Bonds hits 40

By Alex Trickett

Bonds passes Mays

Love him or hate him, you have to respect Barry Bonds as a sportsman.

The San Francisco Giants slugger turned 40 on Saturday and shows no sign of letting up in his pursuit of the biggest record in baseball - the career home run mark.

Bonds already has 683 homers to his name, trailing only the 'Sultan of Swat' Babe Ruth and 'Hammerin' Hank Aaron.

And he has hinted that he may only give himself one more year to chase down Aaron's record of 755.

At present pace, who would bet against Bonds hitting homer 756 before he turns 41?

He is still at the peak of his powers, hitting for an average of .350 this season, while flexing his trademark muscle with 25 home runs.

CAREER HOME RUN TABLE 755: Hank Aaron 714: Babe Ruth 683:* Barry Bonds 660: Willie Mays 586: Frank Robinson 583: Mark McGwire 573: Harmon Killebrew 563: Reggie Jackson 557:* Sammy Sosa 548: Mike Schmidt * denotes still active in 2004

With the exception of the peerless Ruth, who changed the way baseball was played in the 1920s, Bonds can now claim to have surpassed every other batting legend.

Hitting an impressive .300 for his 19-year career, the left-hander cannot rival the likes of place-hitters Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby for average.

But Cobb and Hornsby had nothing like Bonds' game-breaking power.

Bonds has also drawn more walks than the great Ted Williams, a testament to the fear he inspires in pitchers.

And to complete the package, he - unlike Williams - is a top-class fielder with multiple Gold Glove awards to his name.

Perhaps the most significant moment in Bonds' career to date came when he passed his godfather Willie Mays on the homer list in April.

Mays has long been held as one of baseball's 'immortals' for his all-round game, and Bonds has bettered his feats.

What Mays had in abundance, however, was public adoration.

Bonds, meanwhile, has never been popular, opting to distance himself from team-mates, fans and especially the press.

This detachment, combined with unsubstantiated links to the Balco drugs scandal, may yet affect his legacy.

Make no mistake though, when this 40-year-old eventually hangs up his golden gloves and bat, he will be considered by many to be the best ball player since Ruth.