by Liam Martin

Created on: July 04, 2007   Last Updated: July 05, 2007

Barry Bonds has just hit his 751st homerun, putting him within four of the elusive 755 benchmark set by Hank Aaron. Coming in the top of the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds, Bonds' 751st evokes yet again a number of issues revolving around his quest for history. For one, where does 756 put Bonds amongst baseball's greats? Does it make him the greatest homerun hitter of all time? Does it, indeed, make him the greatest player of all time? And there is, of course, the ubiquitous steroids allegations surrounding Bonds and the rest of baseball. Fair or not, these suspicions have tainted Bonds' chase, with some suggesting that Bonds should receive no recognition from the League for his upcoming achievement; that Hank Aaron and Bud Selig should be conspicuously absent for the games in which he closes in on the mark; and that Bonds, perhaps, shouldn't even be allowed into the Hall of Fame. After Bonds placed himself one step closer to immortality tonight, I thought it appropriate to settle both of these issues once and for all.

To the first, Barry Bonds is without a doubt the greatest homerun hitter of all time. By the time he retires, he will likely have hit close to 800 home runs and 2000 career RBIs, with a slugging percentage above .600. As to his standing as a general player, Bonds deserves to at least be considered amongst the greatest of all time. We have covered his power numbers; as impressive are Bonds' numbers as an everyday hitter. He will likely reach 3,000 hits by the end of this season, has already passed Willie Mays on the Giants all-time doubles list and will finish with over 600 2Bs lifetime, and is a career .300 hitter, averaging over 160 hits per seasons over his entire career. At 42 years old, Bonds has struggled recently to keep up the field, but in his prime, and indeed well thereafter, Bonds was one of the most formidable left-fielders the game has ever seen, winning 8 Gold Gloves in his career. More generally, Bonds is a 6-time MVP, has compiled over 2,500 walks lifetime, and stolen 514 bases, averaging just under 30 per season. And Bonds did all of this as part of two perennially mediocre teams in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. Bottom line: Barry Bonds is the greatest homerun hitter, and undoubtedly one of the greatest all-around players, ever. Period.

As to the argument that his use of steroids voids all of these accolades, I'm not buying it. Barry Bonds has never tested positive for any drug, ever. According to Bonds, he is tested

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