An insanely detailed breakdown of Barry Bonds video highlights

Written By Jesse Spector
(Getty Images)

Winter is a time when we miss baseball and seek out thoughts of spring and summer and October wherever we can find them. Fortunately, here in 2015, we have the Internet, and the Internet has YouTube.

Last summer, YouTube user Michael Bosque posted a 10-minute video entitled "Barry Bonds: Pure Greatness." The title of the video is a bit of a laugh, especially because the video has only one clip of Bonds in a Pirates uniform, which he wore en route to his first two MVP awards, when his greatness was indisputably pure.

But the video does show Bonds' pure greatness. Regardless of how far the balls fly - and they get to fly a long way - the contact that Bonds makes, time after time, is perfect. Nobody squared up a baseball like Bonds, and that is a big part of the reason that he had the success that he did, complete mastery of the strike zone.

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The music selection for the video, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" and Aloe Blacc's "The Man," works perfectly to back the highlights of (mostly the second half of) Bonds' career. In the middle of winter, the video is a 10-minute breath of fresh air, and a time machine ride to an era where baseballs flew all over the place but one man consistently sent them farther than anyone else. And now that we're past Hall of Fame debate season, we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey.

Here is the video, accompanied by what you might think of as liner notes to accompany the viewing experience.

McGUIRE: If I were commissioner: A far-fetched agenda

July 12, 1990

Bonds hits the 100th home run of his career, a three-run shot off San Diego's Andy Benes, very much a contemporary as his career lasted from 1989-2002. Bonds hit four of his 762 career homers off Benes, and two off his brother Alan. The swing on the homer, gone from the time it hit the bat, is the same as we saw - and are about to see - on all of Bonds' monumental career homers with the Giants. This is the only Pirates clip on the highlight reel, which is too bad. What really tells you how long ago it was is that Andy Van Slyke and Wally Backman scored on the play, and the game wound up 4-3 for the Pirates in 15 innings, the winning hit delivered by Jeff King off Calvin Schiraldi.

May 1, 2000

Bonds takes Rich Rodriguez of the Mets deep for the first home run ever into McCovey Cove. The all-time tally on those home runs: Visiting Players 36, Bonds 35, Other Giants 33. It's such a blast that Lou Seal, the Giants' mascot, has his arms triumphantly raised before Bonds is even done with the follow through on his swing. Rodriguez seems pretty impressed, too, as he checks the flight of the ball, rather than the standard pitcher reaction of basically pounding sand. This is career home run No. 456 for Bonds, driving in Calvin Murray and Bill Mueller. It is his 11th home run of the 2000 season and turned a 6-0 game into 9-0.

Aug. 17, 2002

In Miami, eight days after hitting his 600th career home run, Bonds gets No. 601 off some rookie named Josh Beckett. It's a solo shot, just into the front row at Joe Robbie Stadium, no big deal, except that BONDS BROKE HIS DANG BAT AND HIT THE BALL OVER THE FENCE. Didn't just break it, completely shattered it. When Juan Encarnacion gets to the right field wall and watches the ball go over, he cannot believe it, just standing there and staring up to the front row. Bonds himself looks like he can barely believe it as he rounds first base. It's the kind of home run that grandfathers talk about and grandkids don't really believe - "Yeah, sure, Bonds hit a home run on a ball that broke his bat in half" - but it happened, and the video is right there.

June 8, 2002

Bonds only hit one home run in his career at Yankee Stadium, but boy did he make it count. Off Ted Lilly in the first inning of a nationally televised Saturday afternoon game, Bonds launches a ball to a place that almost nobody reached in the history of The House That Ruth Built, even in batting practice. The hilarious part is that the Yankees' initial estimate on the homer was 380 feet. Yeah, sure. This game also featured Bonds' only career at-bat against Mariano Rivera, a strikeout in the ninth inning before an error by Alfonso Soriano allowed the Giants to score the tiebreaking run.

April 23, 1997

Bonds faces Tom Glavine in the first inning at Candlestick Park and hits a little looper down the left field line. Possibly unsure whether he hit a fair ball, Bonds' first couple of steps out of the box are a bit sluggish, though that's nothing compared to the half-hearted chase that Ryan Klesko gives once the ball gets past his dive and into the left field corner. Bonds turns on the speed, and by the time he's between second and third base, he's flying. He winds up with an inside-the-park three-run homer, driving in Jose Vizcaino and Glenallen Hill, standing up. It's one of three inside-the-park homers that Bonds hit in his career. The Giants wind up with a 4-3 win on Bill Mueller's ninth-inning single off Alan Embree to drive in pinch-runner Dante Powell.

Sept. 27, 1996

After singling home Bill Mueller to cut the Giants' deficit to 2-1 in the third inning in Denver, Bonds takes off for second base on an Armando Reynoso pitch to Glenallen Hill. The throw from catcher Jeff Reed is late anyway, but because it is to the shortstop side of the bag, Neifi Perez has zero chance to get a tag down. Bonds winds up as the second 40-40 player in major league history, joining Jose Canseco, with the club since having doubled to include Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano. Worth noting is the way that Bonds points down repeatedly to the base, seeking official word from the umpires that it is OK to celebrate by removing second base. It sure is. Bonds had a 9.6 WAR in 1996, leading the National League in that yet-to-be-invented category while having the Senior Circuit's first-ever 40-40 season, but finished fifth in the MVP vote behind the late Ken Caminiti, Mike Piazza, Ellis Burks, and Chipper Jones.

Sept. 20, 2000

Bonds takes Steve Parris of the Reds deep and into McCovey Cove, his sixth wet ball of Phone Company Park's inaugural season - the only other players to reach the Cove that year were Todd Hundley and Luis Gonzalez. It was Bonds' 48th homer of 2000. He hit one more in Los Angeles in the final week of the season, but went 0-for-8 in the season-ending series at Arizona to fall one short of 50. He would reach that number, and then some, the following year.

Oct. 12, 2002

The Cardinals had walked Bonds five times in 11 trips to the plate in the NLCS, but after Rich Aurilia walked and Jeff Kent singled, Chuck Finley had to pitch to Bonds. With one swing of the bat, St. Louis' 4-1 lead evaporates into a tie score, which is why the San Francisco crowd goes completely bonkers… although this winds up being the Giants' only loss in the series thanks to an Eli Marrero homer off Jay Witasick the next inning. Also, the swimmer in McCovey Cove loses out to the guy in the boat, which means that the ill-advised swim in briny, oily water is for naught. Seriously, if you ever go kayaking in McCovey Cove, wear gloves. The water that gets on your hands in the process of merely paddling will turn them into a scaly, skin-cracking nightmare.

April 30, 2003

Bonds' second home run of the game off Matt Clement gets wet, and so does a McCovey Cove kayaker. This is career home run No. 621 for Bonds, giving the Giants a 5-0 lead in a game that ends with that score. It is the 25th Giants home run into the cove, with 23 of those off Bonds' bat. The other two out of the first 25? You guessed it, Felipe Crespo - with a full 20% of his career home runs.

Aug. 19, 2003

Ray King spent 10 years bouncing around the National League as a lefty specialist, pitching for the Cubs, Brewers, Braves, Cardinals, Rockies, Nationals, Brewers again, and Nationals again. Bonds was a mere 1-for-17 against the portly portsider in his career. This is that one hit, a walk-off homer in the 10th inning into McCovey Cove. Gary Sheffield also homered in this game, so that's 1,551 home runs worth of non-Hall of Famers going deep in the same game when you add in Marcus Giles and Jose Cruz Jr. also hitting dingers.

April 18, 2001

One night after hitting his 500th career home run, a blast into McCovey Cove off the Dodgers' Terry Adams, Bonds sends another ball for a swim, this time off Los Angeles' Chan Ho Park. It's the back end of a pair of back-to-back homers after Rich Aurilia went deep to tie the game with a two-run shot, and the Giants go on to a 5-4 win. The homer is one of eight in Bonds' career off Park, tied for his most frequent victim with Greg Maddux, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, and John Smoltz. Not bad company, really.

July 30, 2004

Bonds' swing is a thing of beauty all the way to the end, when he drops the bat and takes a swaggering, stomping step toward first base, his sight line perfect to watch what he hath wrought against Chris Carpenter. The St. Louis ace winds up getting the last laugh, though, because the Cardinals score six runs against Tyler Walker and Jim Brower in the sixth inning. Also, Bonds is wearing a turtleneck on July 30 because it's 66 degrees at game time in San Francisco.

Aug. 14, 2001

Here is how to get yourself in trouble if you are Ricky Bones: Give up a one-out double, an intentional walk, a single, and a bases-loaded walk before Bonds comes to the plate. Then, throw a pitch belt high, middle-in. Bonds gives a courtesy lean to make sure the ball is fair. It is, giving Bonds 51 home runs on the season and the Giants a 13-5 lead as J.T. Snow, Calvin Murray, and Rich Aurilia all score on one of Bonds' 11 career grand slams. Leisurely job by the McCovey Cove ballhawk in the motorized raft getting to that one.

Sept. 18, 2005

Bonds' only McCovey Cove homer of 2005 (he only played six home games) is a monster shot off Hong-Chih Kuo for an insurance run in the eighth inning against the Dodgers, helping the Giants to a 5-3 victory. It is not a victory for Kayak Guy With A Net On A Fishing Line, whose effort to get the ball comes up well short, beaten to the punch by Paddleboard Guy. This game lasted only 2:28, but how long is a person willing to lie face down, inches from the surface of an urban waterway, or dangle his legs into said waterway, in pursuit of a baseball while unable to see the game? Can't knock it when it pays off, though.

April 17, 2001

Home run No. 500 is not a cheapie for Bonds. The blast off Terry Adams of the Dodgers is further toward center field than most McCovey Cove blasts, and it's huge within the framework of the game, too - it's a two-run shot to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and a 3-2 Giants win. All things considered, for such a historic homer, Bonds has a pretty quick trot - though he doesn't move nearly as quickly as the person who retrieves the ball from the water. It is interesting that we remember Bonds being a puffed-up cartoon character in 2001, but on this homer, his sixth of an eventual 73, he doesn't look so enormous, certainly not nearly as much as he does in later years.

Sept. 29, 2001

Bonds' ninth Splash Hit of 2001 is his 69th of the year overall, and yet another long home run in this highlight reel off a left-hander. This time, it's Chuck McElroy of the Padres, allowing a tie game to become untied, and pleasing an enormous fleet in McCovey Cove. Bonds hit 227 of his 762 career homers off southpaws, one per 14.76 at-bats. That number would rank ninth all-time on its own, behind only Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Bonds against all pitchers, Jim Thome, Ralph Kiner, Harmon Killebrew, Sammy Sosa, and Ryan Howard. Similarly, if you took away all of Bonds' at-bats against right-handers, his .986 OPS against lefties would leave him 10th on the all-time list in that category.

Oct. 4, 2001

In Houston, Bonds becomes the second member of one of baseball's greatest clubs, joining a first baseman whose surname starts with "Mc." OK, sure, it's Bonds' record-tying 70th homer of the year, putting him alongside Mark McGwire on the single-season list. That club can be joined by someone else in the future. Nobody will ever hit another major league home run off Wilfredo Rodriguez, a left-hander who faced 16 batters in his two-game career, gave up home runs to Fred McGriff and Bonds (and a double to Sammy Sosa), and wound up with a career ERA of 15.00. Bonds knows it the moment he hits it, punctuating the homer with a bat flip worthy of the occasion. His smile going around the bases is earnest - he's done what he set out to do. He looks a little bigger than he did at the beginning of 2001, but still not disproportionate. That comes later, chasing different history.

Oct. 5, 2001

Say this much for Chan Ho Park: He kept Bonds' 71st home run of 2001 in the building and on land. Of course, the ball does go to the spot where the right field wall intersects with the center field wall in San Francisco - actually, well above that spot because the center field wall is not so tall. People do not hit home runs there. Still, the fan out there who catches the ball does so with a backhand stab with a glove. If you want to grasp the power that Bonds had, skip the McCovey Cove shots and start here. In a world without Bonds, only a complete idiot brings a glove to that seat. In a world with Bonds, bringing a glove to that seat gets you a piece of history.

Oct. 7, 2001

The way that Bonds waits on the knuckleball from Dennis Springer for home run No. 73 is stupendous. Sure, it doesn't make the water, but Bonds still knows a home run off the bat when he hits one, and this certainly is that. The little clap is his punctuation mark for the history book. Yup, that one's gone, too. This has been fun!

Oct. 20, 2002

Now we've gotten to that home run from the 2002 World Series, the one that ultimately did not matter because the Giants could not get a runner on base before Bonds faced Troy Percival, but that lives on forever for Tim Salmon leaning on the dugout railing and muttering about how far it went. The answer: very far. But that's the thing about baseball, there's no extra points for distance, and as much as Game 2 in 2002 might be remembered for Bonds' home run, it was an 11-10 win for the Angels. For the record, season 3 of Boston Public featured Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block fame. Classic World Series memories.

Oct. 26, 2002

This is the death blow, the home run with which Bonds puts aside all other accomplishments and puts an exclamation mark on his team's World Series victory. He will be the World Series MVP for sure. All the Giants need to do is protect a four-run lead for four innings. Jeff Kent's RBI single the next inning means that all San Francisco has to do is get nine outs without allowing a five-run lead to get away. And here come Russ Ortiz, Felix Rodriguez, Scott Eyre, Tim Worrell, and Robb Nen. The Giants went from 97% win expectancy in Game 6 to Bonds being left two batters from getting a chance to tie the game in the ninth, and Anaheim won Game 7 the next night.

Aug. 9, 2002

Kip Wells tries to get a pitch past Bonds down and away, which only provides an opportunity for Bonds to show that not all of his power is to right field. For his 600th career home run, Bonds absolutely pulverizes the pitch from the Pittsburgh hurler to center field. He knows it from the moment of contact, and the joy in the crowd is palpable, including with a rare glimpse of Bonds' family looking on and hugging as a "BONDS 600" display emerges from behind the center field wall, not far from where the ball went out. To Wells' credit, he pitched a pretty good game that night, with eight strikeouts in 7.1 innings, and the Pirates got a 4-3 win.

Sept. 13, 2003

"Swings and hits a home run!" Yup, pretty much. This is Bonds at his pumped-up hulking best, obliterating a baseball with so much power that it flies past the usual boat congregation spots in McCovey Cove and splashes down next to a buoy. Doug Davis, who gave up 180 home runs in his career, barely even reacts. It's just one run, after all, and the Brewers' lead is only down to 5-1. It would be 5-4 by the end of the inning, with further home runs by Edgardo Alfonzo off Davis and Neifi Perez off Glendon Rusch, but Milwaukee held on to win by that score, thanks in part to Danny Kolb managing to get Bonds to ground out in the ninth.

April 12, 2004

It's a sunny spring day in San Francisco, a little baseball being played early in the season, fun being had by every - WAS THAT A BOLT OF LIGHTNING? Oh, no just Bonds. He swings so powerfully, he stutter-steps a bit on his follow through, before dropping the bat and watching home run No. 660 sail into history, tying him with Willie Mays. The blast off Matt Kinney also turns a 4-2 Giants deficit into a 5-4 lead over Milwaukee, sparking a 7-5 victory. A tip of the cap to the fella who retrieves the ball in McCovey Cove, shirtless on a 59-degree day.

April 13, 2004

Another day, another Brewers pitcher (Ben Ford) you've never heard of, another wet baseball, another piece of history. It's a solo shot, appropriately, to put Bonds all alone in third place on the all-time home run list. You have to admire the old scoreboard at Phone Company Park for its simplicity. When Bonds would hit a home run, whether 71 or 661, the simple number would go up in lights, tacitly acknowledging that everyone in the ballpark knew the significance of the number already, because, well, they did.

April 20, 2004

The swing that Bonds puts on Brian Lawrence of the Padres is not quite his best, but it's still good and he gets plenty of the ball in an example of how well Bonds turns on a swing and uses fast torque action to generate power. This home run gives Bonds a seven-game home run streak, although it's actually eight homers in eight games because he hit two homers off the Dodgers' Jeff Weaver on April 18 after going 0-for-0 with a walk as a late-game sub on April 14. It's not technically a "Splash Hit" because it does not go into McCovey Cove on the fly, but it goes in nonetheless - AND THEN SO DOES SOME GUY OFF THE SIDEWALK. He was not planning to take a swim, but Barry Bonds just hit a baseball into the water, and how many chances do you get in life to jump into an urban waterway while wearing all of your clothes? This gentleman's saga ends in mystery: did he get the ball, or did the kayaker beat him to it? It looks like the fully-dressed swimmer has the advantage, but there's no way to be sure. Try to imagine his trip home after finding a way out of the water, soaked from head to toe.

June 23, 2003

Andres Galarraga is at the plate? Must be a Bonds stolen base highlight. Indeed, that is what it is. It is the 11th inning of a game against the Dodgers, with Eric Gagne on the mound, having issued Bonds a leadoff walk. A month from his 39th birthday and now a hulking slugger rather than the 40-40 all-around threat he was earlier in his career, Bonds does not appear a threat to steal, which is why he is able to play smart baseball, catch the Dodgers not paying attention, and pick up his 500th career stolen base without a throw. Galarraga would strike out, but Benito Santiago would make the steal pay off by singling home Bonds with the winning run. Bonds remains the only player in the career 500-500 club. In fact, he is the only player with 500 steals and even as many as 300 home runs, as Rickey Henderson is next on that list with 297 dingers.

Aug. 3, 2004

Bonds pulverizes his second home run of the game off the late Cory Lidle, one of 71 times in his career that Bonds hit multiple home runs in a game. It is another swing where the drive from Bonds' lower body is very evident, as he grinds his front heel into the ground as a result of all the torque generated by the swing. He also winds up in a perfect viewing position for his own handiwork, something that also happens when he does not pull the ball. Bonds' body always seems to wind up perfectly aligned with the ball's trajectory.

Sept. 17, 2004

Bonds goes to the opposite field with authority against San Diego's Jake Peavy for career home run No. 700, though because left-center field is so deep in San Francisco, it winds up not going very far into the stands. The milestone blast results in Bonds giving a rarely-seen high five to his first base coach as a light show identical to Bonds' 600th home run, save for one digit, takes place beyond the center field wall.

May 20, 2006

Thirteen days after getting to 713 career home runs in Philadelphia, Bonds ties Babe Ruth's career mark by exploring the outfield stands in Oakland on a pitch from the late Brad Halsey. Luis Pujols gets a surprisingly more subdued high-five from Bonds than he did for No. 700. This home run also ends a streak of eight straight clips in the video that were from games in San Francisco. Bonds hit 383 of his 762 career homers in road games, but had a knack for achieving milestones at home, and there is no more picturesque way to hit a home run in the majors than to send it into McCovey Cove, so that skews the balance on the highlight video.

May 28, 2006

There's the Bonds Navy, waiting for No. 715… and they are not going to get it. Bonds knows instantly that he has made history with his drive to center field off Rockies starter (Rockies starter? Rockies starter!) Byung-Hyun Kim. Turning around, lifting his arms, then dropping them to his sides, Kim knows, too. Center fielder Ryan Spilborghs does not know, or he is the most courteous teammate who has ever lived, giving legitimate chase to the warning track for a ball that hits more than halfway up the side of the right-center field bleachers before bouncing into whatever maze of storage and ventilation equipment is behind the center field wall. Spilborghs had just driven in Kim and Jamey Carroll with a triple to cap a six-run inning for the Rockies, so maybe he was just enjoying running. Maybe Kim was winded from his running, but he did bounce back to be the winning pitcher in Colorado's 6-3 victory.

Aug. 4, 2007

Bonds' 755th career home run, to tie Hank Aaron's all-time record, is a shot to the opposite field in San Diego, off Clay Hensley. Again, the way his body lines up with the ball's flight is breathtaking, and you can see it well on the multiple angles on the replay. It also is cool that once Scott Hairston realizes the ball is going to be gone, he puts his back to the left field wall. It's half to say, "if I had Wile E. Coyote rocket shoes, I might have been able to catch this," and half to watch Bonds circle the bases and trot into history.

Aug. 7, 2007

Bonds swings against Washington's Mike Bacsik, and he knows he has done it. The bat goes immediately to the ground and both arms go straight up into the air. Bonds is going to enjoy this trot, and as the fans in right-center field scuffle for the historic ball, Bonds comes into view at first base with his achievement in lights on a Phone Company Park jumbotron that has been upgraded to full color with a snazzy "ROAD TO HISTORY" graphic. The plain number message of earlier times was simpler and a reminder that additional bells and whistles do not always equal an upgrade. There are fireworks, and a hug from Bonds' son, and an extended celebration. The next morning will bring analysis and BALCO-related hot takes. The moment itself is magic and irreplaceable.

Aug. 8, 2007

Bonds follows his record-breaking home run with his final career visit to McCovey Cove, off Tim Redding of the Nationals. True to form for Bonds, he hits the ball deeper into the basin than the kayaks are set up. No big deal for a 43-year-old in a day game after a night game in which he set the all-time home run record, right? Well, he set it again, as the scoreboard graphic indicates. For what it's worth, there is no Interstate 757, as Interstate 57, from Chicago to Miner, Missouri, has no spur routes at all.

Sept. 5, 2007

Twenty-one years, three months, and a day after hitting his first career homer off Craig McMurtry in Atlanta, Bonds hits his last, off Ubaldo Jimenez in Denver - where the Rockies were still seven years away from existing when Bonds debuted. Matt Holliday asks for fan interference to be called on the play for reaching over the left field fence, but does not get the call. He would get a much bigger call in his favor in another month's time, on his slide for the winning run in the National League wild card tiebreaker against the Padres.


We see an unhappy-looking Bonds, lips pressed together, chin pocked with scowling muscles, head nearly bursting from the helmet atop it. The words "7-time MVP" come on the screen, followed by "14 Time All-Star," and "8 Gold Gloves." Then it's "Most HR's and BB," "Highest OBP, SLG, and OPS," and "Most Single Season HR's and BB." Left out of the list of accolades is Bonds' single-season on-base percentage record, set at .582 in 2002 and eclipsed at a ridiculous .609 in 2004.

It is too bad that the image of Bonds that we are left with is of him scowling, but it is true to life - for all the monumental moments that he provided, his legacy is mixed. His often sour public persona is part of that, but the bigger part obviously is the size of his head and the rest of his body, combined with a mountainous paper trail that left no doubt in the public's mind about how Bonds was able to have such power at such an advanced age.

We may never be able to fully sort out Bonds' legacy, but watching him crush baseballs and watching the reactions of both fans and his colleagues on the field, we do have the chance to step back and remember how, in the moment, we were able to watch something absolutely incredible, surpassing even the greatest performers of the controversial era in which he played.