Finally, #715 for Barry Bonds; Albert Pujols Hits #24, Continues Record HR Pace …
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Barry Bonds finally connected for his 715th career homer, passing Babe Ruth (714 career homers) with a titanic 445 foot blast to center field in AT&T Park. The San Francisco Giants, however, lost today’s game to the Colorado Rockies by a 6-3 score.
For Bonds, the scenario played out like he had wanted; #715 came in front of the hometown fans, although it took a bit longer than expected to accomplish.
“If you keep playing long enough anything is possible,” Bonds said, wearing a new 715 shirt and cap. “I’d like to win a World Series and be home run king. I’d like to do both. I would take a World Series first.”
But does Bonds have the staying power and enough left to challenge the coveted Career homer record of 755 by Hank Aaron? Bonds has been slowed by injuries, including three operations on his right knee last year, as well as bone chips in his left elbow.
Bonds connected off of a Colorado righthander Byung-Hyun Kim 90 mph fastball on a full-count at 2:14 PM PCT as Kim became the 421st pitcher to fall victim to a homer by Bonds.
Yahoo Sports reports that “This is the first time in nearly 85 years that Ruth hasn’t been in the top two on the career home run list, according to David Vincent of the Society for American Baseball Research. He passed Sam Thompson to move into second on June 20, 1921, when he hit his 127th home run.”
I recall that for the first 28 years of my life, I never thought that Ruth’s career home run record was approachable. Aaron hit #755 at the close of his career in 1976.
Meanwhile, in San Diego, Albert Pujols continued on a record-breaking clip hitting his 24th homer in game 51 for the St Louis Cardinals. Pujols’ homer, as well as homers by Juan Encarnacion (6 HR) and Scott Rolen (5 HR) were not enough as San Diego also connected for 3 homers in defeating St. Louis by a 10-8 score.
Pujol’s pace, 24 homers in 51 games, projects him through the season at a 72 plus homerun pace. As asked earlier on this blog, is Pujols’ power surge sustainable?
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