Barry Bonds Writes New Chapter in Home Run History

Barry Bonds’s bat cracked and the breaths of the 42,000 spectators at Petco Park in San Diego drew in. Their eyes were fixated on a white point flying in the sky. The moment that the ball crossed the fence, the ballpark rocked with cheers.

It was a historic moment. The 43-year-old Bonds had just hit his 755th homerun to tie Hank Aaron’s record set on July 21, 1976.

Bonds started the game with San Diego that day as the cleanup hitter and hit the solo homerun against San Diego`s Clay Hensley.

Although under the shadow of steroid allegations, Bonds received lavish congratulations at that moment. Immediately after he hit the 755th homerun, all of the fans in the arena gave him a standing ovation with tumultuous applause.

Looking at the ball he hit flying, Bonds clenched his fist, basking in his moment. He has become a “man of record” who will write a new chapter of power in U.S. professional baseball history when he hits another homerun.

He said that he was going to be absent from the lineup for the August 6 game with San Diego, signaling that he will challenge for his 756th homerun in the team’s August 7 game with Washington.

Sadaharu Oh, manager of Soft Bank, holds the record of 868 homeruns in Japan, while Jang Jong-hoon, coach of Hanwha, hit 340 homeruns to set Korea’s record.

hic@donga.com