Giants Legend Barry Bonds on Hitting Milestone HRs in SF: 'I Was the Master'

Barry Bonds had a funny habit of reaching career milestone home runs in front of his home crowd in San Francisco. He hit Nos. 500, 600, 700, 660 and 661 (tying and passing Willie Mays), 715 (passing Babe Ruth all-time) and 756 (passing Hank Aaron) all at home. 

Turns out that wasn't a coincidence, as Bonds told author Joan Ryan in her book Intangibles (h/t Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports):

"You either have to know what the hell you're doing or you'd have to be the luckiest son of a b---h on the planet. I was the master. My IQ and skill on the baseball field was such that I could do it whenever I wanted to. Whenever I needed to. Didn't matter who was on the mound. And the only time I was going to do it [hit milestone home runs] was at home in front of my family, and San Francisco is my family."

To some, that may sound arrogant or even unlikely. Modesty was never Bonds' forte. And it wasn't as though he could just hit a homer on command. 

But he was a hitting savant. Not even the accusations of steroid use make that less true. 

His career numbers, aided by steroids or not—in an era when plenty of other players were juicing, it should be noted—are staggering. He hit .298 for his career with 762 homers, 1,996 RBI, 2,227 RBI and 514 stolen bases. He was a 14-time All-Star, seven-time MVP, eight-time Gold Glover, 12-time Silver Slugger and two-time batting champ.

He led position players in wins above replacement 11 times, per Baseball Reference. That statistic alone is staggering. Here's another one: In 2004, he was walked 232 times. His on-base percentage that season was .609 and his OPS was 1.422. Those are absurd numbers. 

Maybe there is some exaggeration in Bonds' claim. Maybe we can attribute some of those milestones coming at home to Bonds simply not swinging for the fences on the road. Still, Bonds was different at the plate than most players in baseball history. Like him or not, you have to respect that fact.