SAN DIEGO — At 7:29 p.m. local time Saturday, in the top of the second inning, Barry Bonds hit career home run No. 755 off Padres pitcher Clay Hensley. It was the first home run he had ever hit off Hensley, who became the 445th different major league pitcher to surrender a home run to Bonds.

It came on a 2-1 pitch, a 91-mph fastball. The swing was clean and true, hands back, head in, follow-through a study in grace and power. The crack of the bat was sharp, familiar, prodigious. The ball flew 382 feet on a low, sharp line to the opposite field, over the left-field fence and off the facing of the second deck of seats at San Diego’s Petco Park.

The sellout crowd came to its feet — some cheering, some booing. Bonds’ teammates burst from the dugout to await him at home plate, and he circled the bases quickly, clapping his hands on his way to first, and slapping a celebratory high-five with Giants coach Tim Flannery as he made his way around third base.

Read the full story