Some may question the legitimacy of his claim to the throne, but Barry Bonds is baseball's new home run king.

The controversial Giants slugger broke Hank Aaron's revered record with his 756th career home run Tuesday night in San Francisco.

Barry Bonds watches his record-breaking 756th career home run fly over the wall at San Francisco's AT&T Park on Tuesday night.
(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Batting in the fifth inning, Bonds smashed a 3-2 pitch from Washington Nationals starter Mike Bacsik into the right-centre field seats at AT&T Park, where a crush of fans scrambled for the history-making ball.

"This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period," Bonds said, alluding to the steroid allegations that have followed him in recent years.

In typical fashion, Bonds admired his soaring shot from the batters box for a few moments, his arms raised toward the night sky. After circling the bases, the 43-year-old was greeted by members of his family as the crowd gave him a raucous ovation, chanting "Barry! Barry!"

The 435-foot blast to the deepest part of the park was Bonds's 22nd homer of the season, and it gave the Giants a 5-4 lead. He was pulled before the next inning, exiting the field to a standing ovation from the crowd of 43,154, and San Francisco went on to lose 8-6.

"Thank you very much. I got to thank all of you, all the fans here in San Francisco. It's been fantastic," Bonds said shortly after crossing home plate, his godfather, Hall of Famer Willie Mays, at his side.

Best wishes from Hank

The often ornery Bonds got choked up when talking about his late father, Bobby Bonds, a former teammate of Mays's.

"To my dad," he said, his voice breaking as he pointed to the sky. Through tears, he added, "Thank you for everything."

Aaron, who declined to follow Bonds on his sometimes tedious journey toward the record, congratulated him in a recorded message played on the scoreboard.

"It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination," Aaron said.

"Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement.

"My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams," he said.

Also conspicuous by his absence at the park was Bud Selig. Though the baseball commissioner decided to put baseball history ahead of the steroid questions surrounding Bonds by attending his 755th homer Saturday in San Diego, Selig sent two emissaries in his place Tuesday in MLB executive vice-president Jimmie Lee Solomon and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

"While the issues which have swirled around this record will continue to work themselves toward resolution, today is a day for congratulations on a truly remarkable achievement," Selig said in a statement.

Tainted total?

A fan wearing a Mets jersey, Matt Murphy of New York, emerged from the stands with the valuable ball and a bloodied face, and was whisked to a secure location. Memorabilia experts have pegged the ball's value at $400,000 to $500,000 US.

Bonds said he does not want the ball back.

"I've never believed a home run ball belonged to the player," Bonds said. "If he caught it, it's his."

Bonds picked the ideal place in which to hit the record homer, as the adoring San Francisco fans did not subject him to the jeers and derogatory signs he has encountered of late on the road.

When Bonds tied Aaron's record Saturday in San Diego, most of the crowd stood and cheered, but some fans booed and others held up signs bearing asterisks — a reference to the fact that some consider Bonds's home-run total to be tainted by his suspected use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds, who has denied knowingly using drugs, is also the subject of a grand jury investigation into possible perjury and tax evasion charges.

Bonds now owns perhaps the two most revered records in North American sports — the all-time home run mark and the single-season standard of 73 he set in 2001.

Forever linked

Bacsik, meanwhile, will forever be linked with Bonds after giving up Tuesday's historic blast.

"He's the greatest of all time," Bacsik said. "Giving it up to Barry Bonds is nothing to be ashamed of."

While 444 other pitchers have given up home runs to Bonds, it will be the shot off Bacsik that will be replayed most often. It's a distinction he knew was a real possibility before he took the mound Tuesday night.

"Me and Al Downing can do card shows together and sign famous autographs for being the guy," he said.

Downing was the L.A. Dodgers pitcher who 33 years ago in Atlanta surrendered Aaron's 715th homer, which broke Babe Ruth's then record.

Bacsik is a journeyman who spent most of his 12-year pro career in the minors, including a stint in triple-A to begin this season.

Like Bonds, he is the son of a major leaguer. He and his father, also named Mike, share an interesting connection. While Clyde and Jaret Wright and Pedro Borbon Sr., and Jr., are among the father-son pitching tandems to have faced both Bonds and Aaron, only the Bacsiks got the chance when both had 755 career home runs.

"That is truly amazing," Mike Sr., said in a telephone interview before the game. "At the time I just knew it was the great Hank Aaron. I wasn't thinking about the fact he had 755 home runs."

With files from the Associated Press