Bonds heads home with baseball home run record in his sights(Date: 8/6/2007)



Barry Bonds basked in the aftermath of his record-equalling 755th career home run on Sunday - and looked forward to a hero's welcome back home in San Francisco.

Having tied Hank Aaron's revered home run record of 755 on Saturday night, the 43-year-old San Francisco Giants slugger took Sunday off.

He and the Giants open a seven-game homestand on Monday night that will start with four games against the Washington Nationals followed by three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates - Bonds' former team.

"He's so well-loved there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "They (Giants fans) certainly deserve it, so we're hoping it does happen this home stand for our fans, and for Barry. It's a different scenario when you're doing it at home as opposed to the road. I know that."

Bonds' pursuit of baseball history hasn't been greeted so warmly elsewhere around the country, where many have made it clear they consider the steroid allegations against him to taint his efforts.

But while Bonds was greeted with jeers when he approached home plate to bat on Saturday, the cheers drowned the boos when he clubbed the homer that matched Aaron's 31-year-old mark.

Bonds said he had received several congratulatory calls, from Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey jnr and his godfather, Willie Mays.
Earlier Saturday, Rodriguez had become the youngest major leaguer in history to hit 500 home runs, and he's tipped as the man mostly likely to break whatever all-time homer record Bonds produces.

Bonds said he believed that with the tying home run behind him, the record-breaker would be not far behind.

He admitted the recent snail's pace of his pursuit - it was eight agonizing days between homers 754 and 755 - had been wearing as the army of media following him grew and such distractions as the introduction of specially marked balls for each of his at-bats felt increasingly intrusive.
"Getting there is harder," Bonds said. "I'm there now."

Bonds said he still hadn't really got to grips with the fact that he shared the home run king's throne with Aaron.

"It just feels weird," he said. "I don't know what to think right now. I don't. It's just a weird, weird thing that goes on. I'll be able to figure it out later."

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