70? Bonds could be set for 80

By Dean Lollis Sports Central Columnist

A few years ago, 61 homeruns seemed like the unreachable mark. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa shattered that dream.

McGwire pushed the mark out to 70. Some might have thought that mark would be the next unreachable goal. Just don't let those guys talk to Barry Bonds.

This week, in San Francisco's sixtieth game of a 162-game schedule, Bonds launched his 32nd homerun of the season. That puts the Giants' slugger well ahead of McGwire's 70-in-a-season pace. Some projections say Bonds is currently on a pace to hit 85 homeruns this season.

On May 30, Bonds connected on career homeruns 521 and 522. No. 521 tied him with Willie McCovey and Ted Williams on the all-time list. No. 522 broke the tie and moved Bonds into sole possession of eleventh in career home runs.

Those homeruns also move Bonds into another first. He became the top left-handed home run hitter in National League history. It also became the fastest a player has hit 28 homeruns in a season and he became this first player to ever hit 17 homeruns in the month of May.

His team lost the game 4-3 to the Rockies and that seemed to way more on Bonds' mind than the homeruns.

"It's a great honor to have that accomplishment," Bonds said. "But we're in the business of getting to the postseason. It's really hard not to be winning games right now."

On June 1, he continued his pace, adding his 29th HR of the year in a Giants' win. Despite all of Bonds' offense, the Giants are still some seven games behind league-leading Arizona and in a virtual tie with San Diego for the bottom spot in the division.

As the season moves on, the questions will start to surround Bonds and his homerun numbers. Part of his success will depend on the work of Jeff Kent. With Kent earning MVP honors a year ago, Bonds finished with 49 homeruns. It was the first time he had finished with more than 40 homeruns since the 1997 season.

Kent has not hit as well in 2001 as he did a year ago. Still, he provides enough protection for Bonds in the order with his numbers (8 HR, 43 RBI, .271).

Bonds could well pass Jimmy Foxx (career 534 HRs, Mickey Mantle (536), and Mike Schmidt (548 career HRs) on the list before this season comes to a close.

By the end of 2001, Barry Bonds could potentially sit seventh on the all-time homerun list. He will turn 37 in July and could have a few more stellar seasons left in his career (now in its sixteenth season).

Bonds seems to have set his eyes on moving past his idol Willie Mays. Mays finished his career with 660 home runs and, currently, sits third on the all-time list. Only one other player in the top ten in career HRs is still active -- Mark McGwire, currently seventh, with 556.