Sports

Bonds hits 755th home run and ties Aaron
by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Barry Bonds spent the first part of his evening easing some of his nervous sweat by vaulting himself into a tie with Hank Aaron for the career home run record, finishing with 775 home runs.His Saturday afternoon was spent by taking extra batting practice at Petco Park. Bonds provided the picture that had been expected, while hundreds of camera flashes were going off throughout the stadium.Bonds slashed it over the left-field fence when the Padres' Clay Hensley tossed Bonds a high and outside 2-1 fastball in the second inning. There was an interestingly mixed reaction as soon as Bonds's ball caromed off a red advertising sign in left field. Even if many people had suspected he might hear relentless boos,Bonds did not.He heard some cheers and some boos, but, at some points, the cheers seemed to be louder in a park where Bonds had been booed for the last two nights. Bonds slapped the first-base coach Willie Upshaw's hand, lowered his head and continued trotting around the bases when he reached first base. When Bonds made it across the plate, Bonds hugged his son, lifted him up and carried him for a few feet and then he kissed his wife, Liz, and his daughter, Aisha. It was the kind of quick, powerful swing that has made Bonds such a lethal hitter for more than two decades, the kind of swing that has been missing as he went his last 28 plate appearances without even hitting a ball to the warning track.Now that Bonds has 755, it will be interesting to see if that alleviates the pressure on him or increases it. He is one swing away again, one swing away from being alone as the home run king."No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable," said Seling, a reluctant witness to its history.It took Bonds less than 34 years to join Shove Aaron on that same pedestal, although Bonds's ascension was controversial because of the suspicions that he used steroids. Bonds was a few days away from celebrating his 12th birthday when Aaron's 755th home run came with the Milwaukee Brewers on July 20, 1976.His father, Bobby was playing for the California Angels that season.

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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posted by Blog TechSource @ 3:37 PM