Barry Bonds Biography, Career, Age, Net Worth, Family
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Barry Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2007. He is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Recognized as an all-around player, Bonds received a record seven National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Awards and 12 Silver Slugger Awards, along with 14 All-Star selections. He holds many MLB hitting records, including most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001), and most career walks.
Barry Bond’s Biography
Bonds was born in Riverside, California, to Patricia (née Howard) and former major leaguer Bobby Bonds, and grew up in San Carlos and attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, where he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football.
He played on the junior varsity team during his freshman year and on the varsity team for the remainder of his high school career. He garnered a 467 batting average his senior year and was named prep All-American.
The Giants drafted Bonds in the second round of the 1982 MLB draft as a high school senior but the Giants and Bonds were unable to agree on contract terms when Tom Haller’s maximum offer was $70,000 ($210,000 today) and Bonds’s minimum to go pro was $75,000, so Bonds instead decided to attend college.
Bonds attended Arizona State University, hitting .347 with 45 home runs and 175 runs batted in (RBI). In 1984 he batted .360 and had 30 stolen bases. In 1985, he hit 23 home runs with 66 RBIs and a .368 batting average. He was a Sporting News All-American selection that year. He tied the NCAA record with seven consecutive hits in the College World Series as a sophomore and was named to the All-Time College World Series Team in 1996.
Bonds was not well-liked by his Sun Devil teammates, in part because in the words of longtime coach Jim Brock, he was “rude, inconsiderate, and self-centered.” When he was suspended for breaking curfew, the other players initially voted against his return even though he was easily the best player on the team.
He graduated from Arizona State in 1986 with a degree in criminology. He was named ASU On Deck Circle Most Valuable Player; other winners include Dustin Pedroia, Willie Bloomquist, Paul Lo Duca, and Ike Davis. During college, he played part of one summer in the amateur Alaska Baseball League with the Alaska Goldpanners.
Barry Bond’s Career
The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Bonds as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. He joined the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and was named July 1985 Player of the Month for the league. In 1986, he hit .311 in 44 games for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League.
Before Bonds made it to the major leagues in Pittsburgh, Pirate fan attendance was low, with 1984 and 1985 attendance below 10,000 per game for the 81-game home schedule, with attendance woes being a combination of the economic problems of Western Pennsylvania in the early 1980s as well as the Pittsburgh drug trials that directly affected the Pirates going from World Series champions to nearly relocating to Denver in only six years.
Bonds made his major league debut on May 30, 1986. In 1986, Bonds led National League (NL) rookies with 16 home runs, 48 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and 65 walks, but he finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting.
He played center field in 1986 but switched to left field with the arrival of centerfielder Andy Van Slyke in 1987.
Barry Bonds Net Worth
During his career, Barry Bonds earned $188,245,322 in salary alone. His peak earnings year was 2005 when he earned $22 million in base salary. That’s the same as earning around $30 million in today’s dollars.
Highest Paid Athlete
In 1992 as a free agent, Barry sought offers from around the MLB. He declined a $40 million offer to join The Yankees. After a 40-hour marathon negotiation, Barry and the Giants landed on a six-year $43.75 million deal that came with a $2.5 million signing bonus.
He essentially earned an average of $6.9 million per year during that period, which is the same as earning around $12 million per year today. At the time it was the biggest contract in sports history. For comparison, the highest-paid baseball player in 2019, Max Scherzer, earns $38 million PER YEAR.
Real Estate
In 2000 Barry paid $5.3 million for an incredible newly-built mansion on nearly 2 acres located in a gated community called Beverly Park high up in the hills of Beverly Hills. Barry sold the home in 2014 for a mouth-watering $22 million to a Russian billionaire.
The billionaire tried to flip the house a year later for $36 million, ultimately accepting $26 million in 2016. In 2019 the home was sold again, this time for $23 million. In June 2020 actress Sofia Vergara paid $26 million for the property.
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