Fansided

Constructing an all-time MLB Home Run Derby lineup

By Connor Muldowney

Apr 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire looks on prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire looks on prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 31, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants former player Barry Bonds waves to the crowd during the World Series victory parade on Market Street. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants former player Barry Bonds waves to the crowd during the World Series victory parade on Market Street. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

San Francisco Giants. Barry Bonds. 2. player. 31. . LF

Remember when I said Mark McGwire was the poster child of the steroid era? Well, I lied, it’s Barry Bonds. The muscle-headed superstar was a home run hitting machine during his time in the league and basically broke every record there is pertaining to long-balls.

Bonds came into the league as a lanky outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but evolved into a gigantic, tree-trunk-armed power hitter who knocked 40 out of the park on a regular basis.

In his first year with the San Francisco Giants in 1993, Bonds recorded his first 40-homer season, hitting 46 and driving in 123 RBI on his way to a third MVP crown. It was pretty clear that he was going to be one of the best players in baseball history before his career was over.

Those numbers all have to come with an asterisk, however, as Bonds was part of the steroid scandal that rocked baseball in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Over his historic career, Bonds hit 762 home runs and batted in nearly 2,000 runs. He broke the single-season home run record with 73 in 2001 and that is a mark that will likely never be broke — or even approached — in the post-steroid era.

Not many pitchers wanted to give him a chance to burn them, but he did and he even won a Home Run Derby in 1996.

Next: 1. Babe Ruth

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