchell and his team, who are investigating baseball's association with steroids. Selig intended to return Thursday if Bonds had not homered.

    Aaron had refused to come and, apparently, had not yet contacted Bonds.

    On a cool evening by the bay, Giants fans roared Bonds' inclusion in the lineup, and he waved and pointed toward them when he took the field. In his left-field corner, the fans stood and applauded.

    "It takes incredible talent to hit home runs," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who hit 26 over parts of nine seasons. "To hit as many as Barry has hit, it takes great talent, and it takes health."

    In the days before Bonds reached 756, Bochy spoke to its significance.

    "This is one that's never been hit," he said.

    Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

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