@ChuckieHussy

500 / 500 Club, Membership of One

On June 23rd, 2003 In a dramatic extra inning game at Pac Bell Park (now Oracle Park) against the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers, Bonds delivered one of the signature moments of his career. In the bottom of the 11th inning of a 2-2 tie, he reached base and then swiped second against prime-time closer Éric Gagné (one of the most dominant relievers of that era). That theft was his 500th career stolen base. He famously pulled the base out of the ground, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and carried it off the field as the crowd erupted. The Giants went on to win 3-2 in walk-off fashion, with Bonds scoring the winning run later in the inning. This moment capped an incredible stretch for Bonds. In 2003, despite playing only 130 games, he hit .341 with 45 HR, slugged .749, and posted a .529 on-base percentage — walking 148 times. en.wikipedia.org Love him or hate him (and the era's PED controversies fuel plenty of debate), the 500-500 club remains a club of one more than two decades later. It perfectly symbolizes the rare blend of power, speed, plate discipline, and longevity that defined Bonds at his peak. No one else has come close. This moment capped an incredible stretch for Bonds. In 2003, despite playing only 130 games, he hit .341 with 45 HR, slugged .749, and posted a .529 on-base percentage — walking 148 times. Love him or hate him (and the era's PED controversies fuel plenty of debate), the 500-500 club remains a club of one more than two decades later. It perfectly symbolizes the rare blend of power, speed, plate discipline, and longevity that defined Bonds at his peak. No one else has come close.

Giants

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715 (For a Different Reason)

On May 28, 2006, Barry Bonds hit his 715th career home run off Colorado's Byung-Hyun Kim at AT&T Park — passing Babe Ruth for second on baseball's all-time home run list. Only Hank Aaron now stood ahead of him. The home run dropped into McCovey Cove, the customary destination for Bonds blasts. The Giants stadium erupted. Bonds rounded the bases, pointed to the sky, and was greeted at home plate by his son and teammates. The complicated part was everywhere. Bonds had spent the previous five years at the center of MLB's steroid scandal — BALCO indictments, federal investigations, congressional hearings. Most national broadcasters avoided airing the home run live. ESPN's Bonds on Bonds reality show, which had been running all season, was canceled less than a month later. Aaron, watching from Atlanta, declined to comment publicly when Bonds eventually passed him too, on August 7, 2007. The Babe's family said nothing. Major League Baseball declined to make a ceremonial moment of it. Bonds finished his career with 762 home runs — still the official record. Still complicated. Still the most consequential number to land on the list since Aaron passed Ruth in 1974.

@Landon

Max Max Muncy Muncy

Please take a moment to look at the picture up above. Yes, that is true. Though it seems like a glitch in the matrix it’s not. These two individuals share the exact same name, same profession, some position, drafted by the same team, mostly hit towards the bottom of the order, and don’t even know each other. Completely unrelated too! I’d love to see these two on the same team one day.

@ChuckieHussy

Perfect on Father's Day

Father's Day, June 21, 1964. Shea Stadium, first game of a doubleheader. Phillies right-hander Jim Bunning — a father of seven — took the mound against the Mets and proceeded to retire every single batter he faced. Twenty-seven up. Twenty-seven down. 90 pitches. Ten strikeouts, six of them in the final three innings, when most pitchers tighten up - Bunning went the other way and stepped on the gas. By the late innings he wasn't tiptoeing around the no-no superstition at all; he was reportedly telling teammates in the dugout exactly what was on the line. It was the first perfect game in modern National League history and the first regular-season perfecto since Charlie Robertson in 1922 — a 42-year gap, with only Don Larsen's 1956 World Series gem in between. Bunning's wife Mary and daughter Barbara were in the Shea stands to watch dad do the impossible. He'd later throw a no-hitter in the American League too, becoming one of the few pitchers to no-hit both leagues. Then he swapped the rubber for a different kind of pressure - Hall of Famer and a two-term U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Of every perfect game ever thrown, exactly one was tossed on Father's Day by an actual father of seven. Happy Father's Day RateGame!