INDEPTH: BARRY BONDS FACES STEROID SUSPICIONS Timeline
CBC Sports Online | Last updated May 20, 2006
Barry Bonds
has 708 home runs in his career, seven short of Babe Ruth
and 48 behind Hank Aaron for baseball's all-time record. (CP
Photo)
Milestones, accolades and allegations – chronicling the
Barry Bonds saga.
July 24, 1964
Barry Bonds is born in Riverside, California, with an impressive Major
League Baseball pedigree: his father is slugger Bobby Bonds, his godfather
is baseball icon Willie Mays, and his distant cousin is the inimitable
Reggie Jackson. During his youth, the younger Bonds would often accompany
his father to the ballpark.
June 1982
Bonds balks after the San Francisco Giants select him with their first
draft pick, demanding more money. Bonds decides to go to the Arizona
State University instead of joining the Giants. He excels in his three
seasons with the Sun Devils before re-entering the draft in 1985.
June 3, 1985
The Pittsburgh Pirates select Bonds with their first draft pick. He
makes his major league debut just one year later on May 30.
May 31, 1986
The Los Angeles Dodgers' Rick Honeycutt serves up Bonds's first big-league
hit.
June 4, 1986
Bonds slugs his first career home run.
April-October 1990
Bonds establishes himself as one of baseball's emerging superstars,
winning his first Most Valuable Player award and leading the Pirates
to the playoffs. He becomes the first player ever to bat .300, hit
30 homers, drive in 100 runs and steal 50 bases in a season.
October 1991
Bonds leads the Pirates back to the playoffs. But for the second straight
year, he has a miserable post-season, recording just four hits in
27 at-bats.
October 1992
The Pirates earn their third straight post-season berth. Bonds's playoff
struggles continue and Pittsburgh fails to advance to the World Series.
November 1992
Bonds wins his second NL MVP award in recognition of a regular season
in which he hit 34 homers, drove in 103 runs and stole 39 bases.
December 8, 1992
Bonds signs the most lucrative baseball contract to date, agreeing
to a six-year, $43.75-million US deal with the Giants.
April - October 1993
Bonds enjoys a fantastic first season with the Giants, clubbing an
NL-best 46 home runs and 123 RBIs.
November 8, 1993
Bonds becomes the seventh player in major league history to win the
MVP award three times.
April 27, 1996
Bonds hits the 300th homer of his career. The blast made him just
the fourth member of the 300 homer-300 stolen base club. At the time
only Mays, Bonds's father Bobby and Andre Dawson had ever reached
that plateau.
September 27, 1996
Bonds joins Jose Canseco as the only players in major league history
to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season. Alex Rodriguez would
join the club in 1996.
April 23, 1997
Bonds drives in the 1,000th run of his career.
October 1997
The Giants make the post-season but fail make the World Series. Bonds
has another poor playoff series.
August 23, 1998
Bonds hits his 400th home run to become the first member of 400 homer-400
steal club.
April - October 1998
Bonds has one of his greatest seasons ever hitting 37 homers and driving
in 122 runs, but his expolits are overshadowed by the Mark McGwire
and Sammy Sosa home run chase. Both McGwire and Sosa eclipse Roger
Maris's single season home run record. McGwire finishes with 70, Sosa
hits 66.
Prior to the 1999 season
Bonds hires boyhood friend Greg Anderson to supervise his intense
strength conditioning regime. According to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance
Williams, in their book Game of Shadows, Bonds put on nearly
15 pounds of muscle that offseason.
April 1999
Bonds injures his elbow and goes on the disabled list. He misses the
majority of the first half of the baseball season after undergoing
surgery to repair a torn triceps tendon in his left arm.
September 11, 1999
Bonds strokes the 2,000 hit of his career.
July 1999
Bonds is named the Player of the Decade for the 1990s by The Sporting
News.
October 1999
Plagued by injuries, Bonds plays in only 102 games. He still manages
to hit 34 home runs.
Prior to the start 2000 season
Anderson introduces Bonds to BALCO owner Victor Conte.
September 28, 2000
Bonds smashes his 49th homer of the season – a new career single-season
high.
October 2000
In what has become a familiar patterm, Bonds follows a strong regular
season with another anaemic post-season. The Giants get knocked off
by the New York Mets in the playoffs.
April 17, 2001
Bonds hits the 500th homer of his career, a virtual ticket to the
Hall of Fame. He hit 17 home runs in the season's first month.
July, 2001
Bonds registers a MLB-record 39 home runs when the season breaks for
the All-Star game. He makes his 10th career appearance in the mid-summer
classic.
October 3, 2001
Bonds breaks Babe Ruth's single-season walk record.
October 4, 2001
Bonds ties Mark McGwire's single-season home run record, smashing
his 70th homer off Houston Astros reliever Wilfredo Rodriguez.
October 5, 2001
One day after tying McGwire's record, Bonds breaks it, hitting his
71st and 72nd home runs of the season.
January 19, 2002
Bonds signs a new five-year, $90 million contract with the Giants.
June 5, 2002
Bonds hits his 587th homer, moving past Frank Robisnon into fourth
place on the all-time home run list.
August 9, 2002
Bonds becomes the fourth player in baseball history to hit 600 home
runs.
September 2002
Bonds finishes the season with 46 home runs, 110 RBIs and wins his
first career batting title. The Giants advance to the playoffs.
October 2002
Bonds once again fails in his bid to win his first World Series as
the Giants fall to the Anaheim Angels in seven games. But he finally
enjoys a productive post-season, batting .356 with eight home runs
and 16 RBI.
November 2002
Bonds wins his fifth NL MVP award.
Summer of 2003
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) receives a tip from an anonymous
track and field coach, who claimed several star athletes were using
a designer steroid that couldn't be detected by tests.
Sept. 3, 2003
Investigators raid BALCO Laboratories in Burlingame, Calif., and take
financial and medical records.
Sept. 5, 2003
San Francisco Chronicle reports investigators search the home of Anderson,
seizing documents they said showed Bonds was using banned drugs.
November, 2003
After another strong season – 45 homers, 90 RBI and a .341 batting
average – Bonds wins his sixth NL MVP award.
Feb. 17, 2004
Anderson tells federal agents that he gave steroids to several baseball
players.
April 13, 2004
Bonds smacks his 661st career homer to move past his godfather Willie
Mays into sole possession of third place on the all-time list.
July 4, 2004
Bonds passes Rickey Henderson to take the all-time lead in career
walks, drawing his 2191st free pass.
September 17, 2004
Bonds hits his 700th career home run, joining an exclusive club that
includes only Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).
September 24, 2004
Bonds is randomly tested for steroids before a game against the Los
Angeles Dodgers
November 15, 2004
Barry Bonds continues his assault on the record book by winning his
fourth consecutive National League MVP award and seventh overall.
He finishes the season with 45 homers and 101 RBI.
December 3, 2004
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Bonds testified before a federal
grand jury that he used both clear and cream substances provided by
Anderson. According to the testimony obtained by the Chronicle, Bonds
said he was told the substances were the nutritional supplement flaxseed
oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis.
January 13, 2005
Commissioner Bud Selig unveils a new drug-testing program where players
are subjected to one mandatory test and random testing during the
course of the season, as well as out-of-season testing. The program
also stipulated penalties for first-time drug offenders. A first positive
test called for a suspension of up to 10 days, a second positive test
a 30-day ban, a third positive brought a 60-day penalty, and a fourth
positive a one-year ban. Previously, MLB players had to submit to
treatment following a first positive test and risk either a 15-day
suspension or $10,000 US fine if caught a second time. A third infraction
resulted in a 25-day suspension, a 50-day ban for a fourth and one
year for a fifth violation.
March 17, 2005
A U.S. congressional hearing conducts a formal hearing into baseball's
new drug-testing policy. The House Government Reform Committee subpoenaes
current and retired baseball players, as well as several high-ranking
MLB officials, to come to Washington. Among those who testify are
Jose Canseco, former home-run champion Mark McGwire, and current players
Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas. Bonds
is not subpoenaed.
March 22, 2005
Bonds announces that he could be sidelined for the rest of the 2005
season because of surgery on his knee. He also lashes out at the media,
saying he's tired of the constant questions about his alleged steroid
use.
April 5, 2005
A hobbled Bonds proclaims during the Giants' Opening Day festivities,
"I will be back!"
May 4, 2005
Bonds has more arthroscopic surgery on his injured knee. It's his
third operation in three months.
July 16, 2005
Bonds's trainer Greg Andersom and BALCO boss Victor Conte plead guilty
to distributing steroids and money laundering. BALCO Vice President
James Valente pleads guilty to conspiring to distribute steroids.
August 1, 2005
Enduring a difficult rehab, Bonds tells MLB.com he probably won't
be able to return before the end of the 2005 baseball season.
August 17, 2005
Bonds announces on his website "there is a good possibility that I
could be back in September with the team."
September 12, 2005
Two days after his return is announced by the Giants, Bonds starts
against the San Diego Padres and goes 1-for-4 at the plate.
September 28, 2005
Bonds plays in his 14th and final game of the season. He finishes
the year with five homers and 10 RBI in 42 at-bats.
November 15, 2005
With the threat of congressional intervention looming, MLB players
and owners revise baseball's drug-testing program, coming to terms
on a set of tougher penalties for steroid use. The new agreement calls
for a 50-game suspension for a first failed test, 100 games for a
second and a lifetime ban for a third.
February 19, 2006
Bonds tells USA Today that he plans on retiring at the end of the
2006 season, with or without the all-time home run record.
February 22, 2006
Having recovered from three different knee surgeries, Bonds arrives
at the Giants' spring training camp.
March 7, 2006
Sports Illustrated publishes an excerpt from Lance Williams and Mark
Fainaru Wada's book Game of Shadows, alleging that Bonds
used steroids frequently since 1998. The book is released in the United
States two weeks later.
March 9, 2006
Bonds says he will know around the all-star break whether or not he
plans to return for the 2007 season.
March 25, 2006
Bonds strains his left elbow during batting practice and is forced
to rest. Before that he was having a soild spring.
March 30, 2006
Major League Baseball announces it will look into allegations of past
steroid use by Bonds and other players. Commissioner Bud Selig asks
former U.S. Senate majority leader George Mitchell to head up the
investigation.
May 20, 2006
Bonds hits the 714th home run of his career against Oakland A's pitcher Brad Halsey to move into a tie with Babe Ruth on baseball's all-time homer list.
May 28, 2006
Bonds passes Ruth on the all-time home run list, clubbing No. #715 off of Colorado Rockies starter Byung-Hyun Kim.
