Barry Bonds smacked his 756th home run on Aug. 8, breaking Hank Aaron's revered all-time record. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
2007 - Year in Review
Story of the Year: Barry Bonds becomes the home run king
Giants slugger passes Hank Aaron as baseball's greatest slugger
Last Updated Thurs., Dec. 27, 2007
John Molinaro, CBC Sports
It's the most hallowed record in baseball, perhaps in all of sports.
And like it or not – and a lot of people don't – it is now owned by Barry Bonds.
On Aug. 8, 2007, Bonds smashed a 3-2 pitch from Washington Nationals hurler Mike Bacsik into the right-centre field seats at San Francisco's AT&T Park. In typical fashion, the Giants slugger admired his soaring shot from the batters box for a few moments, his arms raised toward the night sky, before circling the bases and eventually touching home plate as the crowd gave him a raucous ovation, chanting "Barry! Barry!"
But the 435-foot blast to the deepest part of the park was anything but "typical" – with his 756th career homer, Bonds surpassed the legendary Hank Aaron to become baseball's new home run king.
For keeping baseball fans glued to their seats, sparking countless debates around the office water cooler and garnering the undivided attention of media outlets across Canada and the U.S., Barry Bonds' chase of Hank Aaron's home run record has been selected as the CBCSports.ca story of the year.
Bonds, of course, has been dogged by allegations of steroid use for years, and even though he has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, the former San Francisco outfielder has struggled to gain respect, his reputation tarnished and stained by the BALCO scandal and damaging accusations made by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters in Game of Shadows.
Even before the 2007 season started, talk amongst baseball fans and journalists centered on two subjects: 1) when Bonds would break Hammerin' Hank's record, and 2) when he would be brought up on charges by the U.S. government.
For his part, Bonds seemed to be ready for the fight with the feds.
"Let them investigate. Let them, they've been doing it this long. It doesn't weigh on me at all," Bonds said during spring training.
Bonds began to hack away at Aaron's record as the season progressed, and as he inched closer and closer to the fabled home run mark, the media spotlight became more intense. Reporters from across North America began to travel with the Giants, chronicling Bonds' chase of Aaron in minute detail from every possible angle.
Then, on that warm August evening, Bonds really gave all those journalists something to write about when smacked Bacsik's pitch over the fence to pass Aaron.
Play on the field was stopped for several minutes and after Bonds addressed the crowd, Aaron, who declined to follow Bonds on his 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," the Hall of Famer concluded.
Also conspicuous by his absence at the park that night was baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who sent two emissaries in his place, MLBexecutive 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.
As for Bonds, the veteran outfielder immediately shrugged off any suggestion that his record should come with an asterisk.
"This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period," Bonds told reporters just hours after hitting his 756th home run.
As emphatic as Bonds' response was, it only led to more questions regarding the legitimacy of his claim to being baseball's greatest home run hitter and whether or not he deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Indeed, the Barry Bonds story is far for being over, and another important chapter is about to be added.
Six weeks after he broke Aaron's record, the Giants confirmed they would not re-sign baseball's new home run king for the 2008 season. In November, Bonds, now a free agent, was indicted following a four-year federal investigation into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury examining steroid useamong elite athletes.
Bonds was charged on four counts of perjury and one for obstruction of justice. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
It looks as though Barry Bonds could be the story of the year in 2008.
(Dis?)honourable mention
The Mitchell Report
A dark cloud was cast over America's pastime when a star-studded roster of players— including Roger Clemens— were linked to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell report. George Mitchell finally released his report following a 20-month investigation, and the former U.S. Senate Majority Leader didn't hold back, pointing an accusatory finger at players and the game's officials.
The Michael Vick affair
Where did it all go wrong for Michael Vick? In 2006, the three-time Pro Bowler set an NFL record for quarterbacks by rushing for 1,039 yards in a season. A year later, it appears as though he might never play again as Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges.
Beckham comes to America
Forget about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones – pro sports had its own version of the British Invasion in 2007 when David Beckham signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Beckham struggled with injuries during his first season in Hollywood, put the mere presence of the English star gave MLS a major credibility boost and helped bring more media attention to the 'beautiful game' in the United States.
The Tim Donaghy scandal
Basketball suffered a major credibility crisis when Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felony charges in an NBA betting scandal that rocked the league and raised questions about the integrity of its games. An FBI investigation uncovered that Donaghy bet on games he officiated and made calls affecting the point spread in those contests. Commissioner David Stern labelled Donaghy a "rogue official" but the NBA's image was still tarnished.
The Jim Balsille Saga
Back in May, it looked as though Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie was on the verge of buying the Nashville Predators. Speculation swirled that he was going to relocate the team to southern Ontario, but the deal ended up falling through, former team owner Craig Leipold sold the NHL club to a local group of investors, and the Predators ended up staying in Nashville.