Barry became the 17th player to join the 500 HR club on April 17, 2001 when he knocked one into the San Francisco Bay in the 8th inning off of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Terry Adams.
"When I hit it, I couldn’t believe I hit it. Everything was in slow motion. It looked like it was stopped in midair," he said, "Then I saw it went past those people and I thought, ‘Wow! I did it!’"
After the shot he embraced his father former major leaguer Bobby Bonds. His wife Liz ran to his arms. Then a gate in center field opened up and former Giants Willie Mays (Bond's godfather) and Willie McCovey - also members of the 500 club - were whisked by a golf cart to a ceremony at home plate.
Now at the close of the 2001 season Bonds rests at number 6 on the all time HR charts. He broke the single-season record for HRs set just a few years ago with 73 dingers.