USA / FILE: BASEBALL - Barry Bonds hits 756th career home run, sets Major League record

Barry Bonds hit the 756th home run of his career to set a new Major League record on Tuesday (August 7, 2007), sparking wild celebrations among his hometown fans and a mixed reaction elsewhere in the wake of past steroid allegations. In belting his landmark homer against the Washington Nationals, the controversial 43-year-old San Francisco Giants slugger eclipsed the mark held by Hank Aaron for the past 33 years. Aaron had taken the previous record from the legendary Babe Ruth. The home-run record is considered one of the most prestigious achievements in America's national pastime. Bonds, a seven-time Most Valuable Player in his 22nd Major League season, completed the feat against Nationals starting pitcher Mike Bacsik in the fifth inning to put the Giants 5-4 ahead. Bacsik became the 446th different pitcher to surrender a homer to Bonds. The slugger's 435-foot, right-field shot was his 22nd home run of the 2007 season. Bonds had set the foundations for the home run with two productive at-bats earlier in the game. In the second-inning Bonds doubled to deep center right field 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, the game was delayed for 10 minutes to celebrate the achievement. Bonds' accomplishment is not without controversy, however. While a hero in San Francisco, he is often jeered in other ballparks because many baseball fans suspect he may not have spoken truthfully when denying steroid use.

ITN Source | August 9, 2007

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